The nation is talking about Arch Manning ahead of his first start, including former Alabama head coach Nick Saban on College GameDay. During a film room segment on ESPN’s flagship college football show, Saban looked at three different plays, two good and one bad, from Manning’s performance against the UTSA Roadrunners as the son of Cooper, nephew of Peyton and Eli, and grandson of Archie approaches his first career start against the ULM Warhawks.

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The 19-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Moore Jr.

“The thing I loved most about it is the confidence Sark shows in his players,” Saban said. “Right off the bat, freshman quarterback comes in the game. He’s going to throw a pass.”

Saban broke down the rest of the play, from the start to the nice finish.

“Arch does a great job of faking here so the contain man takes the fake,” Saban said. “Now he can break contain. He’s going to read the hi-lo in the flat, doesn’t have it. Got to look for the over route, which is his next read. Hits it on the run. Makes a big play. First play, touchdown.”

The 67-yard touchdown run

“They’re going to run the zone play, and they’re not going to block this guy,” Saban said referring to No. 8, the boundary EDGE. “That’s Arch’s read. He does a great job of faking the ball, No. 8 chases a dive so (Arch) pulls it, which is his read. He shows really good athleticism, kind of like his grandfather Archie in making this guy miss right here. Then he’s going to show really good speed in outrunning a bunch of folks to get to the end zone. In the first three plays he’s in the game, they score touchdowns on two of them.”

The sack for a loss of 10 yards

It wasn’t all perfect, as Saban dissected the sack Manning took in the second quarter.

“This is the hardest thing for young quarterbacks,” Saban said. “Third down, different kind of looks, odd looks. They’re in a five-man protection here, which means these five guys are going to block some combination of five guys on defense. Let’s just say that’s the point and that’s who they’re going to block.”

Manning was threatened by two additional players near the line of scrimmage on the strong side of the field. Saban explained Manning could have added the running back to the protection or thrown the ball hot.

“He doesn’t do either one here,” Saban said. “So what’s he got to do? He’s got to see the blitz coming, or he’s got to throw it hot. They can only block five. He doesn’t do either one, so he gets his ass knocked off. He’ll learn from that play, no doubt. But that’s the hardest thing for young quarterbacks.”

Regardless of that sack, Manning was magnificent on Saturday against the Roadrunners though not without lessons to takeaway. He’ll have the chance to learn more this Saturday against ULM in his first career start.

“I don’t think there’s anything like experience and playing in the game,” Saban said. “He’s going to learn from every one of these mistakes he makes in practice, but he’s also going to learn more when he’s playing in the game.”

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Texas and ULM kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.

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