ATHENS — Georgia hasn’t exactly had the best success against backup quarterbacks. Especially at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts helped author come-from-behind victories against the Bulldogs.
Even earlier this season, Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons led the Rebels on a touchdown drive to tie the score against Georgia. Ole Miss went on to win that game.
So it’s easy to understand why there has been discussion about Texas’ backup quarterback, especially given that Arch Manning is not your typical backup.
Manning was a 5-star recruit in the class of 2023. Kirby Smart knows Manning well, given how hard Georgia recruited the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning in the 2023 recruiting cycle.
Yet Manning ended up at Texas, where he has carved out some playing time over the course of the year. He started for Quinn Ewers when he was injured earlier in the season.
Georgia already has seen what Manning can do, when he entered the second quarter against the Bulldogs and completed three of his six pass attempts for 19 yards, though he had a costly fumble that led to points for Georgia just before halftime.
Manning once again came in for Ewers in the Texas win over Texas A&M, with Manning rushing for a touchdown in the win.
Given Manning’s athletic ability — and that Ewers has been dealing with an ankle injury of late — and Georgia’s struggles against mobile quarterbacks, the Bulldogs are on high alert for Manning this week.
“He’s what everybody thought he was,” Smart said of Manning.” He’s athletic, smart, thick, a great thrower. He can run their entire offense while at the same time creating designed runs or off-schedule runs. Both are scary because designed runs with him are tough to defend because you’re having to defend the whole field, and then he’s also an elite thrower and passer.
“He’s a great player, and they brought him along the way. He’s gained confidence each and every week in the way he plays. He got to start some games. You couldn’t write a better story for him in terms of development to be ready to go and be the starter.”
Ewers is still the likely starter for the Longhorns, but Georgia will be prepared for what Manning might bring to the table. Just a week ago, the Bulldogs studied for Georgia Tech’s Haynes King and Aaron Philo to see the field, only for King to play the duration of the game.
Georgia had one of its better games the first time against Texas, forcing seven sacks and four turnovers in the 30-15 win.
The Bulldogs also have had stretches that have bewildered spectators, none more so than when King and the Yellow Jackets racked up 563 yards of offense this past weekend.
When speaking to reporters Monday, Smart couldn’t exactly put his finger on what makes this defense so inconsistent.
“We have great resiliency, but the trait that confounds you or bothers you is that when something goes wrong,” Smart said. “Like any explosive play or any penalty that extends the drive has almost been catastrophic. Like, we can’t stop anybody if that happens, and we have not overcome that well.
“What we have done is stop people when we’ve had to, played well in the red area. For a while there we played really well at third down, but you can’t put a finger on exactly what it was.”
Smart and his team have a few more practices to put together a plan to slow Manning, Ewers and Texas.
It’s hard to beat a team twice and these are not the same teams that met in Austin on Oct. 19.
“Their ability to run the ball, you know, that changed, I would say. You know, they look a lot more physical, still very explosive, you know, when you look at it,” Georgia safety Malaki Starks said. “You know, they’re not the same Texas team that we played before, you know, we’re not the same Georgia team. And they’ve grown in areas and so have we, you know, we just got to go back to work.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
