Longhorns QB Arch Manning faced "flop" accusations, but his recent dominance, leading Texas to four wins in five games, silences doubters and reveals his true potential.
If Arch Manning wanted a quiet first full season as Texas’ starter, that dream got body-slammed in Week 1.
The Longhorns opened as the nation's top-ranked team, Manning opened as a Heisman hype machine, and then the Ohio State game happened ... a 14-7 gut punch that flipped the vibe in Austin from title dreams to panic scrolls.
Soon enough, after a 29-21 loss at Florida, the noise hit peak ridiculousness.
A New York Times piece went as far as labeling Manning a "flop," and the internet - always starving - tried to run victory laps on a 19-year-old in his first season under center.
Cool story, but Arch didn't buy it, and neither did Texas.
Since that "flop" tag got stapled to him, Manning has played like somebody who took it personally without ever saying he took it personally.
Over the last five games, Texas is 4-1, highlighted by a statement-making 23-6 beatdown of Oklahoma. And Manning's numbers in that stretch look a lot more like a preseason prophecy than an early-season struggle with 114 completions on 176 attempts (64.7 percent), 1,223 passing yards, nine total touchdowns, and only two interceptions.
He's also piloted the Horns to a 2-1 record against Top 10 opponents during the run, averaging 244.6 yards through the air per game while adding a dangerous 10.7 yards per carry on the ground.
That's not a "bust." That’s a quarterback growing up in real time.
Manning didn't pretend the criticism came out of nowhere, either. When asked about the "flop" label last month, he didn’t clap back, he owned the moment.
"Look, I wasn't playing well and I’m going to continue to get better," Manning said with a slight chuckle. "Everyone has their own opinion… so it doesn't bother me."
He also admitted how weird it is trying to tune out the outside world when you're Arch Manning.
"I feel like I try to do my best in blocking out the noise," he said, "But then you get, like, 100 text messages saying, 'keep blocking out the noise,' like there must be a lot of noise."
Fair. But the field has been louder.
Even with Georgia dealing a blow to Texas' playoff hopes, this version of Manning is the one Longhorn fans were promised ... poised, explosive, and increasingly ruthless.
The September panic is old news. Arch is here, he's learning, and now he's swinging back.