Former Vols quarterback breaks down Arch Manning’s best game of the season
Former pro quarterback Matt Simms believes Arch Manning has finally turned a corner.
The son of Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms, Matt has made a career out of evaluating mechanics, pocket discipline, and QB decision-making. In a recent clip from ESPN College Football, the former New York Jets and Tennessee Volunteers quarterback praised Arch Manning’s performance in Saturday’s 45-38 victory over Mississippi State, explaining why he thinks this was a defining moment.
Matt Simms praises Arch Manning’s performance against Mississippi State Bulldogs
“We haven’t seen that all year from him,” Simms said in a recent breakdown of Manning’s latest start. “Just his ability to dissect what the defense was doing, make quick decisions, get the football out of his hands. . . 29 completions — it’s good. And we’ve got to remember that he’s still a young man.”
For Simms, that’s the heart of it: progress, not perfection. Manning, a redshirt freshman still finding his footing in the SEC, finally looked like the quarterback Texas fans envisioned when he signed as the nation’s top recruit.
Simms pointed to the subtleties, saying, “his toughness, his pocket movement, his ability to make some really good throws on the run that we saw in the low red zone.” That, he explained, represented a new level of comfort and control.
“He’s gaining confidence,” Simms continued. “I think the Oklahoma game really was a great restart for him to feel better about himself and to realize that, yeah, hey, Arch, you’re great. The name is great. You’re playing for a brand beyond — Texas’s brand — but still, it is about just the collective whole. And I think he understands that.”
Simms’ analysis captured the tension that has defined Manning’s early college career. He carries one of the most famous last names in football, yet he’s been asked to operate in a system that values cohesion over celebrity.
Simms also gave credit to head coach Steve Sarkisian for adjusting his play-calling to fit Manning’s natural strengths. “We saw Sark go into his bag a little bit more,” Simms said. “The fake receiver screens, the pump and goes, right? Getting him out of the pocket, separating him from the line of scrimmage and able to kind of see the field a little bit more clearly.”
Those tweaks mattered most in the low red zone, where Sarkisian’s adjustments allowed Manning to move, react, and simplify his reads. Sarkisian’s willingness to evolve has mirrored his quarterback’s own growth.
The only downside, Simms noted, was that Manning’s best game ended with a concussion. “Hopefully he recovers well,” Simms said. “That’s unfortunate — his best game of the year and he gets banged up at the end of it. But good things [are] trending offensively, especially for the quarterback.”
A former college standout who spent years battling for NFL roster spots, Simms knows what it means to earn progress inch by inch. And that’s what he sees in Arch Manning right now: a young quarterback, finally in rhythm, playing with conviction instead of expectation. For Texas, and for Sarkisian’s evolving offense, that may be the most important development of all.
Texas Longhorns News
A closer look at Arch Manning’s stats shows just how wild his season’s been
A deep dive into Arch Manning’s volatile 2025 season reveals wild statistical swings — exposing both his elite upside and his lingering inconsistencies.
