From the unbelievable hype to his own grandfather saying he'll be in Austin next year, the noise around Texas quarterback Arch Manning has been deafening this year.
Then, Manning struggled through his first three games of the season, and all of a sudden, the only noise you could hear was the crickets.
On the morning of Week 4, before Manning and the Longhorns took on the Sam Houston State Bearkats, ESPN’s College GameDay kicked off the weekend, and college football analyst Pete Thamel fueled the fire of the doubters.
""Remember Arch Manning, who a lot of people thought would be the No. 1 pick in this draft - the NFL sentiment right now, Rece [Davis], is that Arch isn't going to be able to go to the draft until 2027.""Pete Thamel, ESPN
Just like that, Manning went from being the No. 1 overall pick to a first-round pick to a late-draft pick to entirely off the draft board in the blink of an eye.
So far this season, Manning has thrown just six touchdowns, while throwing three interceptions and completing just over 55 percent of his pass attempts.
Simply put, his performances have left Longhorn fans (and the rest of the country) wanting more out of the prodigal son. Yet, he repeatedly fell short of expectations.
Even former Alabama head coach and G.O.A.T. of college football, Nick Saban, had to defend the young QB, saying the country put way too much pressure on Manning and his first season as Texas’s starting quarterback.
"I think when things aren't going well for a player, you gotta go back to technical aspects of how you're trying to execute," Saban said. "His mechanics are a little off. He's throwing more sidearm than he was a year ago. His footwork is not always exactly right in terms of his accuracy. I think it affects your confidence a little bit. I think he's relying a little bit too much on running now rather than reading things out. What I would say to any player on our team that was struggling, you don't practice until you get it right; you practice until you can't get it wrong. That's what you gotta do so you create the right habits so you can play with great mechanics and good fundamentals."
In Week 4, Manning had one last chance to get his game back on track before the Horns faced an SEC opponent. Texas and Sam Houston were scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 20, and the game was broadcast on ESPN+ and the SEC Network+.