How the SEC has already dropped the ball with Arch Manning's first career start at Texas
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian announced on Thursday that redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning will receive his first career start on Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe. Manning will start in place of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who suffered an injury last weekend in the Longhorns' win against UTSA. Sarkisian confirmed on Thursday that Ewers will still […]
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian announced on Thursday that redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning will receive his first career start on Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe.
Manning will start in place of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who suffered an injury last weekend in the Longhorns' win against UTSA.
Sarkisian confirmed on Thursday that Ewers will still be QB1 for Texas when he gets healthy.
Ewers has battled injuries throughout his time at Texas, so it's not a surprise that Manning is getting a start early in the season.
Unfortunately, most people won't get to see Manning's start against ULM. Or they'll have to go through some trouble to find a way to watch it.
That's because the Longhorns' game against ULM on Saturday will be streamed exclusively on SEC Network+.
The reason is because ESPN+/SEC Network+ have the rights to exclusively stream one football game and up to two men's basketball games for each SEC program. And the game has to be a non-conference game.
Before it was announced that Manning was going to start this week, the Texas vs ULM game was a logical choice to be streamed. But now that Manning is getting the start, the game is suddenly much more compelling. And it shouldn't be buried on a streaming service.
Manning is one of the most popular players in college football. And he certainly generates a ton of interest among fans. It's a shame that it'll be tough for many fans to watch the game.
But this is the deal the SEC made. And since it's the Longhorns' final non-conference game of the season, there's really no way around it. Not that ESPN would be inclined to throw the SEC a bone on this one anyway — having Arch Manning making his first career start in an SEC Network+ game is probably a dream come true for ESPN. I'm sure they'll earn a few new subscriptions because of this unique situation.
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