Manning can move. Officially.
AUSTIN, Texas — During the spring, when Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian revealed in a media availability that redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning was tracked at 20 miles per hour during a scrimmage last August, there was cause for skepticism.
After all, that’s blazing speed for anyone, much less the nephew of two Hall of Fame quarterbacks who weren’t exactly known for their wheels.
On Saturday, however, Manning put all of that skepticism to rest when he pulled a zone read in the second quarter against UTSA and raced 67 yards past the Roadrunners defense for a touchdown on which he hit 20.7 mph, as tracked by Reel Analytics.
@ArchManning 67-yards to the
The @TexasFootball QB makes a defender miss & clocks 20.7 MPH to the end zone
Will the #HookEm star crack our Top 5 Fastest Players this week? #ReelSpeed pic.twitter.com/rx4yapV2W3
— Reel Analytics (@RAanalytics) September 15, 2024
“The thing about him that I think most people probably don’t give him enough credit for, he is a really good athlete,” Sarkisian said. “He’s big, he’s strong, and he’s fast. Sometimes he’ll lean into using his legs to create explosive plays … we like that, but we want that to almost be the last resort.”
Apparently the athleticism of Archie Manning simply skipped a generation, but now there’s no question that the young Texas quarterback is a fitting namesake for his grandfather and a real threat in the open field — after all, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian typically eschews the quarterback run game entirely, but has cause to use it with Manning, who had to replace injured starter Quinn Ewers early in the second quarter.
Ewers left the game with a strained abdomen and did not return.