Bijan Robinson implores Arch Manning to ignore media

Bijan Robinson knows what it’s like to play at Texas when everyone’s watching.

The Atlanta Falcons running back spent his college years running through the early stages of Steve Sarkisian’s rebuild in Austin, experiencing firsthand what happens when expectations don’t match results. Now he’s watching Arch Manning deal with the scrutiny that comes with being Texas’s quarterback and so far failing to live up to his own last name.

“I would say to continue to stay consistent,” Robinson told Rich Eisen on Tuesday when asked about the advice he had for the embattled former five-star prospect. “Stay consistent as much as possible. You know, don’t listen to the media, because the media can either steer you in the right direction or it’ll tarnish you for your career. So, for him, always know that everybody has his back in that building. Coach Sarkisian will have his back. Everybody around him has his back.”

Robinson expanded on that theme of turning out the media during an appearance on The Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network, addressing the “bust” label that’s already attached to Manning just five games into his first season as Texas’s starting quarterback. And the former Longhorns star made it clear he’s not here for that conversation.

“I feel like you shouldn’t put that on a kid because all he’s trying to do is improve,” Robinson said. “All he’s trying to do is become the best that he can become, not just for himself, but his team. That word — the b-word — I really hate that people use that word, especially with him, man. He’s one guy that if you knew who he was as a person, then you would know that all he’s trying to do is make his team the best.”

Robinson isn’t exaggerating about how quickly the Manning discourse turned.

After struggling in Texas’s 14-7 season-opening loss to Ohio State, where he completed just 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, Manning went from preseason Heisman favorite to cautionary tale almost overnight.

Five games into his career as a starter, and the bust conversation is in full swing. Manning has thrown for 1,151 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions while leading Texas to a 3-2 record. Those are relatively normal numbers for a first-year starter, but nothing about the Manning situation has ever been normal.

Neither were the expectations.

Paul Finebaum called Manning the best college quarterback since Tim Tebow before he’d thrown a meaningful pass in a starting role. But it wasn’t just Finebaum who built him up. When he was just a freshman, Mainning was swarmed by reporters at Sugar Bowl media day while Quinn Ewers, the actual starter, stood off to the side watching.

That was 21 months before Manning finally got his chance this season. And when he eventually did, ESPN’s College GameDay spent an entire segment diagnosing what went wrong after the Ohio State loss, with Pat McAfee admitting he was “part of the problem” by crowning Manning before he’d even taken a snap as the starter.

That’s the kind of environment Robinson is telling Manning to ignore. His message heading into this week’s Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma focused on the team becoming player-led and blocking out everything else. Robinson emphasized that Saturday’s game represents a crucial moment not just for Manning individually, but for the entire program.

“But I think it’s like you’re saying, it’s the whole team, like the whole offense has to come together, especially this week, playing Oklahoma,” Robinson said on The Rich Eisen Show. “It’s gonna be a really big game for not just Texas as a program, but those individual players. These are really big games for them. So you have to hone in and become player-led, and become who you’re going to become this week. My advice to them is just put their head down, stay out of the outside noise, and just go out on that field Saturday and show everybody what they can do.”

The former Texas running back understands the scrutiny better than most. He ran for 1,100 yards during a 5-7 transition season in 2021, Sarkisian’s first year with the program, and then put up 1,500 yards in 2022 on an 8-5 team that still hadn’t broken through. Robinson experienced what it feels like to be Texas’s featured player when the program wasn’t quite ready to meet the expectations that come with burnt orange.

“It’s a word that creeps into guys’ minds when you tell them that, and I really hate that because everybody has a chance to improve, and everybody has a chance to get better,” Robinson said about the bust label. “And when they do, then people have another narrative and they want to say, ‘He’s the best,’ or ‘It was a fluke,’ or something like that. All it takes is time and patience.”

Time and patience haven’t been part of the Manning experience so far. At least not from an expectations standpoint.

Manning sat behind Ewers for two years, throwing just 90 passes last season in limited action that came mostly against inferior competition. This year, he’s making his first career starts in an SEC that plays elite defense, behind a rebuilt offensive line, carrying the weight of a last name that turns every throw into a referendum on Manning family genetics.

Robinson’s advice remains consistent because it has to be. Manning has to stay focused on what he can control. He has to trust the people in his building. He has to put his head down and show what he can do on Saturdays. Everything else is noise generated by a media ecosystem that needs Manning content to fill programming hours, whether that content is coronation or condemnation.

The same machine that elevated Manning to Heisman favorite before he earned it is now punishing him for not living up to the hype he never created. Robinson watched it happen to him and his teammates at Texas, and now he’s watching it happen to Manning in real time.