After Texas and Ohio State tangled in the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal back in January, the Longhorns and Buckeyes will meet on Saturday in one of the most anticipated season opening games in college football history.
Texas enters Saturday’s game ranked No. 1 in the AP and Coaches Poll for the first time in school history, while Ohio State is ranked No. 2 in the Coaches Poll, and No. 3 in the AP Poll. With the Buckeyes being ranked second in one of the preseason polls, this will
be the 63rd matchup of the top two teams in the country. Texas has played in six previous one versus two matchups, with one of those coming in 2006 when Ohio State went into Austin and beat the Longhorns 24-7.
Later in the 2006 regular season, the top-ranked Buckeyes defeated Michigan 42-39 in Columbus to finish the regular season undefeated, earning a spot in the BCS National Championship Game before losing to Florida.
The all-time series
This marks the fifth all-time meeting between Texas and Ohio State. After a home-and-home series in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, the Longhorns and Buckeyes matched up in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, followed by the 2025 Cotton Bowl in January.
Heading into Saturday’s showdown in Columbus, each team has two wins in the series. Texas won a tight affair in 2005 at Ohio Stadium, beating the Buckeyes 25-22 with Vince Young at quarterback on their way to a national title. Ohio State returned the favor in 2006, while Texas squeaked out a 24-21 win in the Fiesta Bowl a few years later before the Buckeyes won a thrilling matchup in January on the way to another national championship.
Tons of new faces
If Ohio State wants to repeat as national champs, they’ll have to replace a plethora of key contributors on both sides of the football.
In April’s 2025 NFL Draft, the Buckeyes tied a school record when 14 players were selected. Along with a bunch of top talent, Ryan Day has had to replace both his offensive and defensive coordinators, as well as an offensive line coach.
Wide receivers coach Brian Hartline has been elevated to offensive coordinator after Chip Kelly returned to the NFL, while former NFL assistant and head coach Matt Patricia is taking over at defensive coordinator following Jim Knowles agreeing to terms with Penn State.
Former Virginia Tech assistant Tyler Bowen will be the new offensive line coach now that Justin Frye is now with the Arizona Cardinals.
Ohio State on offense
The most anticipated new starter for Ohio State is quarterback Julian Sayin, who is in his second year with the program after transferring from Alabama following the retirement of head coach Nick Saban last January.
After entering college as the top quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, Sayin only saw mop-up duty last season, attempting 12 passes in the four games he appeared in. Following a battle with backup Lincoln Kienholtz, Sayin was officially named starting quarterback by Day a little less than two weeks ago.
Sayin will have the luxury of throwing to some of the top weapons in the country. Leading the group is sophomore Jeremiah Smith, who took college football by storm with a season that saw him smash Ohio State’s freshman receiving records with 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns.
After being named Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year last season, Smith is a serious candidate to win the Biletnikoff Award, as well as the Heisman Trophy.
While Smith returns for his second season in Columbus, the Buckeyes will have to replace Emeka Egbuka, who was picked in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Carnell Tate is looking to take his game to the next level after hauling in 52 passes for 733 yards in 2024.
One of Tate’s best games last season came in the Cotton Bowl win over Texas when he caught seven passes for 87 yards in a game that saw the Longhorns focus on shutting Smith down. Joining Smith and Tate at wide receiver will be Brandon Inniss, who was named a team captain earlier this month.
To complement the wide receivers, Ohio State dipped into the transfer portal to bring in Purdue tight end Max Klare, who caught 51 passes for 685 yards and four touchdowns for a bad Boilermaker team.
Klare could threaten some of the school’s single-season records this year if he is able to become a trusted target of Sayin early on. Klare joins a deep tight end position in Columbus which includes Will Kacmarek, Jelani Thurman, and Bennett Christian.
As if replacing their starting quarterback wasn’t tough enough, gone this season are also 1,000-yard rushers TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.
Getting the first crack at the running back spot will be James Peoples and West Virginia transfer C.J. Donaldson. Peoples played in eight games as a true freshman last year, scoring touchdowns in the first two games of the season.
While Peoples has the youth, Donaldson certainly has the experience, appearing in 28 games for the Mountaineers, rolling up nearly 1,700 yards and 23 touchdowns so far in his college career.
How the Buckeyes line up on defense
Had it not been for the Buckeye defense last season, Ohio State wouldn’t be entering this season as defending national champions. Last year the defense ranked first in the country, allowing just 12.9 points per game, as well as 254.6 yards per game.
With defensive ends J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer, the defense was also second in the country with 53 sacks. The only game where Ohio State allowed more than 24 points in a game came in the 32-31 loss at Oregon in October. The Buckeyes were able to learn from their mistakes and held the Ducks to 21 points in their rematch in the Rose Bowl.
This year’s defensive line will have a new look after three starters from last year’s group were selected in the first two rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft. There will likely be more rotation among the group to keep players fresher. Defensive end will see returning contributors Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Caden Curry teaming with North Carolina transfer Beau Atkinson.
On the interior of the line, expect to see plenty of Eddrick Houston and Kayden McDonald. The wild card of the group could be defensive end C.J. Hicks, who is transitioning to more of an edge-rusher position after playing linebacker since coming to Columbus as part of the 2022 recruiting class.
The heart of the Buckeye defense will be the linebackers, with Sonny Styles taking center stage after the graduation of Cody Simon. In his first season at the position after moving from safety, Styles impressed with 100 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and six sacks.
Even bigger things are expected for Styles this year, as he is armed with another offseason of teachings from linebackers coach James Laurinaitis under his belt. Styles will team with rising stars Arvell Reese, Riley Pettijohn, and Peyton Pierce.
Headlining the defense is safety Caleb Downs, who feels like a lock to be taken in the top-10 of the 2026 NFL Draft if he declares following this season. In his first season in Columbus, Downs recorded 82 tackles and two interceptions.
Even though the numbers weren’t quite as big as what he did at Alabama as a freshman, Downs also had a stronger supporting cast in the secondary than he did with the Crimson Tide. It will be interesting to see how new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia utilizes Downs, who is one of the most versatile defensive players in the country.
Along with Downs, another returning starter in the secondary is cornerback Davison Igbinosun. At times the Ole Miss transfer had some issues with pass interference penalties, but the senior has loads of experience, starting 38 games so far during his college career.
Rounding out the secondary are cornerbacks Jermaine Matthews Jr. and Lorenzo Styles Jr., while Jaylen McClain and Malik Hartford should see time alongside Downs at safety.
Sark is rolling in Austin
Texas enters the 2025 season coming off a 13-3 season where two of their three losses came to Georgia, while the other was to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns are the only team in the country to appear in the College Football Playoff each of the last two seasons.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian is entering his fifth year in charge in Austin, posting a 38-17 record in his previous four seasons as head coach of the program. One reason for the recent success for the Longhorns is they are the only FBS team to employ the same coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and special teams coordinator in each of the last five seasons.
Saturday’s game will be the first time Texas has started their season on the road since 2019 when they traveled to Maryland. Along with holding a 109-20-3 record in season openers, the Longhorns have felt at home on the road of late, winning their last 11 true road games. The last time Texas lost a game in enemy territory came in 2022 when they were beaten by Oklahoma State 41-34 in Stillwater.
A Manning to lead the offense
Now in his third year in Austin, redshirt sophomore Arch Manning will be the starting quarterback for the Longhorns. While Quinn Ewers was injured last season, the nephew of NFL greats Peyton and Eli Manning started two games for Texas.
In the victory over UTSA, Manning became the only quarterback in FBS and NFL play to record a 75-yard touchdown pass, a 65-yard touchdown run, and a touchdown pass of at least 50 yards in the same game. With his 67-yard touchdown run against the Roadrunners, Manning became just the fifth SEC freshman quarterback in the last 15 years to rush for a touchdown of at least 65 yards.
