After an untimely concussion saw him leave at the worst possible time against Mississippi State, Arch Manning’s status for this week’s matchup against a top-10-ranked Vanderbilt team was definitely not certain. He spent the entire week in concussion protocol, but much to the chagrin of the Commodores, he was ultimately good to go for their Saturday morning matchup.
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The heir to the throne of football’s royal family triumphantly returned to the tune of 328 passing yards and three touchdowns, proving that he’s more than capable of competing with the upper ranks of college football after all. After seeing his own rate of play improve, he couldn’t help but joke that “Maybe the concussion helped,” before then giving his teammates his due credit.
“I think it starts with the O-line, they played really well today. The receivers made plays, and that all makes it easier on me. It’s been a long month, I’ll tell ya that, but I think we’ve all grown closer together, and it’s helped us in the long run. We’ve just got to continue to press forward. This month of November is going to be no joke.”
Prior to the start of the season, the Longhorns were the odds-on favorites to take home the national championship, and the same was true for Manning and the Heisman trophy. While the latter has already been ruled out, a win over Vanderbilt certainly creates some hope for those still holding onto their Texas tickets.
According to head coach Steve Sarkisian, Manning’s assessment of the offensive line was absolutely correct, and that could bode well for them as we continue to creep towards playoff time.
“This was the best protection he’s gotten all year and that’s a credit to everybody… I thought our tackles did a nice job and I thought Arch, to his credit, helped them… It allowed him to get through his reads… And run game-wise, we’re making a ton of progress… I think there’s more there for us, and we can continue to improve at that… You’re not a finished product in September and October, you can continue to improve, and we’re getting better.”
Now that they’ve seemingly had their screws knocked back into place, Manning and the rest of his herd will now begin to prepare for what will likely be their toughest opponents for the remainder of the season, the Georgia Bulldogs.
Given the pedigree of this team in recent years, it’s hard to envision an outright win for the Longhorns, but they still fancy their chances nonetheless, and that should be enough to help give college football fans a late contender for game of the year when it’s all said and done.
