The Key to Success for Texas QB Arch Manning This Season? Patience

Through five starts this season, Texas quarterback Arch Manning has been fine — and that’s bad, because the expectation ahead of the 2025 college football season was for him to lead the Longhorns to a championship title.

It’s not just that he began this season as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, but Texas ranked as the preseason No. 1 in my initial top 25 rankings, as well as the first AP Top 25 poll and initial NCAA coaches poll. Who the best team in the country was rested on that belief, and we had good reason to believe Manning would be one of those rare players — and they are rare — who enter into their first season as a starting quarterback at the highest level of competition in the sport and prove themselves elite right out of the gate.

Tim Tebow was elite from the moment he could start for Urban Meyer at Florida. Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel were elite at Florida State and Texas A&M, respectively. Jalen Hurts became the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Alabama in 32 years and ended the season as the SEC Offensive Player of the Year. Trevor Lawrence came off the bench in 2018 and led Clemson to an undefeated 15-0 season and a national title in the four-team College Football Playoff era.

It has been done, and it’s likely to happen again given the volatility of the sport since the advent of immediate eligibility for all players who choose to enter the transfer portal. However, it’s more likely that a talent like Manning will need time to mature and gather experience as a full-time starter before we can expect him to compete for the Heisman in earnest.

Last week against Florida, Manning played well. He was pressured on 61.9% of the 26 times he dropped back to pass, while being sacked six