Arch Manning opened his second season at Texas with heavy expectations, mixing highlight-reel moments with uneven play that made it unclear if he could fully meet the hype.
Then, after a brief concussion injury, he returned to deliver arguably his cleanest performance of the college football season, helping the Longhorns pull off a 34-31 upset over No. 9 Vanderbilt in Week 10.
On a recent episode of “See Ball Get Ball,” college football analyst David Pollack suggested that the brief setback may have actually been the turning point Manning needed.
“I think the concussion absolutely helped Arch Manning. And I say that because it’s the first time I’ve seen him play where he did not want to get hit. It was very clear he didn’t wanna get hit,” Pollack said. “A lot of times, you see him when he gets hurried, he’s running, he’s taking off, he’s gonna be physical. I’m not saying the concussion was good. I’m just saying, for his thought process, I think it made him sit in the pocket a little bit more and think about getting the ball out. Don’t take shots. Be smart. And I think that’s a good recipe for Texas moving forward.”
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The concussion Manning suffered late in the Oct. 26 overtime win at Mississippi State — after a helmet strike on a scramble — forced a short, medically supervised pause.
Pollack argues that the injury itself became a turning point stylistically in that he returned more willing to sit in the pocket, process reads, and get the ball out rather than chase contact.
Pollack’s assessment comes after Manning completed 25 of 33 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns in the Longhorns’ win over Vanderbilt.
The week prior at Mississippi State, he posted 346 passing yards, four total touchdowns, and one interception, marking his two highest yardage outputs of the season.
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Across nine appearances this year, Manning has 2,123 passing yards, 18 passing TDs, and six interceptions, along with 203 rushing yards and a half-dozen rushing scores supplementing Texas’ red-zone punch.
That raw production has kept the Longhorns in the conversation in a loaded SEC, with the team improving to 7-2 (4-1 SEC) as they enter a critical stretch that includes a road test at No. 5 Georgia on Nov. 15 and a matchup at home against No. 3 Texas A&M on Nov. 28.
If the concussion-related change in his approach is real and sustainable, it could be the inflection point that turns intermittent heroics into repeatable, win-producing performances — and that would matter for Texas’ SEC title and College Football Playoff hopes.Â