dpArch Manning’s inconsistency has plagued the Texas offense this season, and a recent threat from Steve Sarkisian potentially prompted the former five-star quarterback to play with more poise last time out, according to Nick Saban.
Saban was no stranger to benching players in his time at Alabama. He famously sat Jalen Hurts in favor of Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of the Tide’s 2018 national title game against Georgia, prompting a memorable comeback win.
“I always say the bench is a pretty good motivator, especially if the guy’s a great competitor, which I think Arch is,” Saban said Friday on ESPN. “The threat that he might not be entitled to the job may be something that motivates him and keeps him motivated through the rest of the season. He’s going to have to play well for them to be able (to win out).”
Backup KJ Lacey has played sparingly this season despite a recent reported uptick in first-team reps during practice, and hasn’t faced the complexity of live SEC rounds like Tagovailoa.
In both of the Longhorns’ losses this season, Manning made critical fourth-quarter mistakes that swung the game’s momentum, and he did it against Ole Miss too with the game tied, but Texas escaped.
“Sark made it very clear when he had a meeting with Arch and said to him, ‘Look, we can’t win with this guy,'” Saban said. “It’s always a tough decision for a coach to make a change like that when you have a high-profile player who’s very capable and has shown at times he’s very capable. But at the same time, I think if Arch doesn’t continue to play with consistency, Sark’s going to keep it in the bag.”
What Texas faces next
After Saturday’s game against Mississippi State, the No. 11 ranked Longhorns (5-2) embark on a season-defining November stretch that includes trips to ranked Missouri and LSU before Arkansas and Texas A&M round out the campaign.
Texas is currently slotted as an at-large selection in our updated College Football Playoff projections entering the weekend and ahead of Tuesday night’s first CFP top 25 reveal from the selection committee.
Winning out all but guarantees a spot in the CFP and could get Texas to another SEC Championship appearance. Going 4-1 over their final five games means the Longhorns likely find themselves in a logjam of nine-win SEC teams. Then it comes down to overall resume and whatever the selection committee chooses to deem important during the final process.
