Though it's reasonable to think or say that quite a few things went wrong for Steve Sarkisian's offense against the reigning national champs on Saturday, one main thing doomed them in the end:
Arch Manning.
No, it's not just as simple as him being inaccurate for a large portion of the game or that he made a few incorrect reads. It's the fact that he looked jittery, uncomfortable, and rushed throughout the majority of the game, despite the offensive line pass protecting fairly well for the most part.
There were countless plays where Arch could've effectively sat back in the pocket and taken what the defense gave him, but he just randomly decided to take off for no reason whatsoever. It seemed like Manning was "holding out" to see if one of his receivers could get separation deep, which gave OSU's pass rushers more time to reach him.
Yes, there were a few plays where RT Brandon Baker got beat on the edge, but Manning definitely wasn't helping his offensive line on Saturday. There was one specific, frustrating play where Arch had Jack Endries streaking across the middle wide open 6 yards downfield, but he decided to tuck it and run for a 1-yard gain.
Here are some examples of Matt Patricia putting Arch Manning & Sark in a blender. Different coverage rotations. Creative disguises. Non-traditional Tampa’s. Funky pressures + fronts. Locked coverages. Odd Mirror. Three safety stuff. Downs everywhere. Patricia unloaded the clip pic.twitter.com/69k6RAjiKS
— Ollie Connolly (@OllieConnolly) September 1, 2025
Later in the game, he completely missed Ryan Wingo streaking open on a slant that could've been a touchdown. He instead decided to throw a jump ball to the corner of the endzone, which was obviously incomplete.
I'm not sure if the reads needs to be adjusted by Steve Sarkisian, or if Manning was just locking on to specific players throughout the game but something needs to change going forward. For example, some passing concepts are supposed to be read "outside-in" meaning the outside receivers have 1st priority, which is fine, but Manning then needs to come off those reads faster when his tight ends and inside guys are creating early separation across the middle.
He did a pretty good job of using his running backs as his safety valves in the passing game, but he needs to work with Sark, Kyle Flood, and A.J. Milwee this week to fix some mechanical issues and read-processing errors.
If Texas football has any hope of having an efficient, successful offense this season, then Arch Manning absolutely cannot have another performance like this. I understand the pressure that's on his shoulders, but this is basic fundamental stuff that's going wrong here.