Arch Manning did not have the game that he wanted in last season’s opener at Ohio State. He averaged a meager 5.7 yards per pass, on his way to a dismal QBR of 61.5 as his then #1 Longhorns fell 14-7 at then #3 Ohio State. However, Manning greatly improved as the season went on, and he finished 2025 with some very stellar statistical numbers.
No comes the rematch (actually the third meeting in the recent series, given how Ohio State also bested Texas earlier in 2025 (as part of the 2024 postseason, when they handled the Horns again in the College Football Playoff semifinal 28-14).
This time, it’s in Austin, and Texas is #4 and Ohio State is #1. But of course, take all early season polls with a grain of salt. Texas was preseason #1 in 2025, and they didn’t even make the CFP in the end.
Arch Manning will enter this game with a lot to prove, but the young, dynastic signal-caller looks poised to have a great season in 2026. Vince Young, the most recent QB to hook the ‘Horns a national championship, is a strong believer in Manning.
Young expressed these sentiments in an exclusive with Ratings.org.
“He talks to me and Colt McCoy, he came up and asked us questions,” Young said. “How do I build the chemistry? What do I do in the offseason? Go play, throw to your team, go bowling. Y’all got money now. Go do something together.
“That’s because it’s hard for you to build a team last year, and then a lot of those guys are gone. Now you got to build chemistry with some more guys. That’s tough.
“You have to do that in the offseason.
“Get together, hang out together, be around each other, train together, work together, because without the chemistry, you can’t go out there if you don’t know who the guy is. I really feel like he did that in the off-season.
“And I really do appreciate him coming up and talking to me and Colt McCoy and asking this question:
“What should we do? That lets you know he wants to get better and he wants to win.”
Texas are the favorite Saturday night, but ever so slightly, at 1.5 points. What’s the key to victory here for the home side? The same keys that will define success or failure for the season as a whole. Young spelled these out, later on during the interview.
“For the team overall, if we fix third down, if we fix red zone and special teams,” he said.
“The Texas Longhorns are going to be a team that you have to beat if they’re on the same page right there. So those three things are what I’m looking at.
“If they do better on third down in the red zone and cut down those penalties, they’re gonna be hard to beat.”
They didn’t have any issues in the season opener, as they thrashed Texas St. 59-7. But that was just a small appetizer portion kind of game; the butter and dinner rolls, if you will. Now comes the full main course!
Kickoff is set for 6:30pm central, on ABC.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.