Less than four years ago, Arch Manning was a high school prospect coming out of Louisiana. Obviously, his name and No. 1 ranking in the 2023 recruiting class brought him a lot of attention, but he was still "just" a Louisiana kid looking to play ball at the next level.
Well, he's doing exactly that now, and as Manning and the Texas Longhorns stare down their next opponent, the LSU Tigers, many are wondering if he feels any sort of connection to his home-state team.
Longhorn Nation can rest assured that he immediately shut that idea down:
"We're trying to go 1-0 this week. I don't have any legacy [at LSU]. I have no family who went to LSU. I'm from New Orleans, which is an hour from Baton Rouge. So, there's no connection. It's not about me," Manning said in a mid-week press conference.
Arch Manning's allegiance is to the Longhorns, and to the Longhorns alone
To put it into slightly better context from a Texas perspective, Manning is saying that his having a loyalty to the Tigers would be like a kid from College Station or Waco having a tie to the Horns over the Texas A&M Aggies or Baylor Bears (or vice versa, since Austin is the major city like New Orleans).
Manning's uncles and grandfather did play for other SEC schools, but it was the Ole Miss Rebels and Tennessee Volunteers who previously claimed the Manning Family name, and he already led Texas to wins over both of his "legacy" teams.
Also read: Peyton Manning is forsaking his Tennessee legacy to root for Arch and the Horns over the Vols
Simply put, as the Longhorns take the field in Baton Rouge on Saturday, Manning won't have any reason to reminisce about the "good ole days" of his Louisiana football career.
Unsurprisingly, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian virtually predicted what his quarterback would say about being from the Bayou State:
"[Manning's] going to give you the politically correct answer, but I honestly don't think he gives a crap," Sarkisian said.
This game is Texas's last ranked matchup of the regular season and, clearly, the Horns have one thing on their mind: winning. Even if Manning had grown up in Baton Rouge with his entire family playing for the Tigers, he still might have ended up in burnt orange instead of playing for LSU.
Either way, he's on the Horns' roster, not the Tigers, and everyone should expect him to go ball out against his home-state team.
The No. 6 Texas Longhorns and the No. 21 LSU Tigers are scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 14, and the game will be aired on ABC.
Add us as a preferred source on Google