Along with having a new starting quarterback, Texas will also be replacing a number of their receiving threats from last year’s squad. Gone are tight end Gunnar Helm and wideouts Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond. Stepping up this season will be Ryan Wingo, DeAndre Moore Jr, and Stanford transfer Emmett Mosley V.
Wingo finished last season with 29 catches for 472 yards and two scores, while Moore hauled in 39 passes for 456 yards and seven touchdowns. During his freshman season at Stanford, Mosley accumulated 525 yards, which was the most by a Cardinal true freshman since Richard Sherman.
The running attack for the Longhorns not only returns Quintrevion Wisner, C.J. Baxter is healthy after missing the 2024 season due to an injury suffered in fall camp. As a true freshman in 2023, Baxter ran for 659 yards and five touchdowns on 138 carries.
After stepping in for Baxter last season, Wisner rolled up 1,064 yards rushing, making him the only returning 1,000-yard rusher in the SEC this year. Wisner was also a threat in the passing game, catching 44 balls. Both Wisner and Baxter were named to the Doak Walker Award preseason watch list.
The defense has horns
If Texas is able to get anywhere close to the defensive production that they did last year, the rest of the college football world could be in a lot of trouble. The Longhorns not only have the longest active streak in FBS with 24 straight games forcing at least one turnover, their 22 interceptions last season led the country.
As a whole, the Texas defense forced 31 turnovers, which ranked second in the FBS. The four passing touchdowns the Longhorns allowed tied Ohio State for fewest in the country in 2024.
In the middle of the Texas defense is star linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., who is coming off a season where he notched 113 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks. and four forced fumbles. Expect to hear Hill’s name called early and often this season, as expectations are high for the junior.
Joining Hill at linebacker are returning starters Trey Moore and Liona Lefau. Moore enters his senior season with 46 career tackles for loss and 28.5 sacks, while Lefau recorded 63 tackles last season.
While guys like Hill and Moore give the Texas defense veteran leadership, one of the top freshmen in the country last season was defensive end Colin Simmons, who was named the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year after he was credited with nine sacks, giving him the third-most sacks by a freshman in a season in school history.
The defensive line of the Longhorns was a major reason why last year Texas allowed just three players to rush for 100 yards in a game, and held seven teams to less than 100 yards rushing.
Despite losing Jahdae Barron to the NFL, the Texas secondary is in good hands this season with a number of starters from last season returning. Safeties Michael Taaffe and Jelani McDonald, and cornerbacks Malik Muhammad and Jaylon Guilbeau have a combined 65 starts.
Taaffe ranked second on the team with 78 tackles in 2024 and has five career interceptions. The only question about the group is if they’ll be able to come close to the team’s interception total from last season, as Muhammad, Guilbeau, and McDonald have a combined two career interceptions.
Prediction
While the casts of both teams will have changed significantly from what we saw in the Cotton Bowl in 2025, expect another classic between two of the most prestigious programs in college football history. Even though a loss won’t eliminate either team from College Football Playoff contention, a win will help answer many of the questions that both squads have entering the 2025 campaign.
Interestingly enough, neither team has won on their home field in the all-time series. That changes on Saturday, as the Buckeyes earn the victory at Ohio Stadium. Ryan Day’s teams have won seven straight non-conference games, including victories over Tennessee, Texas, and Notre Dame in last season’s College Football Playoff.
Ohio State also have confidence against SEC teams these days, as last year was the first time they have defeated two SEC programs in the same season.
There will likely be some early jitters from the quarterbacks as they both are new starting quarterbacks. Arch Manning technically has two starts under his belt, but this is by far the most hostile environment he has taken snaps as a starter in.
The difference in this game is going to be Julian Sayin has a cheat code at wide receiver in Jeremiah Smith, while Manning will have to try and solve Buckeye safety Caleb Downs. In a game where two teams are so evenly matched, Smith and Downs are going to provide the edge that will give Ohio State their second win over Texas in the last nine months.
