Arch Manning flexing on Sam Houston meme: The story behind Texas QB’s cringey taunting penalty originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Arch Manning has had his share of ups-and-downs throughout the 2025 college football season, but he was exceptional against Sam Houston in Week 4.
Manning put on a show against the Bearkats, completing 18-of-21 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns, while also adding two touchdowns on the ground. His second touchdown of the night came on a rushing play in the red zone, where he evaded a tackle by a Sam Houston player.
Once he got in the end zone, he stared down the Bearkats player who was on the ground. The college football world reacted heavily to Manning’s actions, especially since Texas is the much better team.
Here’s what Manning did and how people reacted to it.
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Manning delivered his most dominant and efficient performance of the 2025 season against Sam Houston State, leading the No. 8 Texas Longhorns to a decisive 55-0 victory. The game served as a much-needed confidence boost for the highly scrutinized quarterback after several inconsistent outings to start the year.
Though, the quarterback caught backlash for flexing on a Sam Houston player after his first score of the game. The college football world noted that Texas is a superior team to Sam Houston, and Manning should pick on someone his own size.
Sam Houston was 0-3 going into the game while Texas was 2-1. It was reported that the Longhorns paid $1.5 million to play the Bearkats. Manning was emotional from the kickoff, when he was seen hyping up his teammates, and after every score in the Texas blowout, he let out some feelings.
Regardless of the opponent, Manning was sharp while he was in the game, demonstrating improved accuracy and command before being removed early in the third quarter with the lead at 45-0. He finished the contest with five total touchdownsthree passing and two rushing. His passing line was nearly flawless: 18 completions on 21 attempts (an 85.7% completion rate) for 309 yards and three touchdowns, all with zero interceptions. His performance made him only the fourth Texas quarterback this century, joining Sam Ehlinger, Colt McCoy, and Vince Young, to have a game with at least two passing and two rushing touchdowns.
When asked about the reaction, Manning said it might have been “a little much,” and his mom was not happy that he did that. But the emotional outburst was purifying, coming after weeks of heavy media criticism and inconsistent play.
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The Sam Houston player whom Arch Manning flexed on after scoring a rushing touchdown was linebacker Antavious Fish.
After Manning scored a five-yard rushing touchdownhis first of two rushing scores that nighthe immediately turned and stood over Fish, demonstrating an uncharacteristic burst of swagger and emotion that quickly went viral on social media.
Some observers noted that the confrontational exchange may have been a “get-back” moment, as Fish was wearing jersey No. 6 and may have engaged in trash talk with Manning earlier in the contest.
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