We are Trevor Goosby days away from Texas football and it’s time for another hot take. This time, it’s about Arch Manning and the ridiculous stats he can put up this season. The Texas single-season passing yards record is held by Colt McCoy, tapping in at 3,859 yards in 2008. I believe Arch Manning tops that number this season.
Manning racked up 3,163 passing yards last season so he’ll need to add nearly 700 to the tally this season. However, I believe it’s very possible given how he finished last season. In the final six games of the season, Manning threw for 1,714 yards, including three games above 300 yards. If Manning plays to that level throughout the regular season, he could have multiple games to add the final 400 yards.
The obvious reason I believe Manning is capable of this is the supporting cast. Despite the questions around the OL, the pass protection among the starting five should be strong. On top of that, the pass catching core he has around him is better than any in recent memory at Texas. Finally, I expect the run game to take a step forward, meaning the openings in the pass game will be larger.
The biggest piece to making this happen is the accuracy issue. Even in Manning’s strong finish to the season, he only completed over 63% of his passes in a game once. On the season, he completed just 61.4% of his passes and left hundreds of yards on the field. The hope is his foot injury was the main source of that and it will be fixed this season. If that’s the case, I believe Manning could fly by the record.
Obviously, for something like this to be accomplished, it’ll take more than Manning taking a step forward. The pass protection needs to be elite, the WRs need to make plays after the catch and the run game needs to be complementary. I believe all signs point toward the surroundings improving massively in 2026, so I expect the same from Manning.
Getting to 3,900 passing yards in a season is a tall feat. Despite that, I believe the combination of the leap Manning will take and the supporting cast improving will help this take along. On top of all of that, there’s an expectation Arch Manning will get more than 13 games to get to that number. I believe this will be a special season for a number of reasons, including the passing record going down.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Countdown to Kickoff Hot Take: Manning breaks Texas passing record
Reporting by Tommy Bresee, Longhorns Wire / Longhorns Wire
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By Tommy Bresee, Longhorns Wire | USA TODAY Network
