FOX’s Joel Klatt Issues “Scary” Arch Manning Warning as Steve Sarkisian Pushes Back on Criticism

For a quarterback with the talent to deliver long throws, the mistakes can be just as difficult to ignore. Arch Manning’s inconsistent performances have raised concerns about his ability to lead Texas, with FOX analyst Joel Klatt pointing to a troubling pattern that could spell trouble for the Longhorns.

“As a quarterback, you’re responsible for both the high ceiling of your offense and the low floor of your offense,” Klatt said on his podcast on October 14. “And his inconsistencies show up in a big way, even just in that fourth quarter in the Red River game. The throw to Cam Coleman right down the middle of the field was maybe four or five guys who could make that throw, so super high ceiling. It looks incredible.”

“The cross-body floater pick-six is terrible,” Klatt added. “The eyes are in the wrong spot, back foot, inside leverage on an outbreaking route to throw a pick with 19 seconds left—egregious. You can’t make that error. So he is responsible for what they can be in their potential and what they are in their floor and in their mistakes. He’s got to play cleaner, and I’ve been saying this for weeks and weeks and weeks. His inconsistencies have really hurt them, and he needs to process information quicker. This is the scary part for Texas fans: he’s not young anymore. He’s got a lot of starts under his belt, and you’re starting to see the product.”

Following Texas’ 27–24 loss in the Red River Rivalry, Arch Manning’s inconsistency has become a major talking point, and Klatt is among the most vocal critics of his performances. Klatt is aware that Manning possesses rare arm talent, allowing him to deliver impressive deep throws.

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Manning went for a 41-yard throw towards Coleman during their game against the Sooners. Even during their game against Texas State, he perfectly delivered a 50-yard pass to Coleman. However, throwing impressive passes means very little when the mistakes are more, and it all comes down to the 4th quarter of the game.

Ultimately, it comes down to making the right decisions and delivering accurate passes under pressure. He was seen frozen in the pocket during the second half of their game against the Sooners. He kept looking for his first intended WR, rather than switching up the play to find someone else.

This isn’t something that is happening for the first time, but it has been a glaring issue throughout his career. Manning’s hesitation often leaves him vulnerable to sacks or leads to costly interceptions, which was visible in their game against the Sooners.

Manning threw 2 costly interceptions, both in the fourth quarter, which led the Sooners to mark their 3rd victory of the season. The first was a pick-six that gave Oklahoma the lead. Manning threw a pass that was intercepted by Peyton Bowen, who then ran for 42 yards and turned it into a touchdown.

The second interception came with 19 seconds left on the clock. Texas was moving the ball closer to set up a field goal, which could have been their winning goal. However, Manning threw an interception, which Oklahoma capitalized on, with Tate Sandell ending the game with his 47-yard field goal. He was even sacked two times during the game.

After starting 13 games, you don’t expect a QB to throw 5 interceptions across 5 games. Manning hasn’t shown enough improvement in his decision-making and overall quarterback play since he took the job in 2025. However, his coach, Sarkisian, still believes that everyone is being too harsh on him because of the name on his back. From his perspective, he has been playing a good game.

“I think if you took the name off the back of his jersey and you said, ‘Here’s Joe Smith playing quarterback at the University of Texas, and here’s a guy who’s beaten four top 10 ranked teams in his last 13 starts,’ we’d be praising the guy,” Sarkisian said on ESPN.

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