Welcome to The Reheat, a weekly recap of the previous day’s game, just popped out of the microwave. Look for it every Sunday, rain or shine.
It’s probably a good thing Arch Manning didn’t look like God in his first collegiate start. I’ll admit, the hype leading up to his debut even caught me by surprise, as someone who lives and breathes this stuff. You’d forget that the Longhorns and Warhawks matchup was just a filler non-conference game between a backup quarterback and another unfortunately named General Booty1 because the anticipation around the coronation of the next Manning reminded me of the hoopla around LeBron’s first start or Wemby’s. So how did the heir to the dynasty look? Like a super-talented redshirt freshman—the last word in that sentence being the key. Those expecting god incarnate were probably disappointed, as the young Manning graded his own performance with a C+. But Arch looked exactly how realists should have expected him to look. He is preternaturally gifted, confident, and might already throw the best deep ball I’ve ever seen come through the 40 Acres, but his indecisiveness led to him taking way too many hits, and he threw two freshman interceptions.
It’s funny because when I first learned about Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning years ago, I expected them to have the other one’s skill set. I thought Quinn would be the Wild West gunslinger, full of moxie, who never saw a receiver that wasn’t open, and I believed Arch would be the ultimate field general (no pun intended) who always makes the smart play. Manning’s love of the deep ball shows his youth, but also why he and Sark are more like soulmates, while Quinn and Sark are more like the arranged marriage that has turned out very well. Additionally, as Arch and Quinn both continue to grow into fully formed quarterbacks, the former more than the latter, their biggest areas of growth will be in borrowing weapons from each other’s arsenal.
It’s not a question that Manning’s future is bright, but it’s clear it will take time for the light to become blinding. If there were any fans, lurkers, or talking heads disappointed with Arch’s performance, they’re ignoring why the Mannings chose Texas in the first place. Peyton and Eli were afforded time to learn, grow, and develop. The Mannings wanted Arch to have that same luxury. Arch is a work in progress—a work that, once finished, will be an all-timer (in the humble opinion of yours truly). But for now, he’s raw, and the rest of the country just learned what Arch and his family of football royalty already knew.
Fire The Cannon for:
Your kids never appreciate you more than when they’ve had a babysitter, and I hope Texas fans feel the same about Quinn Ewers. Despite Arch’s talent, he still made several decisions due to inexperience that Quinn simply doesn’t make anymore. Longhorn fans should welcome Quinn back for SEC play with their horns held very high.
The atmosphere. I grew up in Austin and remember going to games in the 1990s and early 2000s. There were times DKR felt like a church service—the most boring kind. My sophomore year of college was the Alabama National Championship loss, and I remember night games during that undefeated season that were outright snoozefests. The Maryland opener in 2017? Worst crowd I’ve ever been in, for a multitude of reasons. The product being terrible didn’t help the atmosphere, but even before the last two seasons, it’s been different. The University had no choice—the growth of Austin and the direction of college football required the atmosphere to improve—but someone still had to make it happen. And Chris Del Conte and his department have done it; they’ve totally transformed the experience of DKR for the better. I’ve been to Bryant-Denny, I’ve been to the Coliseum, I went to Kyle Field for a spring game one time, and DKR is up there with the best of them. I mean, last night was against U-L-M for god's sake, against General Freakin’ Booty, and sure, a Manning was starting at quarterback, but it was an electric atmosphere from start to finish. If visiting SEC fans are expecting to come to DKR and find the wine and cheese club of my youth waiting, they better bring their own Manchego and a whole lot of boxed wine. They’re going to need it.
Horns Up on Offense for: Jaydon Blue’s coming-out party. The junior had four total touchdowns and 124 rushing yards to help put the Warhawks to sleep after missing last week’s game against UTSA with a nagging ankle. Blue still needs to break off one of his trademark long runs, but regaining his footing is a start.
Horns Up on Defense for: The linebackers. Sophomores Anthony Hill and Liona Lefau made plays all night. Hill had an early sack and an interception that should have been a pick-six, while Lefau stuffed ULM in their own end zone for a safety. The two are the type of players that Texas missed out on for over a decade. Late-stage Mack Brown didn’t get involved in dogfight recruitments, while Charlie Strong and Tom Herman had nothing to sell. Sark and co. aren’t afraid to go after a five-star linebacker who was previously committed to A&M and stay on him (Hill) or a Hawaiian missile in Lefau that would have previously ended up at USC or Oregon nine times out of ten.
Bevo’s Bucket for: Eight-game conference schedules. The Longhorns should have opened SEC play last night, but in the words of Walter from The Big Lebowski: “These men are cowards, Donny.” The bottom-feeders of the SEC refused to add a ninth conference game because they want to get to a bowl to be eligible. As usual, the fans are the ones who get screwed. Hopefully, it gets fixed in 2026 because the Horn’s 2025 home slate looks very meh.
Schadenfreude of the week: Speaking of kicking off SEC play. The Sooners pooped under the covers against Tennessee, and Jackson Arnold was benched. Yes, the same Jackson Arnold who Sooners fans thought was better than Dillon Gabriel. The same Jackson Arnold who Sooner fans said was better than Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning. That’s the one.
This piping Hot Take burned the roof of my mouth: This isn’t even that hot, but it’s been on my mind. Between Davis Warren getting benched at Michigan, Jackson Arnold being on shaky ground in Norman, General Booty being a real person, and Mississippi State losing Baylor transfer Blake Shapen for the season yesterday, the Longhorn defense isn’t facing a murderer’s row of passers before Carson Beck and Georgia come to town on October 19th. But I’d argue that’s a feature of college football now, not a bug. Quarterbacks suck now, at least most of them do. You see young NFL quarterbacks literally dying on the vine on their way to very short careers. But now, the number of great college passers seems to be getting smaller. How many great quarterbacks are in college football right now? There are super old guys who just know what they’re doing in Gabriel, Miami’s Cam Ward, and Ohio State’s Will Howard. Last year Michael Penix and Bo Nix wore the old guy crown. Then ones on the cusp of greatness, like Quinn and Carson Beck, have been around for a long time in the same system. If we’re talking about who actually excites us, it’s just the dangerous young guys (still with flaws) like Arch and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola. After that, there’s a whole mass of average to below average. It seems like almost every fanbase hates their quarterback situation. This is happening despite quarterbacks arriving in college as better throwers of the football than they’ve ever been, with camps, 7-on-7s, and the sophistication of high school schemes. Then they become worse quarterbacks despite being better throwers, because they’re run over by the ever-changing transfer portal and inconsistencies in the coaching scheme. The BJ Symons and Brandon Weedens of the world have vanished, so too have the Sam Ehlingers. Where’d they all go?
Hype Train Level (0 being Manny Diaz is fired at the airport, 10 being 45-35): 7.5
The Longhorns' defense made him look more like Admiral Ass (Sorry, I had to do it).
The analogy to an arranged marriage is pure gold!
LOL! Admiral Ass!!! Good one!
I agree, they hype about Arch was so over-wrought it could only fail. That said, his c+ is better than the rest of anemic WQB crop! Duly noted!
Keep it up, RT!!!