The Texas Longhorns are set to face Tennessee in their next CFB game, and this matchup has a lot of meaning for quarterback Arch Manning.
He will be playing against a team that his uncle Peyton Manning represented, and led to an SEC Championship in 1997.
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This will be the first time Arch Manning faces his uncle’s alma mater, and the pressure will be on him to deliver a special performance in front of a packed Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.
As headlines continue to talk about how big a game this is for Arch, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is confident in what he can produce as a QB, despite all the pressure on him going into the game on Saturday.
Manning has had some solid performances this season, helping the Longhorns get to a 3-0 start.
Sarkisian chimed in on how Manning has handled constantly being in the headlines and what he wanted leading up to the game
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“I think at the end of the day, you’re a quarterback at Texas, your last name is Manning, regardless of what you do, you’re going to get critiqued,” said Sarkisian.
“I want him to be him, and I want him to be him every Saturday, who he is, is an engaging leader, who he is, is a guy that picks other people up, who he is, is a guy that doesn’t play the position like a robot, he uses his legs to his advantage.”
Sarkisian then proceeded to heap praise on how Manning uses his running game, before continuing to share his advice for the young QB.
“I want him to be Arch Manning. I don’t want him to be Archie, I don’t want him to be Peyton, I don’t want him to be Eli, I don’t want him to be Colt McCoy, I don’t want him to be Vince Young, I want him to be Arch Manning and Arch Manning is plenty good enough for us to put us in position to win,” added Sarkisian in his Monday press conference.
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The Manning family name is arguably the most reputed in all of football, and since Arch stepped into CFB, all the spotlight has been on him.
The 22-year-old has done well so far to handle all that has come with his surname, but Saturday against Tennessee will be another test. He will be facing the crowd that adores his uncle Peyton, but Arch will be on the other side with the Longhorns, and this means things could get hostile for him in his first visit to Knoxville.
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