Prior to the start of the college football season, all the way back in August, you would have been hard pressed to find someone who was willing to bet against Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns. After all, the latest member of football’s royal family was the odds on favorite to win the Heisman trophy, and his program was equally favored to claim the national championship.
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As we know now, neither of those wagers would prove to be profitable, but that doesn’t mean that the season wasn’t a money maker for the 21-year-old prospect. On opening day, Manning’s total NIL valuation of $6.8 million was the largest in the history of college sports, but that total fluctuated with the various wins and losses that came with the Longhorn’s 9-3 run.
Manning’s value was so volatile, in fact, that the Ohio State Buckeye, Jeremiah Smith, was able to surpass him as the most valuable footballer in the nation during the midpoint of the season. Conveniently enough, however, a $1.3-million boost has now helped him to reclaim that title.
Following the Longhorn’s 27-17 upset over the no. seven ranked Texas A&M Aggies, Manning’s NIL dealings were valued at an even $4 million. According to On3, the NFL hopeful received an additional $5.3 million on December 2nd, and as a result, he was able to beat out the likes of Smith and the five-star basketball recruit from Brockton, Massachusetts, A.J. Dybantsa, to become the highest paid college athlete once more.
On the year, Manning was able to complete 61.4% of his 370 pass attempts to produce a total of 2,942 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. His passer efficiency rating of 145.8 left a lot to be desired, and ranked just 43rd overall.
Suffice to say, the product on the field didn’t quite match up with the hype that was going around prior to the start of the season. While Texas was able to rebound from its losses to Ohio State and Georgia and finish the season inside of the top 15 of the national rankings, it still failed to establish itself as a legitimate threat to the rest of the SEC.
A 2-3 road record is a hard thing for the selection committee to justify, and it’s a bitter-sweet thing that Manning will be coming back for another year of play in 2026, but in the end, it’s still a fourth-consecutive winning season for Steve Sarkisian. That’s enough to create some momentum ahead of the postseason, and now that he’s got some extended time to mold a generational product, Texas figures to be a serious problem next season.
Just don’t expect much too much from them this December, as a few more changes need to take place before Manning can truly begin to guide them towards a championship.
