Apart from perhaps Andrew Luck, Trevor Lawrence, and his uncle Peyton, Texas Longhorns QB Arch Manning might be the most hyped prospect in recent college football memory. The pressure is definitely on, and the schedule-makers didn’t do him any favors either.
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He is expected to be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NFL Draft, though it’s not even certain he will declare. Nonetheless, that hype contributed to Texas entering the 2025 season as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation in the AP poll. So who else could they face in Week 1 but the reigning national champion Ohio State Buckeyes on the road?
Ohio State wasn’t just dominant last year … they were especially strong on the defensive side of the ball. So it’s a huge test to open the season for Arch Manning. Unfortunately, his first pass attempt didn’t go quite as planned on Saturday afternoon in Columbus.
Manning lined up in the pistol, faked a hand off, and rolled out to his right. He was chased quickly by a Buckeyes defensive lineman, which caused him to rush his throw and skip one to a wide-open receiver 20 yards down the field. It also seemingly forced him to change his throwing angle.
It was definitely a strange throwing motion for the youngster. One fan on Twitter even hilariously compared the throw to the iconic Napoleon Dynamite character Uncle Rico. The similarities in throwing release were actually uncanny.
arch be like pic.twitter.com/roz3U5hIx3
— BasedThanos.eth (@Maximill15) August 30, 2025
Another user who thought they were pretty clever compared Manning to an NBA star: “This is the new Lamelo Ball.” The user must not be aware that Ball was a Rookie of the Year, an All-Star in his second year, and a 25-point scorer in his fifth season last year. Manning will surely take that comparison any day.
Other fans rightly pointed out how strange it was to post a tweet just for a player’s first incomplete pass of the season: “You’re going to monitor every throw now?” Another pointed out the pressure of the moment: “Nerves going crazy right now.”
No doubt those last two things are heavily connected: the hype and extra coverage surrounding Manning is likely going to cause the 21-year-old to experience nerves he otherwise wouldn’t.
Manning and the Longhorns went into halftime against Ohio State down 7-0. After that first incompletion, Manning went 5-for-9 for just 26 yards through the air. He added five carries for just 13 yards on the ground. Clearly, he and the Longhorns’ offensive coaching staff haven’t figured out an Ohio State defense that was No. 1 in both scoring and yards last season.
Having your debut as a nailed-on starter at a school as big as Texas come against a defending national champion with a defense as good as Ohio State’s isn’t ideal. So, there should be no need for panic if Arch Manning plays poorly against Ohio State, though no doubt every talking head on TV will do just that come Sunday morning.
