Texas Longhorns QB Arch Manning Downplays Weight Of Last Name

Former five-star quarterback for the Texas Longhorns Arch Manning spoke to the media for the first time all season.

Texas Longhorns quarterback and former five-star recruit, Arch Manning, may have the most hype around any quarterback in recent college football history.

Ironically, the nephew of Peyton and Eli and Grandson of Archie Manning has just 30 career passing yards to his name and debuted in the final game of the regular season in garbage time. However, his name is one that obviously holds a ton of weight in college football and even the football world in general, but is something that he has downplayed.

On Saturday, Manning was available to speak to the media ahead of Texas' Sugar Bowl showdown against No. 2 Washington on Monday, and as you could imagine reporters flocked to the freshman. They discussed things such as him possibly transferring, which he shut down and he also shut down any notion that he's facing added pressure.

"I'm just a football player and a normal guy going to college," said Manning.

Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman-USA TODAY NETWORK

Manning also addressed his last name, which as we all know is iconic in football.

"There is good and bad to it," said Manning. "The bad thing is you're recognized a lot of places you go. Sometimes you just want to be laid back and undercover. There's a lot of good to it. I get a lot of grade A advice. There's a lot that comes with it, but there's obviously some drawbacks to it."

Manning is now one play away from being inserted into the lineup, as Quinn Ewers' backup during the regular season, Maalik Murphy, has transferred to Duke. Something he is prepared for if his number is called.

Arch Manning More Than Ready To Take Over As Longhorns QB2 For Sugar Bowl

The Longhorns are favored by 4.0 points according to ESPN, with the Matchup Predictor giving Texas a 68.6% chance of winning. 

As a recruit, Manning was ranked as the No. 1 player in the country, and had just about every program vying for his services. His name was one that many assumed would pop up in the transfer portal after the season, but clearly the youngest Manning quarterback is more than willing to wait his turn to play at Texas.