Parker Schultz

Tennessee retired number 16 in 2005. On Saturday at noon, a Manning is going to run into Neyland Stadium wearing it. In the wrong orange. Arch Manning has never set foot in Knoxville. Not for a game, not for a visit, not once in his life. Tennessee never recruited him. He grew up in New Orleans and Peyton was already deep into his NFL career by the time Arch was born in 2004. There was no reason to go. Steve Sarkisian assumed he'd been at some point and found out this week that he hadn't. "Arch and I, we were meeting this morning. And I just had assumed he'd been to Knoxville. He's never been before." What he's walking into is a building where his last name is sacred and the fans wearing it are going to spend three hours screaming at him. Peyton Manning is the most beloved athlete in the history of the state of Tennessee. Four years, an SEC championship, 11,201 passing yards, and a senior season he came back for after turning down the number one overall pick. The street outside the stadium is named Peyton Manning Pass. Somebody asked Peyton this summer who he'd be rooting for. "One of the kids was asking me earlier who I was going to go for. And I said, well, who do you think? And he said that he would go for his school over his relative. And I went, well, you and I are different. You and I are wired differently. Nothing's more important than your family." Then he said the other part. "But obviously, it's going to be a huge SEC game. I love my university, my alma mater, and I pull for them unconditionally." Archie Manning sat in this exact seat thirty years ago, watching his son play against Ole Miss. Arch was asked this week what Peyton had told him about playing at Neyland. "Not much." He's been guarded about the whole thing all week. Short answers, then he got up and left the podium. Texas is ranked number one in the country. Tennessee is 14th. This is the first time these two schools have played since 1969 and the first time Texas has ever played inside that stadium. College GameDay is on site. Kickoff is noon Eastern. Texas is favored by 5 and a half. Sarkisian was asked how his quarterback handles being the most scrutinized player in America. "You're the quarterback at Texas. Your last name's Manning. Regardless of what you do, you're gonna get critiqued. You're going to get criticized. Who really gives a crap? Just go play, man. Go be you." A hundred and two thousand people in orange, in the loudest stadium in the sport, and a 22 year old walking in there with their retired number on his back.