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USA Today
02-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Did Steve Sarkisian cost Texas by not playing Arch Manning more in 2024?
Did Steve Sarkisian cost Texas by not playing Arch Manning more in 2024? Show Caption Hide Caption JD Vance fumbles Ohio State title trophy at White House event Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeye's football team were honored at the White House for their 2024 national championship victory. There's no holding back now. No pretense or protection. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian laid it out for all to see earlier this week, leaving no doubt about expectations and goals for new quarterback Arch Manning. 'I hope it's not a no-brainer for him to come back to school,' Sarkisian said. And with those comments to the Touchdown Club of Houston, the offseason of hype has begun for the quarterback who has thrown all of 95 career passes. That's not some throwaway line from Sarkisian. It's a unique window into what could one day be considered a monumentally poor decision by one of the game's best coaches. By not playing Manning more in 2024, and eventually putting him in position to play at a high level late in the season in games that mattered, did Sarkisian cost a uber-talented Texas team the chance to win a national title? Because if Manning plays so well this fall that he leaves for the NFL after one season as a starter, what does that say about Sarkisian's decision to start (and play) Quinn Ewers in 2024? COACHES RANKINGS: SEC | Big Ten | Big 12 | ACC LOOKING AHEAD: Big Ten leads too-early Top 25 after spring If Manning is talented enough to play at a high level in 2025 and earn a pre-NFL Draft grade that warrants him leaving early, he should've been playing in 2024, too. If not starting. Especially for a team that had a program-record 12 players drafted last week. For a program that has strung together three straight top five recruiting classes, and is as talented as any Texas team in decades. Instead, Manning started two gimme games in 2024 when Ewers was hurt. He threw passes in all of six games for a team talented enough to win the national title. A team that, at the end of the season, couldn't move the ball on Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals, scored a lousy 14 points and lost by two touchdowns. The obvious question is what could've or would've been different had Manning played against Ohio State? Could Texas have done more in 2024? Like it or not, this is the backdrop to the 2025 season, the most anticipated one at Texas in 20 years. In 2004, Texas beat Michigan to win the Rose Bowl, and a young phenom quarterback had just begun to grow into the hype. A year later and with expectations at an all-time high, Vince Young had a monster season in his second year as the Texas starting quarterback, and the Longhorns went undefeated and won it all — by beating then-unbeatable Southern California in the BCS national championship game. Texas coach Mack Brown was criticized during Young's early career, when he was redshirted as a freshman in 2002 and played behind Chance Mock for half of 2003. Texas fans saw it as missing out on 1 1/2 years of Young as the starter. Manning redshirted in 2023, and outside of starts against Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State in 2024, was a situational substitute. Think about this: Manning threw six passes against non-Mississippi State SEC competition. He didn't attempt a pass in the SEC championship game, and two playoff games. And that's your Heisman Trophy favorite heading into the 2025 season. This is the quarterback who forced Ewers' hand to leave early for the NFL. Ewers wasn't going to play anywhere but Texas, and it was clear Texas was moving on to Manning. Ewers was selected in the seventh round of last week's NFL Draft. A day later at the Touchdown Club of Houston event, Sarkisian asked for patience with his new quarterback. 'Arch is a great player, but I hope for everybody here that we don't get too far ahead of ourselves,' Sarkisian said. 'Let this guy go play this year. Let's let him have fun in finally getting his opportunity as the starting quarterback.' But should he have had that opportunity a year earlier? And much like Young, what would he have done with it — and how far would Texas has gone with him? Sarkisian said during spring practice that he believes Manning will play well in 2025, and that the offense has the pieces to be highly productive. He says he doesn't expect a drop-off from last season. If Sarkisian is talking about a no-brainer decision for Manning to leave early for the NFL, it's more than just avoiding a drop-off. It's playing at a high level and leading Texas beyond where the season ended the last two years. 'Here's what I hope,' Sarkisian told the Touchdown Club. 'I hope he's got a really hard decision to make on about January 21st. That means we played a long time. That means he's probably had a really good season. And that means he's probably trying to figure out, 'Do I want one more year in the burnt orange, or is it time to go to the NFL?'' That also means Sarkisian made a mistake playing Ewers. Or at least not playing Manning more in 2024. There's your no-brainer. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
