Arch Manning secured his first career win as a starter, and Jaydon Blue scored four touchdowns as No. 1 Texas defeated Louisiana-Monroe 51-3 on Saturday night.
The Longhorns took the No. 1 ranking last week for the first time since 2008 and quickly took control of the game against the Warhawks with Manning filling in for the injured regular starter, Quinn Ewers, who is out with an abdominal strain.
Texas (4-0) relied on Blue early, and he scored three of the Longhorns’ first four touchdowns with two short runs and a pass from Manning. Manning’s touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo in the second quarter made the score 28-0.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl champions Peyton and Eli Manning. He was one of the top recruits in the country after finishing high school in 2022.
While Manning celebrated this personal milestone, he was not as sharp as in his flawless performance against UTSA a week before, where he threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score after Ewers got hurt.
In the game against the Warhawks (2-1), Manning completed 15 of 29 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns but also made some forced throws, missed open receivers, and threw two interceptions. He left the game early in the fourth quarter after Blue scored his final touchdown.
Manning graded his performance as a “C-plus.”
“Obviously there’s a lot to improve on, stuff that I want back, but it’s a good first win,” Manning said. Blue finished with 124 rushing yards. He did not play in Texas’ last game due to a lingering ankle injury.
“It was great to have Jaydon Blue back,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He’s a weapon. He can get to the edge, but a lot of his yards are between the tackles.”
Texas completed its final non-conference game before starting its first SEC schedule at home next week against Mississippi State.
“The preseason is over,” Sarkisian said. “We don’t need to do anything different. The guys know that when we do it right, we can perform at a pretty high level.”
