Arch Manning Gets His Ohio State Rematch in Austin. This Time the Excuses Are Gone.
Arch Manning has spent nine months hearing about 170 passing yards. That was the number he put up in Columbus last September when Julian Sayin and the Buckeyes stifled a No. 1 Texas team 14-7, sending Manning into an offseason of think pieces about whether the hype had outrun the player.
He gets the rematch on September 12 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. College GameDay is already announced. The Longhorns are No. 2 in the SEC preseason poll. Ohio State is No. 1 in the Big Ten poll. Ryan Day is 2-0 against Steve Sarkisian.
Manning is a Heisman favorite again, and this time the odds are actually earned. His Cheez-It Bowl performance to close 2025 changed the conversation. Four touchdowns, 328 yards, and a decisiveness in the pocket that had been missing all season. Coaches around the SEC noticed. So did the oddsmakers.
The Longhorns also fixed the offensive line that got him killed against Ohio State. Two portal starters, a new center, and a running back room deep enough to keep defenses honest. Sarkisian spent the spring rebuilding around Manning’s strengths, which means more play-action, more moving pockets, and fewer of the isolation reads that let the Buckeye front tee off last year.
The wide receiver room is the issue. Ryan Wingo is the alpha now, but the depth behind him is unproven. Ohio State’s secondary, still one of the best in the country, will happily double Wingo and dare the third option to beat them. Manning’s Heisman case rides on whether that third option shows up in September.
Then there is the atmosphere. Ohio State walked into Columbus a year ago with home-field advantage. This one flips. Austin at night against a defending national champion is the kind of environment that either forges a quarterback or exposes him.
Here is what the tape from last year actually showed. Manning was not overwhelmed. He was over-coached. Too many check-downs, too many empty sets against a front that was faster than his protection could handle. The mistakes were fixable. Sarkisian has had a full offseason to fix them.
Ohio State is not the same team either. Jeremiah Smith is now the best receiver in the country. Julian Sayin has a full year of starts under his belt. Jim Knowles is gone, and the defensive coordinator turnover matters more than anyone in Columbus wants to admit.
The Longhorns are getting the Buckeyes on a night when both programs know a loss ends any conversation about a first-round playoff bye. It is a September game with January stakes.
Manning has been saying the right things all summer. He mentions the loss without dwelling on it. He talks about the offensive line growing up. He does not chase the Heisman narrative in interviews.
Two weeks from now everyone finds out if the growth is real.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