USA Today
25-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
NFL Draft profile and projection for lineback Cody Simon
NFL Draft profile and projection for lineback Cody Simon Ohio State Buckeye fans already knew Cody Simon well before his impressive performances in the College Football Playoff. Simon played five years at Ohio State (one COVID-shortened season) and really seemed like the glue in the defense for much of his career. He peaked at absolutely the right time, as his senior season was certainly by far his best. He also played his best games of the season at the very end, earning Defensive MVP honors in both the Rose Bowl against Oregon and the National Championship Game against Notre Dame. Cody Simon, Linebacker Draft Projection: Round 4-7 Pro Day Results (As Reported by The Columbus Dispatch) Bench press: 21 reps Vertical jump: 33.5' 40-yard dash: 4.59 seconds 3-cone: 7.19 seconds 20-yard shuttle: 4.3 seconds The Buckeyes, as a whole, played the best football of their lives in last year's Playoff. But no individual, except perhaps Will Howard, improved their draft stock with that CFP run as much as Cody Simon did. Simon can certainly be described as a "late bloomer," but the way he bloomed in the Playoff was nothing short of astounding. He was everywhere on the field, making plays against players supposedly faster and more athletic than him. Simon followed that up with pretty impressive numbers at Ohio State's Pro Day, hopefully further alleviating any concerns NFL teams have about his top-end potential. Simon was trending towards a late-round draft pick until the CFP. And while NFL teams rarely rethink their philosophy about a player completely due to just a few games, this might be one of those exceptions. Everyone can see what Simon did against the best talents in college football. If he gets taken higher than expected, it's because of those performances. If he could do that on the biggest stage in college football, why wouldn't he be able to do it again in the NFL?
USA Today
15-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
JD Vance drops Ohio State's national championship trophy at White House celebration
JD Vance drops Ohio State's national championship trophy at White House celebration Show Caption Hide Caption JD Vance fumbles Ohio State title trophy at White House event Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeye's football team were honored at the White House for their 2024 national championship victory. WASHINGTON ― It was nearly a disastrous late-game turnover. JD Vance fumbled the college football National Championship Trophy as he tried to hoist it up during a White House celebration for the vice president's home state Ohio State Buckeyes. At the conclusion of the ceremony on the White House's South Lawn, Vance began to lift the trophy awarded to Ohio State for winning the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship Game in January. But ‒ as the White House band played Queen's "We are the Champions" ‒ it wasn't the triumphant moment Vance had hoped. The base of the 35-pound trophy broke off as Vance held it up with help from star Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson. With Vance gripping the base and Henderson grabbing the gold football, the break occurred when they tilted the trophy instead of raising it straight upward. Vance dropped the base, but fortunately another teammate helped catch the main part of the trophy before it could fall to the ground. Vance joked about the mishap afterward. "I didn't want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy so I decided to break it," Vance said in a post on X. The college football trophy, which stands at 26.5 inches tall, is made of gold, bronze and stainless steel. The 12-inch base is bronze with a hand-rubbed black patina finish. The trophy is American-made by fine art foundry UAP Polich Tallix. Prior to the trophy incident, President Donald Trump and Vance applauded Ohio State's 34-23 victory over the University of Notre Dame, handing the Buckeyes the first college football national championship of the new 12-team playoff era. "I'm proud of you guys," said Vance, who served two years as a U.S. senator from Ohio. "You guys were resilient. You were tough. You represented the state of Ohio well. You represented the whole country well." Vance then spotted someone in the audience wearing a hat promoting the University of Michigan, Ohio State's longtime arch rival. "I don't know who let the guy over in the corner here in a Michigan hat into this celebration," Vance said with a laugh, drawing some boos. "But I'm about to tell the Secret Service you've got a dangerous weapon." Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
