Welcome to this week’s edition of Head of the Class – where victories count, but moral victories don’t (sorry, Kentucky).
First up this week is Arch Manning of the University of Texas. Starting quarterback Quinn Ewers suffered a strained abdomen in the second quarter of the Longhorns’ game against UTSA. Manning entered the game in relief and only accounted for five touchdowns in the 56-7 romp over the Roadrunners. Manning’s final stat line was 9-12 passing with 223 yards, four touchdowns through the air, and a memorable 67-yard touchdown run. That run was the longest touchdown run by a quarterback since Vince Young (remember him?) back in 2005.
Not bad for $3.5 million in NIL money, eh?
Coach Sarkisian said that Ewers would be “questionable” for this week’s game against ULM. Here’s to hoping that Ewers’ injury is not serious, but it looks like the Horns offense will be in capable hands if Manning gets the call. And oh by the way, Texas is the new top team in the AP Top 25.
Next, how about those Toledo Rockets!!
Add another MAC team to the upset list. They went into Starkville and gave Mississippi State a beatdown, 41-17. And in true MAC style, they collected a nice $1.2 million paycheck for their efforts.
The Rockets jumped out to a 28-3 lead in the first half and never looked back. They racked up over 450 yards of offense and sacked MSU’s quarterback five times. It was complete dismantling of the Bulldogs, sending them further into their rebuild under first-year head coach Jeff Lebby.
The Rockets are off to a 3-0 start. They are definitely one of the Group of Five teams to watch in the early going. Kudos to them and their head coach, Jason Candle, as they head into this weekend’s matchup against Western Kentucky. For the Bulldogs, it’s a “good news, bad news” situation. The bad news is that they open up SEC play this weekend; the good news is that they host Florida.
Last up this week – the Nebraska Cornhuskers may finally be back.
They rolled up UNI this weekend 34-3 in Lincoln. I know that it’s UNI, but the Memorial Magic is back. Dylan Raiola has emerged as the quarterback that they have been missing since the Eric Crouch/Tommie Frazier/Scott Frost era. The true freshman was 17-23 for 247 yards and two touchdowns – not Arch Manning numbers, but this team has improved significantly since the Scott Frost coaching experiment ended in 2022. Matt Rhule has been the perfect coach for this team. He’s got the team back in the AP Top 25 and that environment at Memorial Stadium this past weekend was off the charts! I am looking forward to watching their game this weekend as they host Illinois.
Honorable Mentions:
University of South Alabama put up 87 points against Northwestern State last Thursday night. They had 80 points after the third quarter!! The Jaguars put up over 600 yards of offense. They have a tougher test this week as they head to Boone to face Appalachian State.
This hurts to write, but we have to give credit where it’s due. UNLV is 3-0 under coach Barry Odom. They had a very impressive come-from-behind victory at Kansas last Friday night. Matthew Sluka had decent passing numbers, but the graduate transfer quarterback ran the ball for 124 yards. This dual-threat quarterback has the Rebels thinking of the Mountain West title early on in the season. They have a bye week before opening MWC play against Fresno State next week at Allegiant.
