AUSTIN (KXAN) — Arch Manning was getting hit from all angles against the Florida Gators in a 29-21 loss, and while he certainly didn’t play perfectly, he still had obvious moments of growth in the eyes of his coach.
Manning finished the game 16-for-29 with 263 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, but was sacked six times and hurried eight times. He also had to scramble when the pocket broke down, which happened often, resulting in 15 carries for 37 yards. He took plenty of punishment from the Florida defense, and head coach Steve Sarkisian said Manning “showed a lot of contact courage.”
“I found out that he’s a tough dude,” Sarkisian said. “He fought his a– off Saturday, and those were not ideal conditions for a quarterback to perform under. Are there a couple of throws I’m sure he’d love to have back? Of course, but he stood in there, took hits and delivered the ball. There were some really impressive throws in there, and he battled until the very end.”
He hit some big passes down the field, but also missed a couple. He had Emmett Mosley V wide open down the right seam of the Florida defense in the second quarter, except he overshot his target by about five yards on what would have been a walk-in touchdown. He hit Ryan Wingo with a beautifully thrown pass for a 38-yard touchdown in the third quarter, lofting a ball over the Florida defensive back to hit Wingo in stride in the back of the end zone.
Since Texas never led in the game, Manning had to air it out to keep the Longhorns in it. He was 6-for-17 for 160 yards on passes of 15 or more air yards, connecting on 4 of 7 down the left side for 116 yards. Texas was also in a lot of third-and-long situations since the run game was essentially nonexistent, so Florida’s pass rush could really get after him.
He said he was “a little sore” after the game, but has confidence in his offensive line that they’ll play better against the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday.
“We had a good practice today, and continue to lock into the details of the game plan,” Manning said. “A few of the sacks, I think I could have avoided by getting rid of it earlier or switching protections, but I have to continue to get better each week.”
Sarkisian knows that Manning needs to play better, and he’s confident that Manning will continue to improve. He saw improvement after facing a tough Florida defense, and there’s no reason why he can’t get better, Sarkisian said.
“Does he need to play better? Sure. Do we need to play better around him? No question,” he said. “That’s the goal for us on that.”
Part of that is getting some easier completions for Manning earlier in the game. A chunk of the game plan, Sarkisian said, was to attack the Gators vertically down the field. He said he thought he could exploit the middle of their defense in that regard, but when you don’t have time to throw because the pass rush is getting home, things change.
“We hit a couple, and we didn’t hit some,” Sarkisian said. “Every game has its own formula for success, of how we’re going to try to attack an opponent, and the flow of the game dictates where you start leaning.”
Perhaps against the Sooners at the Cotton Bowl, Sarkisian will call plays where Manning gets the ball out quickly, early in the game, to build that rhythm and set him up to take deep shots down the field in the latter portions. He’ll probably put some wrinkles into the scheme, too.
“We’ve got to be more creative to find ways to get some of those easier completions,” Sarkisian said. “We need enough in our toolbox Saturday to be able to get to those things.”
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