Welcome To Week 1: Texas

OPPONENT: Texas (0-0, 0-0 SEC)

College football season is officially here, and for Ohio State this season that means there is no time to get acclimated with its new team. No. 1 Texas comes to Columbus on Aug. 30 wanting revenge for the 28-14 loss the Buckeyes handed it in the Cotton Bowl to end its 2024 season.

This game doesn’t have as much on the line since even the losing team will still likely have a good chance at making the College Football Playoff by the time December rolls around. However, it will still be a great test for both the Buckeyes and Longhorns.

Both teams sent a bevy of players to the NFL — Ohio State 17 and Texas 12 — so these two teams will look very different than they did on Jan. 10. Both also have relatively inexperienced quarterbacks, with Arch Manning and Julian Sayin taking the reins of the offenses.

Despite that, it’s still a matchup between the top team and the No. 3 team in the country and there’s plenty of talent to go around.

Manning is largely unproven, but did start two games last season when Quinn Ewers was recovering from an injury. He struggled some against Louisiana-Monroe, throwing two interceptions and completing 51.7 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and 258 yards, but against Mississippi State got it under control with an 83.9 completion percentage for 325 yards and two scores.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian is confident than Manning can take over and be effective without the moment being too big because of who he has been around growing up.

“For Arch, he grew up in this era of seeing high-level football,” Sarkisian said. “He’s watched Super Bowls. He’s watched gold jackets getting put on. He’s been to playoff games. He’s been recruited at the highest level as the No. 1 player in the country. He watched Quinn navigate through the ups and downs of being the starting quarterback at the University of Texas.”

Sayin only threw 12 passes last season and completed five, one of which went 55 yards for a touchdown. But he does have two of the better weapons in college football returning in Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, along with Brandon Inniss and Max Klare as great receiving options.

Texas returns 1,000-yard rusher Quintrevion Wisner from last season’s team with CJ Baxter making his return from an injury. Wide receivers DeAndre Moore and Ryan Wingo will also be good targets to throw to. Moore is the top returning receiver on the team with 39 catches for 456 yards and seven touchdowns. As a freshman, Wingo caught 29 passes for 472 yards and two touchdowns.

The Longhorns also added tight end Jack Endries out of the transfer portal after he had 56 receptions for 623 yards and two touchdowns last year with Cal.

The Longhorns defense is primed to be one of the best — if not the best — in the country with returning edge rushers Colin Simmons and Ethan Burke along with All-SEC linebacker Anthony Hill.

“This is probably the deepest and most talented defense that we’ve had,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve made incremental growth on the defensive side of the ball now through four years, and we’re going to need to do that again. I think championships are won on the defensive side of the ball and we’ve got a defensive football team we’re very excited about.”

Simmons won national Freshman of the Year last season over Smith with an impressive 14 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Burke finished the year with 27 tackles, nine for loss and two sacks plus four passes defended. Hill led the Longhorns defense with 113 tackles, 17 for loss and eight sacks.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

  • LB Anthony Hill Jr. — Hill gives the Buckeyes one of its bigger tests of the season right away and returns as a 22-game starter for the Longhorns in two seasons. He is one of the favorites to win the Bednarik Award and the Butkus Award.
  • DE Colin Simmons — Burst on to the scene as a true freshman last year as more of a passing-down specialist, but now will take on a starting role. Ohio State’s offensive tackles will be facing a huge test in this game to try to protect Sayin in his first college start. The Longhorns’ plan will most likely be to pressure Sayin as much as possible.
  • QB Arch Manning — First year as the Longhorns startign quarterback after two years sitting behind Ewers. Manning has the ability to move around in the pocket and tuck and pick up some yards with his legs when needed

SERIES HISTORY: It hasn’t been long since the Buckeyes and Longhorns matched up, with Jack Sawyer securing a win in the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl eight months ago to send OSU to the national championship and even the series between the two teams at two apiece.

Before that, it had been 16 years since the last time the two teams matched up, with Texas winning 24-21 in the Fiesta Bowl. The two teams also split a home-and-home series in the 2005-06 seasons. The Longhorns won the firs 25-22 in Columbus, and the Buckeyes topped Texas 24-7 in Austin.

Check back every Monday at BuckeyeSports.com for a brief preview of the Buckeyes’ upcoming opponent, with stories and features throughout the week.


DateOpponentLocationTime/ResultTV
Aug. 30TexasColumbusNoonFox
Sept. 6GramblingColumbus3:30 p.m.BTN
Sept. 13OhioColumbus7 p.m.Peacock
Sept. 20OffN/AN/AN/A
Sept. 27at WashingtonSeattle, Wash.TBATBA
Oct. 4MinnesotaColumbusTBATBA
Oct. 11at IllinoisChampaign, Ill.TBATBA
Oct. 18at WisconsinMadison, Wis.TBATBA
Oct. 25OffN/AN/AN/A
Nov. 1Penn StateColumbusTBATBA
Nov. 8at PurdueWest Lafayette, Ind.TBATBA
Nov. 15UCLAColumbusTBATBA
Nov. 22RutgersColumbusTBATBA
Nov. 29at MichiganAnn Arbor, Mich.NoonFox