Novig pricesTexas QB Arch Manning tied to Georgia move after David Pollack cites unnamed SEC coach
David Pollack says an SEC coach told him Arch Manning won't be at Texas next year and could land at Georgia. Texas hosts Mississippi State on Saturday.
Former ESPN analyst David Pollack has put a question mark over the future of Texas quarterback Arch Manning. On his See Ball Get Ball podcast, Pollack said an SEC coach told him Manning won't be in Austin next season, and that the same coach expects him to end up at Georgia, according to EssentiallySports, whose report was syndicated by Yahoo Sports.
Pollack said he believes it "100% is going to happen," and he framed it as a split that could suit both Manning and the program. He expects Manning to stay in college rather than enter the NFL draft. He also said he did not know how the rest of the season or the Texas coaching situation would play out. None of it comes from Manning, his family or the school. The source is one unnamed coach, passed along secondhand, and EssentiallySports itself told readers to treat the prediction with caution.
The chatter lands at a tense point in the season. EssentiallySports puts Manning at 1,507 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions through seven games. The outlet also reports that Steve Sarkisian has cut back Manning's first-team reps and given sophomore backup KJ Lacey Jr. a look in practice. The Georgia angle has some history behind it. Kirby Smart recruited Manning hard out of Isidore Newman before he picked Texas, and Gunner Stockton's eligibility is running out in Athens. For now, though, the story is speculation. Nothing has actually changed in the Texas quarterback room.
What it means for Mississippi State
The rumor leaves Manning with a Saturday audience watching every throw. Texas is 5-2 and comes in off a 34-27 home win over No. 7 Ole Miss. That result stopped a slide of back-to-back 27-24 home losses to Oklahoma and Florida. The best wins on the résumé are still a 24-23 victory over No. 1 Ohio State and a 20-17 win at No. 14 Tennessee. Before that came routs of Texas State (59-7) and UTSA (30-6). Three of the last four games have been decided by a field goal or less, so the Longhorns have not been pulling away from good teams.
The market expects them to pull away from Mississippi State on October 31. Texas is a heavy favorite on the board for the game, which covers 12 venues. Novig has the Longhorns at -1011 on the moneyline and Mississippi State at +900. On the spread, Novig lists Texas -20.5 at -100, with Mississippi State +20.5 at -102. Elsewhere the best Texas number is -19.5 at -115 on theScore Bet, so the venues are about a point apart. Novig has the total at 50.5, with the over at -106 and the under at -100. BetRivers has the under at 51. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.3% to 7.0% depending on the market.
A comfortable win with clean ball security would give Manning his best answer to the noise. Another multi-interception afternoon would add to it, with a November stretch still to come that EssentiallySports notes includes Lane Kiffin's LSU.