Arch Manning’s afternoon at Missouri is drawing an unflattering comparison with the quarterback on the other sideline. The 22-year-old went head-to-head against Austin Simmons in Saturday’s game between No. 7 Texas Longhorns and No. 18 Missouri Tigers at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri.

At the time the third quarter was about to end, the passing yardage was dead even at 219 net yards apiece, with Texas completing 21 of 29 passes and Missouri 15 of 30. Texas was averaging 10.4 yards per catch to Missouri’s 14.6, a gap that traces largely to Simmons’ 72-yard touchdown pass to Naeshaun Montgomery with 4:52 left in the third.

Why Ian Cummings Gives Austin Simmons the Edge Over Arch Manning

PFN’s NFL draft analyst Ian Cummings said there was “a very stark dichotomy in QB play between Simmons and Manning,” and he put Missouri’s quarterback on the better side of it.

“It is night and day between Austin Simmons and Arch Manning at QB today,” Cummings wrote. “The pre-snap & post-snap vision, the timing on concepts, the situational precision, the confidence working with what the coverage shows. Simmons is the one who checks those boxes.

”The other, who was posited as a potential No. 1 overall pick in the summer, simply hasn’t been able to identify, let alone test opportunities in the intermediate range consistently, and his pass palette has been limited largely to schemed short completions.”

His full breakdown began with a caveat that “both offenses have struggled to move the football consistently in this clash between Missouri and Texas,” and then turned to Simmons.

“One QB is showing active anticipation ability over the middle of the field, throwing with touch and situational precision on 1-on-1 shots, and proves able and willing to test fleeting windows with leverage IQ and situational intelligence,” Cummings wrote.

Cummings tied the gap to the Texas playbook: “For weeks on end, it’s felt as if Steve Sarkisian has had to pare down his playbook for Manning, and it feels the same this week. With Simmons on the other side, the difference in QB play quality is all too clear.”

What Steve Sarkisian Said Monday and What the Numbers Show?

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has continued to stand by his quarterback.

“Honestly, I’ve never felt better about Arch Manning than I do this week…” he said on Monday. “I thought he willed us to play football on the offensive side last week.”

The game he referenced was Texas’ 31-3 rout of Mississippi State on October 31, when Manning completed 16 of 20 passes for 220 yards and 3 touchdowns without an interception.

So far this season, Pro Football Network’s CFB QB Impact Score has Simmons at 80.2, 46th among 180 qualified FBS quarterbacks, and Manning at 72.1, which ranks 113th. Asked Monday about the sacks Texas has taken, Sarkisian added, “We’ve got to block better. That goes without saying. We’ve got to call things that allow the ball to get out of his hand a little quicker. At the same token, we can’t lose our stinger as an offensive football team.”

Manning said Monday, “A lot of those sacks, those are on me. I’m holding the ball too long, not getting rid of the ball.”

As of late in Saturday’s third quarter, Simmons’ only touchdown pass besides the Montgomery strike was a 2-yarder to Brett Norfleet in the first quarter, and Manning had two of his own, a 24-yarder to Derrek Cooper in the first quarter and a 25-yarder to Jermaine Bishop Jr. with 1:52 left in the third.