{"id":221257,"date":"2025-09-12T16:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T16:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/221257\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T16:02:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T16:02:11","slug":"texas-manning-uteps-nelson-took-different-paths-from-top-recruits-to-saturdays-matchup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/221257\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas\u2019 Manning, UTEP\u2019s Nelson took different paths from top recruits to Saturday\u2019s matchup"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTTIN, Texas \u2014\u00a0Arch Manning<\/a>\u00a0and Malachi Nelson were two of the most coveted quarterback recruits in the country coming out of high school in 2023.<\/p>\n

Both were can\u2019t miss five-star prospects who were going to be leading two of the biggest programs and brands in college football to national title contention.<\/p>\n

Yet their respective journeys to Saturday\u2019s matchup of Manning\u2019s\u00a0No. 7 Texas Longhorns<\/a>\u00a0(1-1) against Nelson and UTEP (1-1) could not have been more different.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were both at the top of the recruiting boards in \u201923. It\u2019s going to be a fun little showdown,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cThe environment is going to be rocking … I can\u2019t wait to get out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

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Manning signed with Texas out of high school and stayed the course with the Longhorns, waiting as the understudy to Quinn Ewers the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

Nelson, who some analysts rated higher than Manning coming out of high school, has taken a journeyman\u2019s route. He signed with Southern California and spent his freshman season there, before transferring to Boise State. He lasted one season on the bench there before landing in El Paso in search of a starting role.<\/p>\n

Manning has been under an intense spotlight since he landed on campus, and it has only grown hotter as Texas started the season No. 1 and he struggled in an\u00a0opening loss at Ohio State<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nelson started his career in the glitz of Los Angeles, but the buzz is far quieter now. The Miners have had just three winning seasons in 20 years and haven\u2019t won a bowl game since 1967.<\/p>\n

\"UTEP<\/p>\n

UTEP quarterback Malachi Nelson (7) runs the football during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Utah State, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Logan, Utah. <\/p>\n

Tyler Tate \/ AP<\/p>\n

Manning and Nelson both threw four touchdowns in bounce-back wins last week. Texas and Manning will be heavily favored Saturday, but Nelson at least has a chance to show off the talent he showed in high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to see what he can do,\u201d Manning said. \u201cI wish him luck the rest of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manning makes faces<\/p>\n

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian\u00a0denied any suggestions<\/a>\u00a0this week that Manning has been playing with in injury to his throwing shoulder. He faced questions about it after social media posts noted Manning\u2019s strained facial expressions on some throws.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never filmed any of you guys when you\u2019re using the bathroom, so I don\u2019t know what faces you make when you\u2019re doing that,\u201d Sarkisian told reporters in response.<\/p>\n

Texas penalty problems<\/p>\n

The Longhorns have had a rash of self-inflicted problems in their 1-1 start. Texas had 12 penalties for 112 yards last week against San Jose State. Two defensive penalties against Ohio State cost Texas a safety and aided a Buckeyes\u2019 touchdown drive. Preseason\u00a0all-American<\/a>\u00a0edge rusher Colin Simmons has just a half sack and five penalties through two games, and was benched briefly at the start of the second half against San Jose State.<\/p>\n

Favorite targets<\/p>\n

Manning and Nelson have developed quick bonds with favorite receiving targets. Texas freshman Parker Livingstone has three touchdowns on six catches. UTEP junior Kenny Odom already has 14 catches for 221 yards and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Miners chasing Manning<\/p>\n

UTEP\u2019s aggressive pass rush will try to pressure Manning and expose any weak links in a rebuilt Texas offensive line. The Miners have 10 sacks in the first two games.<\/p>\n

Bright lights, big league<\/p>\n

UTEP players are eager to step into an SEC environment against one of the state\u2019s flagship universities, Walden said. UTEP will also plays at Texas in 2027, 2029 and 2031. The last time Texas went to El Paso was 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a Texas guy, from Fort Worth, and to play THE University of Texas means a lot to me and this program. Especially our kids, 70% of our roster is Texas high school football players,\u201d Walden said.<\/p>\n

Find more Texas coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTTIN, Texas \u2014\u00a0Arch Manning\u00a0and Malachi Nelson were two of the most coveted quarterback recruits in the country coming…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":221258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[23603,10857,1318,1317,1315,1316,62,9662,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-221257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-arch-manning","9":"tag-colleges","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-football","13":"tag-ncaafootball","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-texas-longhorns","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115192171324654340","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}