Arch Manning of the Texas Longhorns warms up Jan 1, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) warms up before the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Urban Meyer is pumping the brakes on Arch Manning.

The Texas Longhorns will play the Ohio State Buckeyes in Friday’s Cotton Bowl,  the second College Football Playoff semifinal round. Quinn Ewers will get the ball under center, as always, but Manning of course is looming in the distance.

Ewers’ injury issues this year gave fans a first-hand look at what Manning is capable of. Unsurprisingly, everyone liked what they saw. Texas kept humming with Manning under center, and were rarely if ever challenged.

But with that being said, Meyer still thinks this is Ewers’ team for now. Appearing on The Herd, Meyer explained why he doesn’t think Arch’s time isn’t now quite yet, but did compliment the touted quarterback.

“Here’s the thing about Arch, I think he’s going to be a great player,” Meyer told Colin Cowherd via On3 Sports. “I’m about to say something that I don’t want to offend anybody (or imply) that he’s not going to be a great player. He’s going to be a great player. But when I watched – and I did, I went back and watched a bunch of his tape – it’s not like he’s overwhelming yet. It’s not like he comes in the game and he just blows the doors off everybody else,” he explained.

More from Meyer:

“I do believe Arch Manning, at some point, will be a high draft pick and all that, but that time is not now,” he emphatically said.

Meyer praised head coach Steve Sarkisian for his guts in making these hard decisions. But in the end, this is Ewers’ team, and Texas will go down with the ship with him.

[On3]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022