Brent Venables sees 'no weaknesses' in Arch Manning's play ahead of Red River Rivalry

You can have all of your issues with Arch Manning, but it is impossible to deny that he wins games with the Texas Longhorns.

Yes, last year was shaky, but since losing to the Florida Gators in his first-ever SEC start, he has looked like a different quarterback, and he has gone 12-3 overall and has gone undefeated in the state of Texas as the Horns' QB1.

So, as Texas carries its undefeated 4-0 record and No. 1 ranking into the Red River Rivalry, one could put a lot of that success on Manning's shoulders, and Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables knows that.

"Arch is a fantastic talent; he's got a cannon of an arm, he can really run, he's a tremendous athlete," Venables said about facing Manning on Saturday. "A guy like him, he's got no weaknesses when it comes to his talent, his ability, his arm, his legs, his instincts... Great player. His best football is still in front of him. Great competitor. Guy has won a lot."

Of course, Manning breezed past the Oklahoma Sooners in last year's Red River Rivalry, completing nearly 78% of his pass attempts for 166 yards and one touchdown.

Venables credited Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian with putting the right, similarly great, players around Manning to shore up that success, but the praise had the Sooners' head coach sounding all-in on the Horns' QB.

However, with Oklahoma's current streak of... less than ideal... quarterbacks, is Venables' praise for Manning actually a curse?

Brent Venables' praise of Arch Manning could be a double-edged blade

Venables took over in Norman in 2022, and since then, he has had just one (and I mean 1) truly good quarterback: Dillon Gabriel, who ended up transferring to play for the Oregon Ducks after two seasons at Oklahoma.

Since then, his quarterback room has been one of the shakiest and most poorly managed QB rooms in the nation.

Jackson Arnold was a total flop at the Power Conference level, failing at Oklahoma, before struggling at Auburn, before finally finding his footing (sort of) with the UNLV Rebels this year. Backup quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. looked incapable of success with the Sooners but is thriving with the West Virginia Mountaineers.

And, last but certainly not least, John Mateer may be one of the biggest disappointments so far this season, giving up more turnovers than touchdowns scored.

So, while Venables recognizing Manning's abilities is great to hear, should we actually trust his evaluation of a quarterback with his growing list of letdowns in the backfield?

Obviously, a lot of the blame could be placed on Oklahoma's offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, who is also the Sooners' quarterbacks coach. However, it's Venables' job to find and hire the right guy to hold those roles, and he clearly hasn't done that.

This rivalry matchup is a chance for Manning to separate himself from Mateer, with the two sharing slightly similar stat lines through the first four games of the year, and right now, it sounds like Mateer's head coach has no clear path to slowing Manning down.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow