Steve Sarkisian Reveals One Thing He Doesn't Want Arch Manning To Have To Do Week 1 at Ohio State

Steve Sarkisian Reveals One Thing He Doesn't Want Arch Manning To Have To Do Week 1 at Ohio State originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

One of the top college football games of the 2025 season will take place in Week 1.

Texas will travel to Columbus to face Ohio State on Aug. 30 and there is no shortage of intriguing storylines for this matchup.

Both the Longhorns and Buckeyes are expected to be ranked among the top three teams in the nation and its a rematch of the College Football Playoff semifinal last year. ESPN's College GameDay will be in town for Lee Corso's last broadcast and the ticket prices surpass $400. It will also mark quarterback phenom Arch Manning's first game as the full-time starter for the Longhorns. The list goes on.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian joined The Herd with Colin Cowherd earlier this week and discussed his confidence in Manning ahead of the season opener. Cowherd labeled this particular matchup as Manning's biggest start yet and asked Sarkisian how much freedom he would get at the line of scrimmage against Ohio State.

"Naturally there is going to be some (freedom), and we're still formulating that game plan, that thing is no where near set in stone," Sarkisian said. "And we're going against a really good defensive coordinator in Matt Patricia."

Sarkisian noted the challenge of not having college tape on Patricia coaching, but feels confident that Manning will be able to get Texas out of unknown situations as looks present themselves during the game.

"He's more than capable of doing that," Sarkisian said. "He's been raised watching tape with Eli and Peyton and his dad and his grandpa and everybody. We're going to feel good about that. He's got great composure and he's been in some fires with us already. So we'll feel good about it."

However, Sarkisian doesn't want to "major" in Manning having to audible on the road in a tough environment. The third-year quarterback has limited experience as a Longhorn after sitting behind Quinn Ewers on the depth chart the last two seasons.

The anticipated kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT on FOX.

Related: Steve Sarkisian Sends Clear Message on Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.