After a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback win over Ohio State, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns face a challenging matchup with the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday. Both teams are undefeated, and this will be both teams' first SEC game. The winner will likely have a much clearer path to the College Football Playoffs based on what's at stake.
And amid another season where Arch Manning started among Heisman Trophy contenders, his performance through three games hasn't inspired confidence in some. That includes college football podcaster Joel Klatt, who recently gave his blunt take on Manning thus far. "Arch has not lit it on fire this year," Klatt contended, adding, "Those last three drives against Ohio State, he was excellent, more gritty than excellent, but he got the job done." More news: Urban Meyer Admits Bias With Bold Claim About Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith "Outside of that, guys, and I know this is a contrarian take, and no one wants to have it, Arch has not been that impressive," he said on his recent podcast.
"I know we all want him to be impressive because of the last name, but he's gotta take the next step, and the next step for him is playing well on the road, anticipating throws," Klatt said. He also mentioned Texas was ineffective at running the ball and protecting the quarterback in road games last season, which could give Tennessee a way to make "life difficult" for the star quarterback. Klatt admitted that Texas appears "better at the line of scrimmage" and at "running the football" compared to last season.
He suggested that if that can happen against the Volunteers, they should be fine. If not, it'll come down to Manning stepping up his game on the road. More news: Marcus Freeman Reveals He Apologized to Notre Dame RB for Celebration Outburst Manning completed 23 of 37 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown against Ohio State, but also threw an interception and was sacked twice.
His best game was a season opener against Texas State, where he threw for over 305 yards and four touchdowns, but that was a 59-7 rout against a team most will agree is nowhere near the level of what the Longhorns will face in Tennessee. They rank 26th in the nation for points allowed, giving up just 14 per game. Tennessee has also scored quite a lot, averaging 47.7 points per game and 510.3 yards of offense per game.
However, that's also been in three out-of-conference games, including big wins over Kennesaw State and Furman. As of this report, many NFL mock drafts for next year consider Manning among the top three picks. Tankathon’s mock draft lists him at No. 2, with talented Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith ahead of him.
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