"He was terrible": Paul Finebaum holds nothing back on Arch Manning’s nightmare outing vs. Ohio State

Arch Manning's long-awaited performance against the Ohio State Buckeyes to open his time as the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns did not go as planned. Instead of dominating like many thought he would, Manning struggled, resulting in the Longhorns' 14-7 defeat.

College football analyst Paul Finebaum gave his verdict on Manning's performance on SportsCenter's Sunday edition and held nothing back in his criticism.

"You start to worry a little bit about your predictions when Arch has more commercials in the first quarter than he does completions," Finebaum said. "Ultimately, he was terrible. There's no getting around it, and all the predictions that some people made were shatteringly wrong. They were absurd."

Manning completed 17 of 30 passes against Ohio State for 170 yards and one touchdown. He also threw one interception. This error proved costly, as on the resulting drive, the Buckeyes scored a touchdown.

The Longhorns were shut out in the first half. In the first three quarters, Manning threw numerous overthrown passes and was stopped by a significantly stronger Ohio State defense. It was only in the fourth quarter that we were able to see some life in Manning. But this was not enough, and the Longhorns fell to the reigning national champions.

Paul Finebaum thinks Arch Manning and Texas will improve

Paul Finebaum believes Arch Manning's performance is not indicative of what he can do in the near future. He believes Manning and the Longhorns will improve as the season goes on.

"I don't think everybody should panic yet," Finebaum said. "I believe Texas will be in the playoffs in December, and I think Arch Manning will learn from this ... He just got bamboozled by a much better defensive coordinator."

This was the hardest game the Longhorns are likely to face all season, and it may have felt like the inexperienced Manning was thrown into the deep end against a Buckeyes defense that might prove to be the best in the country this season.

Manning will learn with experience over the next few weeks, improving his game and becoming the quarterback fans expects him to be.