Texas vs Mississippi State live updates: How to watch, TV channel, kickoff time, odds and analysis

It was hardly perfect, but Arch Manning looked downright comfortable during his first collegiate start for Texas Saturday night against Louisiana-Monroe (he completed 15 of 29 for 258 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions). .

Manning took firm control of the offense, didn’t get confused or overwhelmed by any type of checks or changes and kept things running without any problems. Texas put Manning in a lot of play-action situations, as the big-armed redshirt freshman continued to throw the deep ball. Manning, like many quarterback players his age, still misses on most deep throws in concept. He threw through several defenders early on and picked off one. After a while he divided one into two parts and almost completed it. More time on the job leads to more consistent rest, which should eliminate most of the hiccups currently seen in Manning’s game.

He’s still a little late to his normal pocket processing, especially if coverage isn’t what he was expecting or a route goes awry. However, a lot of it is timing, and Manning is a young backup – so it makes sense. In general, this will go down in the books as a great experience for Manning as he was able to put both great throws and correctable mistakes on tape. He will gain confidence and learn a lot as well.