Buried following a brutal first half to the 2025 season, Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning has a chance to flip the narrative surrounding his first full year as a college starting quarterback over the next three games games, beginning Saturday at College Football Playoff No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs (8-1, 6-1 in SEC). His recent performances are reason for optimism. Manning, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 high-school recruiting class, was widely hailed as a potential first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, but those talks quickly dimmed once Manning took the field. Over his first five games, No. 10 Texas (7-2, 4-1 in SEC), ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP poll, went 3-2. Manning was 81-of-135 (60 percent) for 1,151 passing yards (230.2 yards per game), 16 total touchdowns and five interceptions. His numbers were far less impressive when isolating his two power conference games — losses at Ohio State and Florida. In those games, Manning completed 55.9 percent of his pass attempts for 433 yards (21
