Desmond Howard doesn’t believe in Arch Manning.
The 1991 Heisman Trophy winner believes the Texas quarterback shouldn’t have been in the Heisman Trophy conversation entering the season, but no one actually wanted to say that.
“All of the hype and Heisman talk around him was unwarranted,” Howard said Thursday on the “Rich Eisen Show.”
“He doesn’t deserve having his name in the same breath as that trophy.”
Howard added that “nothing consistently jumped out to him on tape” to generate that kind of greatness expectation.
“People don’t want to really criticize him, partially because he is a Manning,” Howard added. “They want to stay in good favor with the Mannings, as they are a big name in our sport. So what they do is make it seem like Matt Patricia, the defensive coordinator for Ohio State, just called this brilliant game that kept Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning off balance for four whole quarters.”
Howard, an analyst on “College Gameday,” even criticized his own network for their coverage of Manning.
“Now, Matt Patricia did call a very good game,” Howard said. “There’s no doubt about that. But I saw guys on ‘SportsCenter’ and other shows pulling like three tape plays and showing how he may have confused Arch Manning with a look or secondary switch at the last minute,” Desmond continued. “I’m watching the film and I can show you 10-12 plays where guys were running wide open and he either just didn’t hit them with the ball or he didn’t see these guys. It wasn’t that complex or complicated.”
The former Michigan star continued that Texas isn’t tough enough to go on the road and beat a team like Ohio State, and called their 14-7 loss “disappointing” but “predictable.”
Manning completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards with one touchdown and one interception, as fans watched the Longhorns’ signal caller struggle to get his team in a position to win.
His first three quarters were mostly a disaster before picking it up in the fourth quarter, although he still fell short of leading the comeback.
Manning was 9 of 15 for 38 yards and an interception through three quarters.
One NFL scout called the performance “tough to watch.”
Texas doesn’t play another ranked opponent until Oct. 4 when it faces No. 13 Florida.
On Saturday, the Longhorns face San Jose State as massive 36.5-point favorites.