Texas Longhorns Coach Steve Sarkisian Reacts to Arch Manning Debut vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Longhorns gave their home fans multiple early Christmas gifts during Friday's thrashing of the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the regular-season finale.
With the 57-7 win, No. 7 Texas (11-1) clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game while simultaneously saying a harsh goodbye to their longtime rivals in the final scheduled matchup between the two teams.
The debut of five-star freshman quarterback Arch Manning ended up being the cherry on top of it all.
With Texas leading 50-7 with 1:57 remaining in the third quarter, Manning, not usual backup Maalik Murphy, came in at quarterback to spell Quinn Ewers.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian talked about the highly-anticipated debut when speaking to the media after the win. He said he’s “never seen” a backup quarterback go into the game and receive that kind of ovation.
“Backups are always kind of the fan favorite, but when Arch went in the crowd was buzzing,” Sarkisian said. “We had to try to quiet the crowd. Probably there's some butterflies and some anxiousness first time playing early on.
“But one thing I was impressed with was in that last 90-yard drive with with our 2s. What a drive for those guys. Super proud for them. Two good third-down conversions in there, the conversion to Johntay (Cook), the conversion to Casey Cain. In the previous drive, he used his legs really well. Things for him to build upon moving forward but happy he was able to get in.”
Arch Manning
© Annie Rice, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Manning turned in a solid debut. He finished 2 of 5 passing for 30 yards while rushing three times for seven yards. He also had a 12-yard run but lost the yardage on the stat sheet due to a fumble on a snap that lost 10 yards.
Manning quickly made an impact with his legs upon entering, picking up a first down on a 3rd and 6 before evading pressure and scrambling down the sideline for a 12-yard run.
The Longhorns ended up stalling in the red zone and turned it over on downs, but Manning led the offense to a touchdown on his second drive.
The Longhorns will now await their opponent in the Big 12 title game. If the Oklahoma State Cowboys beat BYU on Saturday, they're in. If OSU loses, the Oklahoma Sooners are in.
The Big 12 Championship Game will kick off on Saturday, Dec. 2 from Arlington, Texas.
