What's crazy is with all of Arch's obvious struggles, I'm convinced Sark fully believes in Arch's ability and potential based on his puzzling game plans.
The UTEP game was a full blown disaster. Then against a really shitty SHSU, Arch played well. I won't oversell it, there's only so much you can do vs. SHSU to make people feel better. But he executed.
Then vs. FLA, Sark tried to unleash Arch. Tons of deep routes and hero ball play calling. Arch had 15 carries, RBs had 11 carries for 15 yards. His game plan was to put everything in Arch's hands. DIdn't help that defense played poorly, but still.
Manning was battered and bruised after that game, so much so that Sark praised him for taking every starter snap in practice that week. The game plan devised for OU was clearly designed to protect Arch. Run the ball, short/immediate quick passing attack, and only a few Arch runs where we started to see him sliding. He plays an efficient game, didn't take many hits, and we get a nice win.
I guess Sark felt good again, so he decided to return to fully depending on Arch offensively. Scrapped the running game, kept him mostly in the pocket throwing where he got hammered by the defense again.
Hopefully Sark has learned his lesson at this point. Run the ball, get Arch in a rhythm with short passing attack first. If we run successfully and keep the pass rush from teeing off, then take some shots downfield. It feels like he's trying to skip steps in the process. Like he's in denial with what we've seen with Arch on the field so far.