Off the Cuff: Ohio State looks to win third game in 21 months against Texas
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Somehow the anticipation for Saturday’s game in Austin is getting higher and higher. These are two of the giants in college football slugging it out in the Lone Star State in just Week 2 of the season.
Just over a year after it was No. 1 vs. No. 3, now it’s No. 1 vs. No. 4. Ohio State comes into Saturday’s game No. 1 in the country, and they looked like the best team in the country last week in a blowout win at Ball State. Texas also looked really good last week, routing Texas State 59-7.
Now, here we go.
Even in the 12-team College Football Playoff era, this still feels like a titanic game. It’s not just because it’s Ohio State vs. Texas.
The talent on the field Saturday night in Austin will be extraordinary. Several players on both teams will be playing on Sundays next season. While both teams are likely to make the Playoff this season, there is still incentive to win this Week 2 game, regardless of what happens to both teams later in the season.
Ohio State winning this game would provide further validation that they own the Longhorns.
Beating them in the CFP Semifinals, in Dallas, when they were red-hot on their memorable run to the national championship is one thing. Less than eight months later in The Shoe, with a completely new defense and quarterback Julian Sayin making his first career start, the Buckeyes stymied the Longhorns again 14-7.
Now, just over a year later, the Buckeyes have the opportunity to beat the Longhorns for a third time in 21 months, in a third different venue.
That’s not just winning three straight games against a really good Texas program. It’s beating them as they’re trying to stake their claim as one of the best teams in the country, while also slaying one of the SEC’s best teams three times in less than two years.
Arch Manning? Ryan Wingo? All the great defensive players on the Longhorns over the last two years? It may not matter for a third straight time.
Manning is really good. He’s not overhyped. If anything, he’s lived up to it.
Manning threw for 300+ yards in four games in 2025, with five games throwing for three+ touchdowns. In addition, Manning had three games rushing for 50+ yards, culminating in 155 rushing yards and two touchdowns on nine carries in the Cheez-It Bowl against Michigan.
Manning also takes care of the football, throwing for just seven interceptions last year and multiple interceptions in just one game. Last week against Texas State, Manning threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns.
Wingo is a really good wide receiver. Last year, he averaged 15.4 yards per reception. Against Mississippi State, which Texas won in overtime, Wingo had five receptions for 184 yards. The next week against Vanderbilt, Wingo had two receptions for 94 yards. He’s a big-play receiver and will test the Buckeyes’ new-look defense.
In a game like this, it comes down to which team has the better playmakers. Which team’s playmakers do you believe in more?
Ohio State has gotten it done twice against Texas. Ryan Day has had Ohio State ready to go into battle the last two times the Buckeyes have played the Longhorns, one of those coming in Texas’s backyard in Dallas in the CFP Semifinals and the other in the season-opener last year when the Buckeyes were the No. 1 team in the country coming into the season.
Day is a leader of young men. He knows exactly what buttons to push. What happened in November of 2024 changed him for the better, and it now gives him and the Buckeyes what they need to go up against an SEC giant.
Saturday night, the Buckeyes play their first non-conference road game since 2023, when they went to Notre Dame… and won. Confidence should be high among Ohio State fans.
Nervousness? Absolutely. It’s a big game. Of course, as fans, you’re going to be nervous. It’s Ohio State-Texas, on the road, Saturday night on national television, College Gameday in Austin, and Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit on the ABC call Saturday night.
Even on the road, I’m trusting Day, Sayin, Jeremiah Smith, and Ohio State to go down and beat Texas… again.
It will not be easy by any means. This should be a back-and-forth game that comes down to the final minute. When push comes to shove, though, I’m taking the team that’s won the most recent national championship between the two programs.
Since Texas won the national championship in 2005, Ohio State has won two national championships and played in three other national championship games. Texas has only played in one national championship game in the last 20 years.
The Buckeyes have the pedigree. That’s why I believe they will win and prove they are the best team in the country.
Game Prediction: Buckeyes 31 — Longhorns 27 (Jeremiah Smith with a game-winning touchdown reception in the final 30 seconds)
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