COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach Ryan Day said Tuesday that Texas quarterback Arch Manning is a different player than the one the Buckeyes beat in last season’s opener, speaking at his weekly game-week press conference four days before the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes play at the No. 4 Texas Longhorns.
For Day, the credit for Manning’s development runs to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff as much as to the work Manning put in himself.
“You think about that game last year between Julian and Arch, really their first starts,” Day said. “And I know maybe Arch had played a little bit before, but that was really their first games. And to where they are now, two totally different players, in my opinion.”
“You watched last year’s Arch play, he got better and better and better,” Day continued. “I thought he was playing some really good football at the end of the season. Did some really good things in the first game of the year this past Saturday. He can beat you with his legs. He can beat you down field. He can make the throws when he needs to. He’s really improved. And giving him a lot of credit for putting the work in, and then also give Sark and his staff credit for continuing to develop him. So he’s gonna have a great season, and he’s gonna be a great challenge for our defense.”
Ohio State won last season’s opener 14-7 on Aug. 30 at Ohio Stadium. Manning went 17-of-30 for 170 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Julian Sayin, making his first collegiate start that day, was 13-of-20 for 126 yards and 1 touchdown.
Across 13 games in 2025, Manning threw for 3,163 yards with 26 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He added 399 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. Texas finished 10-3. In the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31, Manning threw for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 41-27 win over the Michigan Wolverines, and he was named the game’s most valuable player.
Arch Manning’s Opener And The Texas Skill Group
Manning opened this season on Sept. 5 against the Texas State Bobcats by completing 20-of-27 passes for 305 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. Texas won 59-7. Manning left with the Longhorns ahead 42-7 midway through the third quarter. The 4 touchdown passes tied a career high he had reached twice in 2025.
Ohio State will have to play depth against a Texas team that rotates a large number of players, and the opener against the Ball State Cardinals gave Day enough information on his reserves to feel good about that.
“Well, they get a chance, I think, on both sides. When you look at the receivers they have and how dynamic they are. And there’s multiple receivers,” Day explained. “Coleman’s obviously dynamic, and so is Wingo and Mosley. These guys are really good and the backs are the same way. So they get to go against that practice every day. Well, our guys get to defend our wide receivers as well. So it’s not gonna be this huge jump of talent that you can’t catch up to early in the game.”
“They do have great team speed, and so we’re gonna have to play fast,” Day continued. “But at the end of the day, guys just have to win their one on one battles. And that’s what it’s gonna come down to. When they’re gonna win some, we’re gonna win some. And we just gotta keep fighting throughout the game.”
Ohio State received 46 of 69 first-place votes in the AP Top 25 released Tuesday. Texas collected two. The Buckeyes opened Sept. 5 with a 56-3 win over Ball State.
Ohio State And Texas Meet For A Third Straight Season
Texas hired Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator in the offseason. Muschamp has not called a game in a while, Day said, and Ohio State does not know yet what the Longhorns will do defensively.
“Well, if you think about those games, you’re right. Those teams are very different,” Day said. “And we have different coordinators now. They have a new defense coordinator. When you look at the transfers that have come and gone on both teams, different personnel and some different schemes.”
“So yeah, we played each other three years now in a row, starting on Saturday,” Day added. “But I agree with you, I think it’s different. But we played Notre Dame three years in a row, too, and they weren’t in conference. So I guess at least some of these guys have played them multiple times, whether it’s Jermaine Mathews or Kenyatta Jackson. Some of these guys have played them before. So they have a reference point, but that’s probably about it.”
Kickoff at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday on ABC. ESPN’s College GameDay broadcasts from the Texas campus from 8 to 11 a.m. CT that morning. Ohio State leads the series 3-2 and has won the last two meetings, including a 28-14 win in the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Jan. 10, 2025. Sarkisian is 49-20 in six seasons at Texas, and the Longhorns are 21-1 in their last 22 games at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.
