Did Texas QB Arch Manning have ‘happy feet’ against Ohio State?

Plenty of college football analysts have been breaking down what went wrong for Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning in the Longhorns’ 14-7 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday. One area that deserves some attention is actually Manning’s footwork.

A number of technical issues might have been at play in Manning’s effort. Did he have a case of “happy feet” or just a lack of solid footwork? That’s highly possible and something Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian addressed in his weekly Monday news conference.

“There was a couple of times where we had some crossing routes where I I didn’t feel like he brought his feet to where he wanted to throw the ball, which in turn forced kind of a sidearm delivery which isn’t his style of throwing,” Sarkisian said, according to Inside Texas.  

“I think if he can get his feet aligned and get his shoulders aligned, that can help with some of his accuracy that way. I think it all started to when we throw crossers, we don’t look for the crosser.”

Besides Sarkisian’s comments, ESPN football analyst Dan Orlovsky broke down a few plays where Ohio State’s defense caused Manning headaches. 

Credit for the Buckeyes’ efforts on defense goes to defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who came into the Ohio State program with a lot of NFL experience on his resume.

Manning has to get his feet set and turned toward defenses at a much faster pace. At times, Manning’s feet appeared to look like they were sideways and not lined up properly. Sarkisian might have seen this happen when reviewing the game film.

Against the Buckeyes, Manning was 17-of-30 passing for 170 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked once and averaged 5.7 yards per pass. With all the hype surrounding Manning, the loss as the top-ranked team in college football was highly disappointing.

Manning gets a chance, though, to fix his mistakes as the Longhorns open up a string of three straight home games. On Sept. 6, Texas hosts San Jose State, followed by UTEP and Sam Houston. His next big test will be against the Florida Gators at “The Swamp” on Oct. 4. 

Will Manning get better? He has to do so … and quickly. 

Joe Rutland

Joe Rutland has contributed articles on sports, entertainment, and business to digital platforms like Athlon Sports, The Sporting News, Entrepreneur, The Huffington Post, The Good Men Project, and others. He’s spent four decades in the communications industry as a journalist, editor, writer, and columnist. His sports areas of focus include MLB, NBA, college football, and WNBA