Once Heisman front-runners, QBs Arch Manning and DJ Lagway have become SEC disappointments

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Texas’ Arch Manning and Florida’s DJ Lagway opened the season as Heisman Trophy hopefuls, even considered front-runners by some.

The highly touted quarterbacks with TV commercials, endorsement deals and probably as much name, image and likeness money as anyone in college were supposed to be the next great ones at their schools.

Can’t-miss prospects? Sophomore superstars? Future first-round NFL draft picks?

A month into the season, Manning and Lagway are two of the most disappointing players in the Southeastern Conference, prompting some to wonder if their performance will ever match their pedigree.

Manning and Lagway will share the spotlight Saturday when the ninth-ranked Longhorns (3-1) open SEC play at reeling Florida (1-3, 0-1) in the Swamp. It’s a matchup that features the nation’s top QB recruit in 2023 (Manning) and the top QB recruit in 2024 (Lagway).

Both are searching for better results after four starts in 2025.

“Eventually it is going to pop,” Lagway said. “And when it pops, it is going to be hard to stop. I will tell you that right now.”

Manning, the nephew of retired NFL stars Peyton and Eli Manning and the grandson of family patriarch Archie Manning, has nine touchdown passes, five rushing scores and three interceptions. But 10 of those TDs came against San Jose State and winless Sam Houston State.

He completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a 14-7 loss at then-No. 3 Ohio State in the season opener. He has looked more comfortable since but playing in front of 90,000 at raucous Florida Field and against a stout defense offer huge tests for the New Orleans native.

“I’m looking around the country at the high-profile players, I don’t know if any of them are living up to what everybody said they were supposed to be,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.

Lagway was supposed to save Florida. He went 6-1 as a starter as a freshman and hoped to carry that success into his second season. But he spent the better part of seven months rehabbing various injuries, including core-muscle surgery, a sore throwing shoulder and a strained left calf.

The layoff proved costly, with Lagway looking anywhere from rusty to lost. His mechanics have improved with each start, but his confidence remains a work in progress.

“We just need a little spark and it’s going to set a blaze,” Lagway said.

Lagway has thrown for 690 yards, with five touchdowns and six interceptions this season. Three of the TDs came in a victory against Long Island, and five of the picks came in a loss at LSU. He also threw for 61 yards at Miami in his last game.

Coach Billy Napier responded by getting Lagway consecutive days of 11-on-11 work during Florida’s off week in hopes of getting him caught up.

“I see the look in (his) eye,” Napier said. “We’re trying to do our best for him in terms of creating an environment where he can continue to get back in his rhythm. That’s the most important thing right now.”

Texas is a 7-point favorite for its first game in Gainesville since 1940, an indication oddsmakers believe Arch Manning can do something Uncle Peyton failed to do in two visits with Tennessee (1996, 1998). Eli won his only game at Florida Field with Mississippi in 2003.

More recently, the Swamp has rattled a number of young QBs. The list includes Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart (2024), LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier (2024), Auburn’s Bo Nix (2019), LSU’s Joe Burrow (2018) and Missouri’s Drew Lock (2016).

None of them were Heisman contenders at the time. Odds for Lagway and Manning have dropped significantly in the last month, with BetMGM Sportsbook now listing Lagway at 300-1 (opened at 18-1) and Manning at 20-1 (opened at 6-1). The best they can hope for Saturday is a victory and some vindication after early season slipups.

“College football players are getting critiqued and criticized more now than they ever have in the past,” Sarkisian said. “This is a different era that we’re in, and I think that we’ve got to do a great job as coaches of – I don’t want to say shelter – but we got to protect our guys because they’re not pros yet.

“We’ve got to do a really good job of putting them in the right mental space to where they’re still enjoying playing the game of football with their college football teammates. … They need to play football and not work football.”