Texas Longhorns’ much-vaunted quarterback Arch Manning opted against entering the transfer portal in the spring despite the unexpected return of Quinn Ewers, QB1. Not to forget, Texas defeated Colorado State 52-0 in their Week 1 game, and the backup quarterback Arch was the true MVP because of the excitement he generated after throwing his first touchdown pass as a college student.

This weekend’s college football championship game will take place at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It’s going to be an exciting road game as the Texas football team takes on the reigning national champions. But there was an alleged prank pulled off by the father of Arch, Cooper Manning. As per the rumor making the rounds on social media and discussed by Chip Brown of 247Sports and Brett McMurphy of Action Network, Cooper arranged for Texas flags to be flown at The Graduate Hotel in Ann Arbor. The hotel is conveniently located near the stadium and campus, so if the rumors are accurate, Manning has pulled off the ultimate troll job. Now, the question is, will he present on that big day to support his son?

Peyton Manning’s response to Cooper’s rumor

For the sake of college football shenanigans, everyone wants some spices. Standing there, when Peyton Manning, Cooper’s brother, showed up on the “Pat McAfee Show,” he admitted that he was unaware of the practical joke and remarked, “I have not heard this,“. Moreover, he stated, “Cooper is in the hotel business. The Graduate is kind of one of their top hotels.“. There are three locations: Ann Arbor, Columbus, and Knoxville, where it is located. In addition, Peyton mentioned, “They have room keys with the famous alums on there. But the prank ought to get this game and rivalry started pretty quick.”. Therefore, it is pretty obvious Texas vs Michigan has been rivals for eons.

Moreover, on the same show, discussing the presence of Cooper in the crowd of Ann Arbor, Peyton said, “The celebration on the sideline, hey, I have no clue when it comes to that, but I’m happy for him, and like I said, pulling hard this year, Cooper’s coming to Ann Arbor this weekend, and you know, should be a great ballgame there in Ann Arbor.” Now, you can get a clear picture of why Cooper’s presence on Saturday is a big matter for Arch, as well as his uncles, Peyton and Eli. Let me tell you one more interesting fact about Arch.

The reason behind Arch Manning’s stay in Texas

Despite having the potential and caliber of the Longhorns’ QB1 job, Ewers stood in Arch’s way and took a majority of the snaps last season. Although Arch has a very good relationship with Ewer according to Cooper, which is one of the reasons for him to stay in Texas. Along with that, his remarkable performance with 19-of-26 for 355 yards resulting in 3 touchdowns in the 2024 season, led to the question that will he accept the QB2 role?

Moreover, describing the reason for Arch not entering the transfer portal, Cooper said, “I think there are a lot of people who are probably questioning why he would stick around, and asking, ‘Why aren’t you moving? Why aren’t you going somewhere else?’ But the grass is not always greener, you know. When you have children who are happy where they are, you don’t mess with it. That’s as simple as that,“. It reflects Cooper has a huge involvement in the progress of Arch’s football career with Texas. currently, Arch is concentrating on his weekend match against Michigan.