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By Max Dible
Contributing Sports Writer
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The University of Texas finds itself in a perilous position just five games into the 2025 college football season, and quarterback Arch Manning is catching the majority of the blame.
Media members and social media users leveled a deluge of criticism at Manning, with some implying and others outright calling for the Longhorns to bench the redshirt sophomore after Texas fell to 3-2 following Saturday's 29-21 loss to SEC rival Florida.
In the final seconds of the game, Manning took a sack then hurried his teammates to the line and spiked the football with no time left on the clock.
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The number of mental mistakes and outright blunders prompted those on social media to call for the Longhorns to make a change at QB.
"Arch Manning needs to be benched," one X user captioned a video of the last 19 seconds of the contest.
"This was what I said nearly a month ago and it stands now, Texas has zero chance to win meaningful football games with Arch Manning right now. He should be benched. Looked lost and confused on that final drive," another fan declared.
"I know the o-line has played terrible today, and Arch has done “some” good, but he is bad. We are 5 games into the season and he is still making so many mistakes. Someone said if he wasn’t a Manning, he would have been benched already. They might be on something there," one user remarked.
Former Green Bay Packers reserve quarterback Kurt Benkert chimed in on X as well, referencing the same egregious mistake.
"Just watched Arch spike the ball with 0 seconds on the clock," Benkert wrote. "Come on, man!"
The College Football Report X account put voice behind what was a common sentiment in the minutes after the Texas loss, during which Manning was a trending topic — perhaps Manning should lose his starting job to senior Matthew Caldwell.
Caldwell completed his only pass for 26 yards.
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"Arch Manning was absolutely clueless on that drive there, the backup showed more promise for the singular play he was in," College Football Report posted.
Meanwhile, Manning completed 16 of 29 passes for 263 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Texas began the year as the No. 1-ranked team int he country, but quickly dropped in the rankings following a 14-7 road loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Longhorns entered this week at Florida as the No. 9 team in the nation, and will likely fall even further toward the bottom of the top 25 next week. They face No. 5 Oklahoma in the Allstate Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas next Saturday.
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