The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 5/4 Football’s Manning named to Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list
08.19.2026 | Football
The senior quarterback landed on the award’s watch list for the second-straight year.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 5/4 Texas Football senior quarterback Arch Manning was named to the preseason watch list for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award for the second-consecutive year, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation announced Wednesday.
The award annually recognizes the top senior or upperclassman quarterback set to graduate with their class. Candidates are chosen based on player performance on and off the field.
In 2024, former Longhorn Quinn Ewers was a Top 10 finalist for the award. Former UT quarterback Colt McCoy took home the award in 2009.
In addition to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award preseason watch list, Manning has also earned spots on the preseason watch lists for the Walter Camp National Player of the Year Award and the Maxwell Award. Manning was named to Walter Camp's All-America Preseason First Team and is a Preseason All-SEC Second-Team selection by the league's media and coaches.
Starting in all 13 games in 2025, Manning completed 248-of-404 passes (61.39 percent) for 3,163 yards and 26 touchdowns, averaging 243.31 yards per contest. Also a threat with his legs, the New Orleans native was Texas' second-leading rusher in 2025 after recording 399 yards (92 attempts) and a team-best 10 rushing touchdowns, averaging 4.3 yards per run. Manning had three games with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdown passes without an interception, which tied for the most such games by any Power Conference quarterback during the regular season (Baylor's Sawyer Robertson and Ohio State's Julian Sayin) and is the most in a season by a Longhorn since Major Applewhite in 1999. He also holds the highest career passing touchdown percentage at home by an active Power Four Conference quarterback at 9.5 percent. Manning was tabbed one of 15 finalists for the Manning Award and was named to the Davey O'Brien Award's Postseason Great 8 for his performance in Texas' victory over No. 18/17/18 Michigan on Dec. 31 at the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. Leading the Longhorns to a 41-27 win against Michigan to conclude the season and earning the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl's MVP honors, Manning connected on 21-of-34 passes for 221 yards and two scores while adding a career-high 155 yards on the ground with two touchdowns, accounting for 376 yards of total offense and four touchdowns vs. the Wolverines. Over the final six games of the 2025 campaign, he generated 1,714 passing yards (286 per game) and 205 rushing yards while averaging 320 yards of total offense per game and 20 total touchdowns (14 passing, five rushing and one receiving). With the performance vs. Michigan, Manning became the only FBS or NFL QB in the last 30 seasons to have a game with 200-plus passing yards, 150-plus rushing yards, multiple passing touchdowns, multiple rushing touchdowns, no sacks, and no turnovers while averaging 15-plus yards per rush.
In his first full season as a starter at Texas, Manning guided the Longhorns to a 10-3 overall record to clinch UT's third-straight 10-win season – its most since 2007-09. Texas finished the season winning seven of its last eight games in addition to four AP Top-20 wins. The Longhorns went 5-2 against Top-20 opponents this season, with three of those wins coming against top-10 teams.
As the 2026 college football season unfolds, the Golden Arm watch list will be narrowed to semifinalists and finalists before one standout quarterback is selected to receive the Golden Arm Award in December. The winner will be celebrated at the annual Golden Arm Award ceremony in Baltimore on Dec. 9.
Manning and Texas open the 2026 season vs. Texas State at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Sept. 5, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The game will broadcast on ESPN.
