Arch Manning threw two interceptions and fumbled into a touchdown for Ole Miss, and Texas still won anyway. That's the case against him.
Texas beat Ole Miss 34-27 on Saturday night in Austin. Look only at the score and it reads like a big win over a ranked opponent on a two-game skid. Look at how it happened and the story gets uglier. Texas led 24-3 at halftime, then Manning gave the ball away three times, including a strip-sack that Ole Miss scooped up and ran in for a touchdown, and the Rebels tied it at 24-24 early in the fourth quarter. A 21-point lead turned into a dead heat because the quarterback couldn't hold onto the ball.
Raleek Brown won that game late. With the score tied, he ripped off a 47-yard run that set up Manning's go-ahead touchdown, then kept grinding out yards so Texas could run clock and add a field goal. Texas needed an interception on Ole Miss's final heave to close it out. Manning's contribution to the winning sequence was a one-yard bootleg that Brown's legs made possible.
People arguing this was progress point to the first half. Up 24-3 against a top-ten team, Manning looked like the guy Texas thought it was getting when the hype started building years ago. One half of clean football against a defense that hadn't adjusted yet doesn't erase three turnovers against the same defense once it had. Manning came into the game averaging modest passing numbers, with several outings under 200 yards, the kind of season-long line that doesn't scream franchise quarterback. Friday's second half fit that pattern exactly.
Steve Sarkisian doesn't believe in Manning right now either. Heading into this game, with Texas coming off its first multi-game losing streak in five years, Sarkisian reportedly gave backup KJ Lacey extra first-team practice reps during the week. A head coach doesn't do that to a guy he's fully committed to. The benching chatter around Manning was loud enough that Sarkisian apparently felt he needed to test an alternative in practice before kickoff.
The penalty problem is real too. Texas racked up personal fouls and defensive flags all night, the kind that handed Ole Miss short fields during its comeback. That's a discipline issue that sits with the roster and the coaching staff. Spread the blame there if you want, but don't let it launder Manning's night. Texas has at least two problems: a quarterback who turns the ball over in winnable games, and a head coach who keeps running him out there anyway.
Texas is 5-2 and 2-2 in SEC play through this weekend, a far cry from the preseason No. 1 ranking this roster carried into the year, and the conference around them is so unsettled that Kentucky sits alone atop the standings as of this weekend. None of that is Manning's doing specifically. But a program that fell from the top of the polls doesn't get to point at a 34-27 escape act and call it a turnaround while its quarterback is the one handing the opponent touchdowns. Sarkisian keeps starting Manning. That's on Sarkisian now as much as it's on Manning.
