The wait is over for Texas and Arch Manning, though quarterback admits it wasn’t easy being backup

ATLANTA (AP) — Arch Manning amassed the largest crowd at SEC Media Days on Tuesday, and it wasn’t particularly close. Neither was the competition for most devoted fan, that title belonged to 13-year-old Connor Petroziello.

The Manning superfan arrived at the College Football Hall of Fame at 6:45 a.m., sporting a white Longhorns hat, a No. 16 jersey and burnt orange Crocs. He didn’t know Manning’s brief walk-by wouldn’t happen until 4:15 p.m., but when he found out, he didn’t halt the mission. Ten hours later, his idol signed his jersey.

“I got an ESPN notification last week and asked my parents if we could come,” Petroziello said. “He’s my favorite player. Everything about him.”

The Manning fandom spans beyond age 13. The son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning is the most-talked about quarterback — if not player — in college football. And yet, he’s only played in a handful of games.

Manning passed for 939 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for four touchdowns last season, seeing limited playing time after September behind Quinn Ewers.

He admits now that going from highly sought-after high school recruit to the Texas backup quarterback wasn’t an easy transition.

“This is not really a big deal, but I played every year in high school,” Manning said Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “It was a 2-A high school. That doesn’t mean anything, but from sitting out and not playing, that was pretty tough.”

Manning could have seen the field earlier had he gone elsewhere. But in an era where college athletes have newfound maneuverability thanks to the transfer portal — and the ability strike lucrative deals at interested schools — the quarterback chose to ride it out.

“(Transferring) never really crossed my mind,” Manning said. “I knew Texas was the place I wanted to be. It was the city I wanted to be in, a great education. I had friends there. I was still developing and growing as a football player and a person. So I never really wanted to leave. If there was somewhere else I wanted to be, I would have gone.”

Two years since first arriving in Austin, his days of watching offensive possessions from the sideline is likely behind him. Ewers moved on and up, drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round in April, passing the torch to the newest playmaker in one of football’s most famous families.

Manning’s confidence masks the simple fact that he’s appeared in just 12 college games going into the Aug. 30 season opener at Ohio State, the defending national champion and the team that beat the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl last January. Now that the wait is over, coach Steve Sarkisian thinks he is ready.

“He’s got an unbelievable work ethic. And I think, if he stays true to himself, that’s going to help him navigate these waters as they present themselves,” Sarkisian said. “I think he’s prepared for the moment, but now it’s just time for him to go do it and enjoy doing it quite frankly.”

Anthony Hill Jr. would know Manning’s skill level best. The 2024 second-team AP All-American is tasked with facing the quarterback every day in practice.

“The way he reads the defense, he reads it really well. He also has the ability to take off and run and change the play calls. He’s done that a lot of times against us. I feel he’s going to have a really good season … the season that he rightfully deserves,” Hill said.

Despite the praise and chatter, Manning rejects the idea that he’s anything other than a normal guy.

“I feel like I’m a pretty normal guy,” he said. “I like to hang out with my buddies, play golf. I take football pretty seriously. Other than that, just a regular guy.”

But don’t get it twisted. Normal guy or not, there’s only one thing on the quarterback’s mind.

“I’m here to play ball.”