After spending two years as Quinn Ewers’ backup, Texas quarterback Arch Manning seems to believe his patience will pay off.
“There’s nowhere else I want to be,” Manning said Thursday when asked why he didn’t transfer, via Travis Recek of Spectrum News Texas. “I love this place. I want to be the quarterback at the University of Texas. Sometimes it’s worth the wait.”
Manning, 19, also thanked Ewers for not envying him for the spotlight he receives.
“It’s probably pretty annoying having me as the backup with all the media attention and stuff,” Manning said. “But he handled it like a champ and was so good to me along the way.”
Manning, of course, is the nephew of two-time Super Bowl champions Peyton and Eli. Despite the limited playing time at Texas, he has shown why he could live up to the family name.
In 2024, he replaced Ewers after he suffered an oblique injury in a Week 3 win over UTSA. In two starts, he went 2-0, tossing four touchdowns and rushing for another. Arch Manning finished with 13 touchdowns (nine passing and four rushing) in 10 games.
His arm strength and mobility could take head coach Steve Sarkisian’s offense to the next level, which could push the Longhorns over the hump in 2025.
Over the past two seasons, Texas has made the College Football Playoff semifinals but lost to Washington in 2023 and Ohio State in 2024.
The Longhorns haven’t won a national title since the 2005 season. Arch Manning ending the drought would certainly make Texas fans happy that he stayed with the program.
