“It’s a Cyclical Effect”: Emmanuel Acho Blames Steve Sarkisian for Arch Manning’s Underconfidence and Underdevelopment

The heavily-favored Texas Longhorns, who were expected to steamroll the visiting UTEP Miners in Week 3, did walk away with a comfortable 27-10 win. But a statement victory, it was not. Many glaring shortcomings that we saw in the first two weeks showed up again, especially with Arch Manning.

The quarterback completed just 11 of 25 passes for 114 yards. He threw one touchdown pass and punched in two more on the ground. His passing game was particularly rough, so much so that fans had to sit through a series of misfires, including 10 straight incompletions in the second quarter.

Manning’s top targets, Ryan Wingo and Parker Livingstone, were held to under 40 yards receiving. The Longhorns were 7-3 before halftime, and Manning’s struggles even had the home crowd raining down some boos. Yes, it was that bad.

Former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho, who also played his college ball with the Longhorns, blamed head coach Steve Sarkisian for most of the mistakes. “Texas Football, we are in a big predicament here,” he stated, starting his rant session in a video posted on X.

“We got an elite defense, a national Championship caliber defense. But we have an offense that might not be Bowl-eligible right now. Arch Manning [is] playing without confidence,” Acho said, adding that HC Sarkisian isnt’t doing much to fix Manning’s lack of confidence.

“I think he’s a good player, but he’s playing without confidence. Sarkisian sees a quarterback without confidence, so he’s protecting his quarterback by calling run plays and safe throws,” said the former linebacker-turned analyst.

“Arch Manning can’t build confidence because the game plan isn’t a game plan that is conducive to building confidence. So, it’s this cyclical effect that is leaving our offense looking putrid, anemic, basic,” added Acho.

We already know Acho’s point that the Longhorns’ defense is elite. They’re building on the 2024 unit’s success, which was one of the top-rated in the country.

But the former linebacker’s claim that Sarkisian is calling too many run plays couldn’t be further from the truth. The head coach values Manning’s ability to run and is banking on his speed. But in the postgame conference, Sarkisian also stressed that physical football can only take you so far.

“When you have a little success with your legs, then you start to rely on your legs. And then we’re out of scheme, and now we’re just playing athlete football, and athlete football can get you so far, but sooner or later, that catches up with you, too,” Sarkisian said.

“And so we’ve got to get back to believing in the scheme and believing in the guys around us, and whether they’re blocking for us or catching for us or whatever that is, to give us the best chance to be successful long term,” he added.

We have to remember that Manning is still figuring it out. Over the past two seasons, he was a backup and only saw mop-up duty.

The heavy expectations on him to be a perfect quarterback right from the opening game came thanks to his illustrious surname. Needless to say, the media hyped it all up, too.

Like any quarterback, Manning needs time to properly adjust and develop into a good player. No one gets it right on their first (or even third) day as a starter in this sport.