Eli Manning Trolls Arch, Peyton Manning for Having Best CFB Debut Stats in Family

Eli Manning has bragging rights over the rest of his family for having the best performance in his first college start after Arch Manning made his long-awaited debut as Texas' No. 1 quarterback in Saturday's 51-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe.

Responding to a post on X showing the stat lines for all four Manning quarterbacks in their first college starts, Eli wrote, "I win!"

Archie was at a disadvantage because he played at a time when passing wasn't as big of a factor as it would become even when Peyton and Eli were in college. He did manage to throw for 116 yards and two scores with an interception in a 21-7 win over Memphis State on Sept. 21, 1968.

Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer kept the training wheels on Peyton in his first start. He finished 7-of-14 for 79 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions in a 10-9 win over Washington State.

Arch had some good and bad moments in Saturday's win. The 19-year-old finished 15-of-29 for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He had a huge margin of error because the Longhorns are significantly more talented than Louisiana-Monroe, and it showed in the 497-111 advantage they had in total yards.

Eli, who is the only one of his brothers to play at his father's alma mater, picked apart Murray State's defense in the first game of the 2001 season. He completed 21 of 23 attempts for 271 yards and five touchdowns.

That wouldn't be Eli's best game that year. He threw a school-record six touchdowns in a 58-56 seven-overtime loss to Arkansas. Matt Corral tied the record by throwing for six scores in the Rebels' victory over Vanderbilt during the 2020 season.

Considering the previous generations of Manning quarterbacks were all first-round draft picks—Archie was the lowest pick of the bunch, going No. 2 overall in 1971—Arch has a lot to live up to going forward.

Fortunately, there is still plenty of time for Arch to keep improving his game to add another long chapter to the book about the Manning family quarterbacks.