When Texas travels to Columbus for its Week 1 matchup with the Ohio State Buckeyes, college football fans across the country will be glued to their couches.
The game between the Longhorns and Buckeyes will be a College Football Playoff semifinal rematch that could determine the two teams' fates for the rest of the season. ESPN's Paul Finebaum is already certain he knows who will walk away victorious.
Putting aside the dominant lineage that Arch Manning brings to the program, Finebaum admitted that the young quarterback is going to be a massive part of why the Horns will stand a chance in the game.
In fact, he said that Manning's time studying under former Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and his complete understanding of head coach Steve Sarkisian's system will guarantee the Longhorns' win over the Buckeyes.
Paul Finebaum leaves little doubt about Texas-Ohio State rematch
“I am as married to Arch Manning as an old geezer like me can be to a young, great college quarterback, but I like everything about him," Finebaum said. "The Manning name matters, but it isn’t going to matter on that field in a couple of weeks at Ohio State. The experience of being an understudy to Ewers and understanding Sark’s system is what’s going to get them over the top and probably, well, not probably, definitely beat Ohio State in the opener.”
To put it bluntly, Finebaum has little to no doubt that Texas will be able to storm into Columbus and upset Ohio State at home, kicking off their 2025 campaign on the right foot.
Keep in mind, he has this much confidence in Manning and the Horns even though the Texas quarterback has only had three starts in his brief collegiate career: against UTSA, Louisiana-Monroe, and Mississippi State last season.
Comparing those three opponents to Ohio State is like comparing a high school program to almost any college team out there; it's simply unfair.
Manning has all of the skills to be just as good as Finebaum expects him to be. However, this will be the biggest start of his career, and it will be on one of the biggest stages in all of college football. If Texas and Manning can pull off the "sure" victory that Finebaum expects, they will immediately solidify their place in the conversation for national title contenders.
Texas and Ohio State are scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday, Aug. 30. The game will be broadcast on FOX, and before the game, ESPN's College GameDay will feature Lee Corso's final appearance on the show, where he will don the headgear of Brutus or Hook'Em, one last time.