Coming into the season many in the Manning family were trying to pump the brakes on the hype surrounding Arch Manning’s first year as a starter at Texas, and it appears the betting public would’ve been wise to heed the calls for patience from the elder Mannings.
Arch’s first start for the No. 1 Longhorns came in hostile territory against No. 3 Ohio State, and the junior struggled mightily in the Horseshoe in a 14-7 loss. Manning went 17-for-30 passing for 170 yards, one touchdown and a woeful interception in the third quarter.
While the final stats weren’t a complete catastrophe thanks to a pair of late big plays, it was a rough first start for Manning that took some shine off of his public perception as the next great quarterback in college football.
That was reflected most in the betting odds, as after starting the day as the 5-1 favorite to win the Heisman Trophy at FanDuel Sportsbook, Manning plummeted to third at 13-1, tied with Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith and trailing new co-favorites Clemson QB Cade Klubnik and LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier at 15/2.
Updated Heisman Trophy odds
It should be noted that if there were ever a time to have a bad performance in the Heisman race it’s in Week 1 on the road, but Manning will have to produce some special performances to erase this showing from the minds of voters as the season wears on. That said, anyone with a preseason Heisman ticket on Manning will be mentally tearing that up after Saturday.
More importantly for Texas, Manning is going to need to settle in and play much better for the Longhorns to have a shot at achieving their goals this season. The Texas defense looked plenty good enough against Ohio State, but they did not get any kind of help from their own offense.
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