It was far from perfect, but Arch Manning looked more confident than not in his first college start for Texas against Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday night (he finished the game completing 15 of 29 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions).

Manning seemed to have a tight grip on the offense, not letting checks or transitions confuse or overwhelm him, and kept things moving with no issues. Texas got Manning into several play-action situations as the big-armed redshirt freshman continues to throw fairly long balls. Manning, like many quarterbacks his age, still fails on the deepest throw of the concept. He threw one into several defenders early on and one was intercepted. A little later, he threw one into two more and nearly completed it. With more time on the task comes more consistent safety, which should eliminate most of the issues Manning’s game is currently exhibiting.

He’s still a little late with his overall pocket processing, especially when the coverage isn’t what he expected or a route is off-balance. A lot of it is timing, though, and Manning is a young backup player – so that’s understandable. Overall, this will go down as a great experience for Manning, as he was able to capture both great throws and correctable mistakes on tape. He’ll gain confidence while learning a ton.