Texas Needs to Bench Arch Manning Before He Sinks Steve Sarkisian

With the weekly flows of a college football season, things can turn from blue skies to looking like the sky is falling very quickly.

Just look at Texas.

Mere weeks ago, the Longhorns were the No. 1 team in the country, living up their reputation as one of the most expensive rosters in college football (somewhere between $45-$55 million, according to a report by The Athletic) and appearing destined to prove once and for all that Texas was firmly back atop college football after years of flirting with that possibility.

Consecutive 27-24 losses to unranked Oklahoma and Florida have changed that tune real fast.

The Longhorns are now one loss away from being likely to miss the College Football Playoff for the second straight season, with three games against currently ranked teams left, starting with No. 7 Ole Miss this weekend.

Things are starting to get untenable for coach Steve Sarkisian, who could seek an NFL off-ramp this season to beat the angry mob out of town.

One thing Sarkisian needs to consider to have any shot at saving his job is something that would have been unfathomable not that long ago.

He needs to bench Arch Manning.

The generational quarterback prospect who everyone wanted. A long-assumed future No. 1 overall NFL draft pick who would follow in his grandfather Archie’s and uncles Peyton and Eli’s footsteps as a franchise quarterback.

For whatever reason, it’s not working out right now. Not only that, Manning is actively hurting this Texas team.

In those two recent losses, he had a combined three fourth-quarter turnovers which derailed potential game-winning drives.

In six games, he’s thrown for just 1,295 yards (12th most in the Southeastern Conference) and 11 touchdown passes (ninth). He’s also already thrown five interceptions (sixth most among SEC QBs), approaching the seven he had in 13 games last season.

Manning’s threat as a rusher has also dissipated. After he ran for 399 yards and a team-high 10 TDs last season, he has just 108 yards and no scores at the halfway point of this regular season.

He’s taking too many sacks, panicking under pressure in the pocket and is generally not the Longhorns’ best option right now.

Texas paid a lot of money to surround Manning with incredible skill-position, offensive line and defensive talent to make his job easier. Instead, he’s making everyone, including Sarkisian, look worse.

The frustrating part -- and why I would bet Sarkisian hasn’t made the move away from Manning yet -- is that the quarterback probably looks excellent on a weekly basis in practice. Talent has never been the question for the former No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2023.

But it’s not translating at this moment in time. And it’s fair to wonder if a change in scenery this offseason would be best for the quarterback.

After ESPN reported on Monday that Texas would be giving backup QB KJ Lacey Jr. a larger chunk of the first-team reps, Sarkisian stood behind Manning while admitting they need to “see a better version of Arch.”

If that version doesn’t show up Saturday, it will definitively be time for Sarkisian to make the move or Manning could very well be the iceberg that sinks his Texas tenure.