The day Arch Manning made his road debut in Columbus in Week 1, nobody was singing the supposed quarterback prodigy’s praises louder than ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.
That morning on SEC Network, Finebaum called Manning the best player “in every aspect” to come through college football since the legendary Tim Tebow won a national title as a freshman in 2006. A few hours later, Manning was the biggest piñata in sports media after throwing for just 170 yards in a disappointing loss to the Buckeyes.
Despite Manning leading Texas to 38 points in a bounce-back win over San Jose State in Week 2, Finebaum is already changing his tune.
“The bottom line is Arch Manning is not playing like an elite quarterback,” Finebaum said Tuesday on First Take. “He’s barely playing like a pedestrian quarterback. He had some good plays (against San Jose State), but that game doesn’t mean anything. Ultimately, I think we all jumped the gun. Is he in the Heisman race? No, Arch Manning is not in the Heisman race as of today.”
So just weeks after praising Manning as the second coming of one of the most beloved and winningest players in the history of SEC football (and his ESPN coworker), Finebaum is not only backing off his take, but trying to share the blame.
Fortunately for all of us watching, host Stephen A. Smith was there to push back.
“Speak for yourself,” Smith smiled. “I didn’t jump the gun. You did, having him penciled into some kind of Heisman finalist before he played a game this season.
Taking the jab in stride, Finebaum laid out the path for a strong close to the season for Manning. And he turned his ire toward a popular target amid Manning’s supposed “pedestrian” start to the season: Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian.
“I still think Arch Manning can have a big-time season,” Finebaum said. “When he starts seeing the road games in the SEC … I think he has a chance. And what he doesn’t need is his coach babying him in the media. That’s the worst thing that can happen when you already have the name that a lot of people want to hate on, privilege that a lot of people want to scorn.”
It’s fitting that Finebaum would backtrack like this on First Take. Because the golden rule of debate television is that if you are going to walk back a take or offer conflicting points of view, it’s all fair so long as you make it entertaining.
Tune in this coming Tuesday for how Finebaum might contort his Manning analysis next!
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