COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State opens its season with a top-three matchup against Texas, where an important streak is on the line.
The Buckeyes haven’t lost a season-opener since traveling to Miami in 1999, walking away with a 23-12 loss. They haven’t lost a season-opener at home since Alabama came to Columbus in 1986 and left with a 16-10 victory.
Those are the two winning streaks the Longhorns hope to snap on Saturday in what is the most anticipated matchup in college football of Week 1.
This Big Ten-SEC matchup is a chance for both sides to make an early statement in what is also a rematch of a Cotton Bowl nine months ago that ended in a 28-14 win for OSU, clinching its spot in the national championship game. This game is also the fifth time these two schools have met, and no one has managed to win back-to-back games yet.
It’s been a long time since Ohio State lost a season-opener. Here are five players looking to help Texas put an end to that winning streak:
Arch Manning, QB
Arch Manning has been the media darling of college football’s 2025 preseason. The idea of him failing as a former five-star recruit with his last name doesn’t exist anywhere, and he’ll start validating — or invalidating — all that hype on Saturday.
Manning has a decent amount of experience under his belt, already having two starts last season against Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State while stepping in for injured Quinn Ewers. He threw for a combined 583 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions on 41 of 60 passing (68%). He added another 29 yards rushing and a score.
Overall, he’s still only thrown 95 passes and played 260 snaps, so like OSU’s Julian Sayin, he’s walking into the craziest environment he’s played in as a college quarterback. The question is whether he’s an upgrade from what Ewers was the past three years as a passer, while also being the running threat Ewers never was.
Quintrevion Wisner, RB
The Buckeyes kept Quintrevion Wisner from being much of a threat in the run game during the Cotton Bowl, holding him to just 46 yards on 17 carries. Maybe having a quarterback who’s more of a run threat frees him up a bit more, but he’s just as much of a threat in the pass game. He paired those carries with six catches for 42 yards.
Jaydon Blue is the back who reached the end zone twice the last time these two met, but he’s in the NFL, meaning more opportunities for Wisner, who’s coming off a 2024 season where he had 1,064 yards and five touchdowns rushing, plus another 42 catches for 311 yards and a score. OSU might have its most athletic linebacker tandem of the last decade, but their ability to cover is still up for question. Texas will surely challenge that early and often.
Jack Endries, TE
Ohio State isn’t the only team in this game that added a major receiving threat at tight end.
Jack Endries spent the last two years turning 91 catches into 1,030 yards and four touchdowns at California. Now he brings that production to an offense capable of turning that production into wins. Plus, the Longhorns aren’t new to living in a world where the tight end is their most-used receiving weapon. Gunnar Helm was that last year with 60 catches for 786 yards and seven touchdowns.
Part of the benefit of moving Caleb Downs into the box was having him cover tight ends. Week 1 provides another chance to utilize that again.
Texas
Texas' Colin Simmons.Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Colin Simmons, Edge
Downs is the best defensive player in college football. But No. 2 might also be playing in Ohio Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Colin Simmons put together a freshman campaign last season that was arguably second only to Jeremiah Smith with 48 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, nine sacks, three forced fumbles, two pass breakups and 46 pressures. He was effective in the Cotton Bowl loss (four tackles, two pass breakups and three pressures), but he’ll be even more of a threat in Round 2.
Meanwhile, OSU is debuting two new tackles with Austin Siereveld taking over the left side, while a potential rotation is featured between Ethan Onianwa and Phillip Daniels on the right. The game might come down to whether or not those three can keep Simmons from wrecking things and making big plays in the most important moments.
Anthony Hill, LB
Anthony Hill returns as arguably the nation’s top linebacker thanks to back-to-back years of productive play. Last season, he recorded 113 tackles, an SEC-best 17 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and 23 pressures.
The idea of what Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese might be as a linebacker tandem for Ohio State in 2025, Hill already is. The Buckeyes are trying to replace the running back production left behind by TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins with James Peoples and West Virginia transfer CJ Donaldson. Hill provides the ultimate first test for whether that will be possible.
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