Mark Kiszla: Believe the hype — Arch Manning is worthy heir to throne of America’s royal quarterback family | Mark Kiszla

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AUSTIN, Texas – After getting paid $1.8 million to get smeared, the sacrificial CSU Rams gave ‘em exactly what the eyes of Texas wanted to see.

Late in the third quarter, with the Longhorns well on their way to a 52-0 shellacking of Colorado State, the biggest cheer of a sizzling Saturday afternoon shook a huge stadium as the second-string quarterback snapped on his helmet and ran onto the field for Texas.

A crowd of 99,171 stood and hailed Arch Manning like a conquering hero.

Of course, this over-the-top reception doesn’t happen for just any quarterback reporting to mop-up duty.

But the kid who wears No. 16 for the Longhorns is football royalty.

Young Manning is crown prince of America’s first family of quarterbacks. Grandson of Archie, the nephew of Peyton and Eli.

At the tender age of 19, this bonnie young prince is assumed to be the next in the family dynasty to claim a Super Bowl ring (or two).

Well, believe the hype.

Unlike Bronny James, this kid won’t need nepotism to cash checks as a pro. Arch can play. He’s got game.

On a summer afternoon when he completed five of six passes for 95 yards, Manning was on point from his first attempt, which he went to his third option off a bootleg for a big gain.

“That wasn’t a young quarterback staring down one guy,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.

For a state that warns us not to mess with it, Texas seems uncommonly happy to have sold out to join the Southeastern Conference.

But folks do love their football deep in the heart.

Game day in Austin is the pigskin version of Mardi Gras.

Outside the stadium more than two hours prior to kickoff, Bevo Boulevard is painted burnt orange with fans enjoying enough beer to fill Lake Travis.

The party doesn’t really get started, however, until Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian and his players show up, hop off team buses and are paraded through the crowd of revelers by the school marching band, before entering the home team’s locker room.

And the big buzz in the crowd along the parade route was all about the Longhorns’ back-up quarterback?

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Standing among the Texas faithful, I repeatedly heard these words:

“Where’s the Manning kid?” and “There’s Arch, hope we get to see him play today.”

Well, the Longhorns faithful got their wish, and young Manning did not disappoint. He threw for a touchdown on his first drive and ran for a touchdown on his second possession.

Arch thinks the game like Peyton. And he runs like PFM, too.

“I fight with Arch a lot about being a little too robotic at times, because he wants to be right,” Sarkisian said.

When this road trip to get roasted by the Longhorns on a 90-degree August afternoon was announced way back in 2019, Colorado State bragged it would receive a $1.8 million guarantee to give Texas a guaranteed W.

Well, sir, that was some knuckleheaded thinking by Joe Parker and Mike Bobo, who are no longer the athletic director and the football coach. If the Rams had thought outside the box, they would’ve demanded $3,500 per yard of total offense gained by the Longhorns … and received an even fatter paycheck.

In the brave, new world of college football, where you can get rich before throwing a touchdown pass, the net worth of name, image and likeness for Peyton’s nephew is estimated to be in excess of $3 million, according to research conducted by the website On3.

That would make young Mr. Manning the third-highest paid college athlete in the USA, trailing only Louisiana State gymnast Livvy Dunne and the son of Coach Prime that you might have heard plays quarterback for the CU Buffs.

Grandpa Archie, however, advised his namesake not to take a penny of the NIL money until he became a starter at Texas. And a year ago, stuck on the bench behind Quinn Ewers, Manning threw only five passes, completing two for a meager 30 yards.

"There were a lot of tough days, I'm not going to lie," he admitted to reporters last December, as the clock on his uneventful 2023 season wound down. "I was never a backup in high school, so there are some days when you graduate early and you're alone in your dorm room. You're like, it's just another day of fighting for a third-string job.”

Well, those bad days are over.

With the fourth-ranked Longhorns legit contenders to make the playoffs for the national championship, Sarkisian has hinted his back-up quarterback will play meaningful snaps during the course of a long season.

With Ewers back as the Texas starter, however, to cement his status as a top-10 draft pick, the smart play for a savvy quarterback would be for Manning to get at least 20 starts at the college level before turning pro.

So for now, let’s all hope Broncos coach Sean Payton is correct to pin the hopes of a woebegone franchise on rookie Bo Nix.

And if that crazy dream doesn’t work out, here’s another one for Broncos Country to keep under the covers:

In the 2027 NFL draft, Arch Manning trades his No. 16 in burnt orange for the Broncos orange uniform worn by Uncle Payton.

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Mark Kiszla: Believe the hype — Arch Manning is worthy heir to throne of America’s royal quarterback family | Mark Kiszla

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