Former Texas Longhorns legend started his historic run 20 years versus Ohio State – Arch Manning hopes history will repeat itself Saturday
Texas Longhorns royalty and national champion Vince Young got things started versus the Ohio State Buckeyes before the confetti fell in Rose Bowl Stadium. Now, 20 years later, Arch Manning is hoping to get his career as a starter kicked off in similar fashion.Young recently spoke with ESPN’s Jake Trotter about the preparation for the […]
Texas Longhorns royalty and national champion Vince Young got things started versus the Ohio State Buckeyes before the confetti fell in Rose Bowl Stadium. Now, 20 years later, Arch Manning is hoping to get his career as a starter kicked off in similar fashion.
Young recently spoke with ESPN’s Jake Trotter about the preparation for the 2005 season and what it took to get his teammates ready for the national title run.
“Guys were coming in, feeling themselves,” Young said. “But that type of character was going to get your ass whooped by Ohio State. We needed to button it up and get to work.”
Former Ohio State Buckeye A.J. Hawk had high praise for Vince Young after the 25-22 Texas win.
“That dude was Superman.”
Young finished 18-for-29 for 270 yards and two touchdowns while also adding 76 yards on the ground. Despite finishing as the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Southern Cal’s Reggie Bush, Young and Texas got the final laugh in the title game – winning 41-38 and securing the first title in 35 years.
Now, Manning is hoping to start off on a positive note like Young did. Texas running back Selvin Young will be locked in this Saturday.
“The similarities I see from Arch and Vince, it’s set up the same way,” Young said. “This is a great stage for him to show what he can do.”
Some are speculating this year’s Texas offense could look a little different for Steve Sarkisian.
“The beauty of it for us right now is we have two years with Arch of working with him every day and have a really good understanding of the things that he’s good at, and so we can focus and tailor things around what he does well,” Sarkisian told ESPN‘s Heather Dinich. “Probably the most natural thing is his athleticism to where he’s a threat. When he runs the ball, you have to account for him because there’s a speed component to the way he runs, and there’s a physical component to the way he runs. And so some of the things that we’re able to do in short yardage may be a little bit different than where we’ve been in the past.
“We may not change so much, but his ability to use his legs on third down in the red area to create plays when people are in man coverage and people are blitzing and there’s voids to go run, I think would be another component to that as well.”
Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby spoke with ESPN about Arch Manning and how to defend him.
The Bulldogs struggled to handle him and Manning put up his best numbers of 2024.
“You’ve got to find ways to get him off platform,” Lebby said. “For a guy who hadn’t played a ton up to that point inside that game, man, he was really, really calm. He had great demeanor, and he had command of what Sark and his staff was trying to accomplish.”
Other SEC staffers are aware of his talent, but think he will have some lapses like most first-year starters do.
“Any time a quarterback can make all the throws and has enough ability to run the ball, they’re usually pretty f—ing good,” an SEC defensive coordinator said. “But I’m sure he’ll force some stuff and make some mistakes.”
