Arch Manning can lead Texas to title, but staying on bench will benefit him

Arch Manning's dress rehearsal to be Texas' starting quarterback went about as well as anyone could've hoped after Quinn Ewers went down with an oblique injury.

The redshirt freshman completed 69.4% of his passes for 806 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions to go with 82 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns over Texas' last three games, starting with when he took over for the injured Ewers on Sept. 14 against UTSA. More importantly for the Longhorns, Ewers led Texas to decisive victories over the two starts he made, including its SEC opener against Mississippi State on Saturday. 

Texas' offense hasn't missed a beat with Manning in at quarterback since Ewers' injury. It's scored a touchdown on 16 of the 29 drives that Manning's been in at quarterback over that stretch, helping Texas rank eighth in total offense and 11th in scoring offense this season. 

Even though Manning's impressive outings didn't come against the toughest opponents (UTSA, Louisiana-Monroe, Mississippi State), FOX Sports' Joel Klatt and Colin Cowherd each believe that he's shown enough to prove he can lead the Longhorns to the promised land.

"Whether he's the starter at Texas or not — and Ewers is their starter and he's going to be their starter and they want him back, he's their leader — but Arch has solidified them as a national championship contender because now it doesn't matter if their quarterback stays healthy," Klatt said on "The Herd." "They're still a premier team in the country with him at quarterback."

"They can win the national championship with Arch Manning or Quinn Ewers," Cowherd interjected.

"I think that's true, that's absolutely right," Klatt said in agreement. 

Despite Manning's impressive play and perception as an elite