Texas quarterback Arch Manning says he has never been to Knoxville, Tenn., the place where famous uncle Peyton was a star in the mid-1990s.
That means Saturday’s visit should be one for the family scrapbook when the younger Manning leads No. 1 Texas into battle against No. 14 Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
While Manning and the Longhorns (3-0) already own a win over then-No. 1 Ohio State, that was in front of the home fans. This week’s trip to Tennessee (3-0) serves as Texas’ only true road game until November.
“I’m definitely excited to play at a hostile environment, SEC road game,” Manning told reporters. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian was among the people surprised that this marks Manning’s first visit to the campus.
“I just had assumed he’d been to Knoxville and been to Tennessee,” Sarkisian said. “He’s never been before. So I’m sure it’s pretty (big), for the family, for Arch, to play on the field that his uncle played on.”
Manning was offered a scholarship by Tennessee early in his recruiting process, but eventually narrowed his choices to Texas, Georgia and Alabama.
Sarkisian said he and Manning discussed the storylines this week and the coach thinks his quarterback will handle game day just fine.
“I think at the end of the day, you’re the quarterback at Texas,” Sarkisian said. “Your last name’s Manning. Regardless of what you do, you’re gonna get critiqued. You’re going to get criticized.”
Manning has passed for 664 yards and seven touchdowns versus two interceptions to help Texas average 37.7 points per game.
The most memorable performance came against Ohio State when Texas trailed by 20 points before Manning helped rally the team to three fourth-quarter touchdowns and a 24-23 win.
Tennessee safety T.J. Metcalf got a close-up view of Manning last season when he played for Michigan. The Longhorns beat the Wolverines 41-27 in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl with Manning excelling with 221 passing yards and two touchdowns and a career-high 155 yards and two scores on the ground.
“He’s a very great athlete. Got to keep him sound,” Metcalf said. “He can make a lot of great throws. Like I said, he’s a great athlete, and I feel like he’s a good player. He sees the game. That’s something I respect about him.”
Volunteers coach Josh Heupel likes what he’s seen from Manning.
“Smart. Got really good command and control of what’s going on,” Heupel said. “Go back to the Ohio State game, his ability and his team’s ability to be resilient, to keep playing the next play. To be in a situation like that and be able to fight back tells you about their competitive makeup.”
Volunteers freshman Faizon Brandon has passed for 552 yards and six touchdowns, but he has thrown just 64 times as Tennessee has breezed past FCS foe Furman, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State.
This week rates as an opportunity for Brandon to take a step forward.
“He’s got really good command,” Heupel said. “He’s been really decisive with the football in those couple of throws that he’d like to maybe have back. Just fundamentally being a little bit off, plays down the field that we’ve got to go make. But I like what he’s done. You get into conference play, you’re going to grow and evolve every week.”
Tennessee leading rusher DeSean Bishop (hip) is banged up but expected to play. He twice left the game against Kennesaw State. He has 286 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
“We’ll make sure he’s fully ready to go on Saturday,” Heupel said.
Texas and Tennessee are meeting for just the fourth time and the previous three were in Cotton Bowls. Texas won two of the three with the most recent meeting coming on Jan. 1, 1969, when the Longhorns won 36-13.