According to a recent CBS Sports article, Arch Manning has been rising up the list of top collegiate quarterbacks in 2025 over the past few weeks. He was absolutely dominant for Texas against both Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, showing a newfound confidence and moxie as a passer.
Steve Sarkisian has been making things easier for Manning and the passing offense recently by using an unusually high amount of pre-snap motion. This does a number of things for the quarterback, but the main advantage is that it helps diagnose the defensive coverage before the snap.
This has been allowing Arch to basically pre-plan what he wants to or can do before the play even begins. Sark likes to use his motion players as decoys in order to pull coverages apart as well, making it easier to stretch the field horizontally. This opens up holes in the middle of the defense in the short to intermediate areas of the field.
Who uses pre-snap motion the most often, and what is the run/pass tendency when teams use motion?
— parker fleming (@statsowar) November 4, 2025
Further right: more presnap motion
Further up: more passes when you use presnap motion pic.twitter.com/oiuog8LI4e
Sarkisian is simply using motion to scheme receivers and tight ends open for Manning to take advantage of. It's resulted in the offense looking smoother through the air, easily being able to "dink and dunk" down the field like they did against Vanderbilt last week.
CBS currently has Arch Manning ranked No.18 on the list of top 50 college quarterbacks, right behind USF's Byrum Brown and Georgia's Gunner Stockton.
"Manning's meteoric rise this week is a nod to his steady performance in a desperately needed win over a top-10 Vanderbilt team. It was his second straight 300-plus-yard, three-touchdown passing performance in an SEC victory. It also came after Manning spent the week in concussion protocol. The redshirt sophomore is blossoming at the right time."
Like they said, Manning has been breaking out at the right time for Texas. The Longhorns have a bye this weekend but then they play Georgia, Arkansas, and Texas A&M to finish out the 2025 season. If Arch continues to play at this level, Steve Sarkisian and the offense has the potential to put up some serious points over the next three games.