Arch Manning’s first season as a starter has been a roller coaster — and Saturday night was one of the valleys.
During the Longhorns’ crushing 35-10 loss to No. 5-ranked Georgia on Saturday, Manning, 21, threw for 251 passing yards on 27-of-43 attempts with a touchdown and an interception.
And the interception was an ugly one.
Midway through the second quarter on third-and-short, Manning attempted a sidearm pass to Texas wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr., but the ball soared above his head, landing perfectly into the hands of Bulldogs defensive back KJ Bolden.
“Against teams like that, you can’t miss any throws,” Manning told reporters. “I’ve got to play well the whole game.”
When asked about what the most frustrating part of Saturday’s loss was, Manning’s answer was simple.
“Losing,” he told reporters.
The game seemed within reach for the Longhorns after Manning’s touchdown pass to receiver Ryan Wingo late in the third quarter making the score 14-10, but Georgia’s 21 unanswered points in the fourth crushed any hopes Texas had of making a comeback.
“That was a really good game until the start of the 4th quarter,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters following the loss. “It was 14-10, they get the ball, they convert two fourth downs, they score, they onside kick, they score, they pop a kickoff down there, we get pinned inside the 10, shank a punt, they score again.
“It was 21-0 in the fourth quarter. Great job by Georgia.”
Saturday’s loss now puts Texas at 7-3 on the season, with their College Football Playoff hopes now in jeopardy.
Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner still believes that his squad can reach the playoffs, saying that they just need to “take care of business in the future.”
“We’ve still got a great team and two tough games ahead of us,” Wisner said. “I feel like if we execute and pay attention to details at a high level, we’ll go take care of business in the future. Right now, we’ve just got to get ready to get back to work from this game.”
Texas is set to face Arkansas next who have yet to win a game against Southeastern Conference opponents.
“We’re just going to go do our best to beat Arkansas and control what we can control,” Manning said.
