Kirk Herbstreit reveals best things going to happen for Arch Manning after Texas QB faces wrath of football experts over jittery performance

It has been a tumultuous ride for Texas quarterback Arch Manning ever since the start of his 2025 season. The opener loss to Ohio State and jittery performance in the following games added to the woes.

Fans and experts who created the hype train calling him the Heisman frontrunner and “better than Eli and Peyton” criticized him for his poor gameplay. But things instantly changed after Texas defeated Oklahoma in a dominating style, with Manning making no mistakes and passing with absolute accuracy.

According to college football insider Kirk Herbstreit, these criticisms are a boon to Manning in his pursuit of greatness. After a couple of years, when he looks back, he will be proud of how he handled criticisms at such a young age.

Herbstreit mentioned that the preseason hype train was unreal and it is not easy to deal with expectations. Manning continued to focus on his training and got back stronger.

“Arch Manning, the best thing that’s going to happen to him, long term, is people going from, ‘He’s the Heisman. He’s better than Peyton and Eli,’ to, ‘This dude sucks. This guy’s trash,'” Herbstreit said.

NCAA Football: Oklahoma at Texas - Source: Imagn

“To go through that and to not point fingers and to just endure that, man, is that going to help him. It sucks to go through it, but man, is that going to help him long term.

“As opposed to Anthony Richardson, the only failure he really met was injuries in Gainesville. All of a sudden, he gets to the NFL — the position is about overcoming failure,” he added while drawing comparisons to Richardson's NFL transition.

Arch Manning shrugs off criticism earlier in the season

Earlier this week when the 23-year-old QB was speaking to the reporters, he was asked about how he dealt with criticisms earlier in the season and whether that affected his gameplay.

Manning admitted that he was not up to the mark and was far better than what he displayed on the field. However, he paid no heed to outside noise and focused on his game.

“Everyone has their own opinion. That's what's good about America; everyone gets freedom of speech. It doesn't bother me,” Manning said to the reporters on Tuesday.

This coming weekend, Texas will play Kentucky at home. It will be crucial for the Longhorns to win each and every game ahead of them as they aspire to make the playoffs, although their chances are thin after two losses already.