Arch Manning Dinks and Dunks His Way to Victory

In what’s been a roller coaster of a season for University of Texas quarterback Arch Manning, he found a way to get back on track against No. 6 Oklahoma.

WATCH TEXAS VS. OKLAHOMA

How did he do it?

Manning threw a lot of short passes.

Getting back on track meant getting the ball out of his hand faster, which is something Manning has struggled to do most of this season.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) confirms. Manning has held the ball for 3.00 seconds (or longer) in four out of his first five games this season.

That has put too much pressure on his offensive line to keep pass rushers off of him, and it has made completing downfield timing routes that much more difficult.

It wasn’t until Manning’s third drive of the first quarter that he completed something other than a short pass against the Sooners. Manning went through his first, second, and third read, but nothing was there. The pocket started collapsing, and Manning rolled out to his left. But, instead of panicking and taking off running, he thought better of it and fired one downfield to a diving receiver who had just drifted beyond the coverage for a 24-yard completion.

The drive resulted in a missed field goal, but Manning needed that one for his confidence.

Second quarter

I’ll say this for all the short passes: it helped get Manning into a rhythm. This kept him poised and patient.

And then again, he ventured out for something more. It was another completed pass on a critical 3rd and 14.

He wasn’t done attempting to throw it a little bit further.

One mid-range pass thrown under pressure was way off target, and another that he flung into the back of the endzone resulted in a pass breakup (PBU) by an Oklahoma defender.

Oh well. He tried.

Halftime: Oklahoma 6 – Texas 3

Third quarter

Much of the same.

You guessed it.

More runs.

More short passes.

However, Manning did manage to find a wide-open receiver in the back of the endzone for an 11-yard touchdown.

Nice.

This one put the Longhorns up 10-6.

They never looked back.

For good measure, Manning completed a couple more short passes and two more into the intermediate route level (11-19 yards).

Fourth quarter

The Longhorns got the ball back for Manning with an interception, but that drive stalled out and resulted in another field goal.

Yes, more runs and another short pass.

Not long after, a Longhorns’ punt return for a touchdown broke the floodgates open, and they added another field goal on a drive after that.

Final Score

Texas 23

Oklahoma 6

NFL scouting perspective

How does what Manning did against Oklahoma translate to the NFL?

C+

Manning’s game stats:

• 21 completions
• 27 attempts
• 77.8% completion percentage
• 166 yards
• 1 touchdown
• 0 interceptions
• 1 PBU
• Sacked one time

The stats look better than the film. He looked like a game manager. His ball placement on anything beyond the short range was average.

Granted, being sacked once over the six sacks he took the week prior against Florida was a marked improvement. All the short passes helped. Manning’s time to throw against Oklahoma was his second-best of the season per PFF (2.79 seconds). All the short passes helped.

Something interesting ⎯

Most of Manning’s short passes were his “second read.”

I haven’t seen that before from him.

Manning was under pressure rather quickly against the Sooners, and Texas schemed a good deal of play flow manipulation, where Manning would look one direction before throwing the ball somewhere else short.

Manning was great making one-read throws on his 2023 and 2024 game film, but had struggled this season attempting to make NFL-level two+ read throws in a timely fashion. The “two-read short throws” against Oklahoma were the workaround, and it worked for a W against a highly ranked opponent.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock, and has written for Sports Illustrated (Lions, Jets, and 49ers), NFL Draft Diamonds, and Yardbarker, as well as a featured guest on ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio. Featured in USA Today. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. Follow on Twitter @firstroundmock.