"That’s a big person that deserves some of the blame": David Pollack blasts Steve Sarkisian after Arch Manning crumbles against Florida

It was a tough day for Arch Manning and coach Steve Sarkisian when the Texas Longhorns lost to the Florida Gators in a road game in Week 6. Entering the game, the Longhorns happened to be the favorites despite Manning's recent struggles and inability to run the ball. However, Manning crumbled to the pressure and threw two interceptions while also getting sacked six times in the game.

The offense looked terrible and as usual, they couldn't make plays in the opponent's territory. Reacting to the entire game, CFB analyst David Pollack claimed it is time to take the blame off Manning's head and point fingers at the real culprit—coach Sark.

While speaking on the latest edition of his podcast, ‘See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack‘, he mentioned that it was not Manning who was at fault but the head coach who could not devise strategic plays against an SEC rival. Moreover, he also failed to meet the fan expectations of having Manning at the helm.

“What we’re gonna see from the national media, it is what it is, but it’ll be a pile fest on Arch. It’ll be a big dog-pile and everybody’s gonna crap over Arch because he hasn’t been playing great. And he hasn’t. He hasn’t played great, but let’s not let the most important part off the hook,” Pollack said on the podcast on Monday.

NCAA Football: Texas Tech at Texas - Source: Imagn

He also mentioned that the team lacked efficiency. With such a hefty NIL backing and collectives at exposure, nothing less can be expected from a program like that of Texas.

“The most important part is I think Sark, I think that’s a big deal. That’s a big person that deserves some of the blame. When we talk about Sark and his record, first of all, we’ve talked about everybody and NIL. NIL helped the state of Texas as much as anyone,” he added on the show.

Steve Sarkisian's QB Arch Manning admits mistakes after Florida loss

There were several key areas that required improvement. While the quarterback managed to throw two touchdowns in the second and third quarters, the offense appeared stiff and was under the constant control of the Florida defense. After the game, Manning had a brief interaction with the reporters.

"As much as losses sting your heart, this one's going to hurt. It's always something to learn from. You win some, and then you learn more. We'll learn from this and get better,” Manning said on Saturday.

This coming weekend, the team will face the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry. It will be nothing short of a drama. The team's playoff aspirations are hanging in the balance, especially after they got kicked out of the top 25 AP poll rankings.

Edited by Deepesh Nair