During Saturday’s showdown against the Texas A&M Aggies, the Texas Longhorns showed off the running ability of young quarterback Arch Manning as he took the ball into the end zone on a quarterback keeper in the first quarter.
Manning’s was a unique play and package that the Longhorns had not run all year and it sounds like we could see more plays like that this weekend.
The Longhorns are set to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in a rematch of an early-season matchup in which the Bulldogs bested Texas.
During his press conference this week ahead of the game, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian suggested that the Longhorns still have some plays that they have yet to use, like the one we saw that was designed for Arch Manning on Saturday.
“We haven’t fully opened our playbook because as a staff we sit around and think about our roster and we think about our team and we think about what we’re good at and we think about what we can improve,” Sarkisian said according to the Houston Chronicle.
“We’re gonna run stuff Saturday that we haven’t run all year because of who were are as a team now and finding new ways to try and move the football and create issues for our opponents.”
Manning actually did see some snaps in the team’s loss to Georgia earlier this season. With starter Quinn Ewers struggling, Sarkisian opted to give Manning some snaps during the second quarter, though Ewers returned to the game after halftime.
In his two drives at quarterback against the Bulldogs last time, Manning completed 3-of-6 passes for just 19 yards while totaling -1 yards on four rushing attempts with a lost fumble.
Despite his lackluster showing last time, it sounds like he could be part of the gameplan this time.
We’ll have to see how Manning and the Longhorns perform.
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