It’s easy to point fingers at Arch Manning for Texas’ disappointing offensive showcase. With time, however, it’s now become evident that the Longhorns’ poor numbers are not just his fault. Arch Manning is still trying to correct his errors. But what about the support around him? Steve Sarkisian is still trying to paint a problem point for the QB in a good light.

The Texas QB is far from the Manning standard this season; that is a fact. But what can he do when the rest of the offense is failing as well? The O-line has been pretty much non-existent, the run game is abysmal, and the receivers are underperforming. Manning is prone to becoming inaccurate, but the wideouts also failing around him are a factor behind this issue. Steve Sarkisian, however, continued to defend his receiver corps.

The Texas HC was asked about receiver Ryan Wingo’s up-and-down performance so far. “I think this is what we always envisioned it would be. I don’t think it’s necessarily new; I think it’s just taking some time, and that’s okay. Things take time. What I’m happy about is we’re evolving and getting better as the season is moving on,” he said. It’s only now that the Texas offense has found a spark. It’s not enough to make an impact, but some rigorous repairs have to continue in the passing attack.

Wingo hauled in a career night against Vanderbilt, but it was not without flaws. He did cause some drops in the game, despite coming out with 5 catches for 184 yards. In 5 games this season, Wingo hauled in less than 40 yards. Parker Livingstone is seeing a similar fate, despite bringing in 16.3 yards per reception (2-highest in the team). DeAndre Moore, on the other hand, has hauled in only 2 catches and just 1 touchdown. The other two have 5.

The offensive line is a big problem for Texas’ entire offense, and is even impacting the receiver. The lack of protection pushes Manning to throw the ball away to save himself, which usually tends to land off the mark. The test for the receiving corps and Manning to come out stronger gets tougher in Week 12, as they face a stingy Georgia defense. So far, Arch Manning‘s poor passing and the receivers’ failing to come out strong have put Texas at No. 49 in passing offense.

The Longhorns not seeing any commendable improvement from his receivers throws a lot of doubt about the strength of his WR room.

Texas WR room has no notable stars, says Chad Johnson

The Texas offense was predicted to be a mighty force this season, loaded with talent. But so far this season, there haven’t been any exceptional playmakers. “The outside receivers haven’t stood out enough for me to make a difference in the game,” he said on Nightcap. “Ain’t no Ja’Marr Chase. There’s no Justin Jefferson. There’s no CeeDee Lamb.” Ocho added. That star power in the receiver corps is yet to show itself. Over the recent course of games, it still seems like Arch Manning has been left to carry the offense on his back alone.

Texas was going to debut a largely fresh WR unit this season. The top pass-catchers of last season, Matthew Golden and TE Gunnar Helm, left for the draft. Golden was a first-round pick, and Helm made it to an All-SEC spot. Naturally, with DeAndre Moore Jr. and Wingo being the major returning faces of the receiver corps, this room was bound to take a hit. The two veterans still stood a chance of emerging as stars, as did Stanford transfer Emmett Mosely and Parker Livingstone. But they were simply unable to live up to the standards at Austin.

“Everything has been Arch Manning has to do this, Arch Manning has to do that, he has to play better.  But obviously, what’s surrounding him hasn’t been up to par as well,” Ocho added in his disappointment with the Texas receivers. Now is the time to kick into action, especially since Manning himself has shown there is room for change. The onus falls on his supporting cast to also get better at helping him out.