"Arch has a natural feel under center": Steve Sarkisian defends QB Arch Manning's pocket presence before SJSU faceoff

Syndication: Tuscaloosa News - Source: Imagn
Syndication: Tuscaloosa News - Source: Imagn

Arch Manning did not have the best game over the weekend when Texas lost to Ohio State. However, the team is already looking forward to this weekend's game, their home opener against the San Jose State Spartans.

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On Thursday, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian spoke to the media about Manning's performance against the Buckeyes, where he made one key observation.

"I think Arch has a natural feel under center. When you can get under center, the run game hits a little bit differently. You get the running back 7.5 yards behind the quarterback, you can run a little bit more down hill.
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"I think that in turn helps your play action pass game. I don't think that was a one off for Ohio State. I think that's going to be part of our offense moving forward throughout the season."
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There are numerous advantages for a quarterback to line up under center (directly behind the center). These include having an increased time in the pocket and, as Sarkisian noted, an increased effectiveness of the play-action pass game.

This is because quarterbacks can easily hide the ball when running play action, preventing the defense from knowing what kind of play is happening until it may be too late.

The alternative is the more common shotgun position, where the quarterback stands with some distance behind the center. The shotgun formation also gives quarterbacks a better view of potential passing lanes.

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With Manning playing more snaps under center rather than in the shotgun position, this could explain why some of his passes were overthrown and underthrown. Obviously, the immense strength and abilities of the Ohio State defense played a very key role in his average performance.

According to Sarkisian, fans are going to see Manning play under center a lot more this season. This weekend's game against San Jose State (a significantly weaker team) will be a chance for Texas to refine its new look offense.

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Steve Sarkisian on the Texas run game vs Ohio State

As well as talking about the quarterback, Steve Sarkisian also spoke about how the run game fared against the Buckeyes.

"We weren’t bringing our feet the way I would have liked, and we were kind of falling off blocks. Where we felt like we were going to have runs for 8, 10, 12 yards, we were getting three, four, and five yards. We’ve got to finish a little better.”
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The combined effort of Quintrevion Wisner, CJ Baxter and Arch Manning resulted in 166 yards and no touchdowns. Thanks to the Buckeyes defense, this was severely limited, with 4.5 yards on average gained per play.

We should see a massive improvement in the run game against San Jose State this weekend.

Read More

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After Jordan Rodgers, CFB Hall of Famer doubles down on Arch Manning hype train before SJSU matchup in Week 2

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Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.
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