While it happens to work out that No. 3 Ohio State and No. 1 Texas will meet in Week 1 in what is a College Football Playoff rematch, this game has actually been on the calendar for more than a decade.
The two programs first came to a home-and-home agreement all the way back in 2012, with those meetings originally scheduled to take place in 2022 and 2023. Then, after Texas scheduled a home-and-home with Alabama (before the two schools were in the same conference) for the 2022-23 seasons, the series
got pushed back to 2025-26.
With the Longhorns previously slated to host the Buckeyes in 2025, the locations for the home-and-home were then swapped in 2020, resulting in the upcoming clash in Columbus this season, with another matchup set to take place in Austin in 2026.
All that to say: This game has been a long time coming.
Ohio State won this battle not too long ago, defeating Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 of this year. That group of Buckeyes went on to secure a national championship, but even though it has been less than eight months since these programs met, both of these two squads will look a lot different this time around.
Texas returns only nine starters from last year’s team — three on offense and six on defense.
Offensively, Arch Manning takes over the reins from Quinn Ewers at quarterback, but the Longhorns must replace their three top receivers from a year ago with Matthew Golden, Isaiah Bond and tight end Gunnar Helm all gone. Leading rusher Tre Wisner is back, and CJ Baxter returns after missing all of 2024 with an injury, but Texas also must replace all but one starter along the offensive line.
On the flip side, the defense remains stacked. Tackles leader Anthony Hill Jr. returns at linebacker, as does free safety Michael Taaffe as well as star defensive lineman Colin Simmons. They also bring back former UTSA transfer Trey Moore as well as linebacker Liona Lefau and corner Malik Muhammad — of all whom were significant contributors a year ago.
That said, they lose guys like Barryn Sorrell, David Gbenda, and Vernon Broughton up front, as well as their top DBs in Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba.
Ohio State, like Texas, also only brings back nine starters, but with the reverse of having six back on offense and three on defense.
Will Howard is gone, but in his place is former five-star Julian Sayin to take over at quarterback. The Buckeyes return college football’s best player in Jeremiah Smith at receiver, and he is joined by Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss and a treasure trove of former five-star wideouts, in addition to top transfer tight end Max Klare.
Austin Siereveld, Carson Hinzman and Tegra Tshabola return on the line with starting experience, but Ohio State must replace both TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins in a largely young running back room led by James Peoples and WVU transfer CJ Donaldson.
Defensive line is the biggest question mark for the Buckeyes on the other side of the ball, as all four starters from a year ago are gone. Sonny Styles is back to lead the linebacker room alongside Arvell Reese, who saw a good amount of action last season, and Davison Igbinosun returns as a starter alongside Jermaine Mathews Jr. at corner. Of course, the third and final returning starter on this defense is Caleb Downs, the nation’s No. 1 safety.
As is the case with many of these highly rated matchups in the early weeks of a new season, this probably won’t be the prettiest football game in the world. Neither of these teams will likely look the same on Saturday as they will by the end of the year, and as a result it should be a hotly contested matchup that could be decided on one or two mistakes by one side.
The spread is less than a field goal, with the over/under set at 47.5 points. Ohio State has a bit of an edge as the home team (and also as the team that rosters Jeremiah Smith), but anything can happen in Week 1.
All lines and odds are presented by FanDuel Sportsbook.
