We're exactly seven weeks away from Week 1 of the 2024-25 college football season and the first marquee matchup of the year between the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes. The defending national champions will host the Longhorns and quarterback sensation Arch Manning in Columbus.
Nobody really knows what to expect but fans are hoping for an instant classic. In fact, one well-known SEC commentator is already predicting who will win. SEC Network's Paul Finebaum believes wholeheartedly Texas will defeat the Buckeyes on the road and he's putting all his eggs in Manning's basket as a result.
“I am as married to Arch Manning as an old geezer like me can be to a young, great college quarterback, but I like everything about him," he said on ESPN's "Get Up" on Friday. "The Manning name matters, but it isn’t going to matter that field in a couple of weeks at Ohio State. The experience of being an understudy to [Quinn] Ewers and understanding [head coach Steve Sarkisian's] system is what’s going to get them over the top and probably — well, not probably — definitely beat Ohio State in the opener.”
Paul Finebaum is asking everything of Arch Manning and Texas in Week 1
Finebaum compared Manning's soaring popularity to Heisman Trophy winners Johnny Manziel and Tim Tebow in decades past but with even higher expectations.
"I think Arch might top all that because that's all college football fans have been talking about really for years," he continued. "He is going to be one of the biggest attractions we have ever seen."
That's a lot to put on the 21-year-old's shoulders, but thankfully, Sarkisian has already started to temper expectations on his own media tour ahead of the season.
In 10 appearances last year, Manning put up 939 passing yards and was responsible for 13 total touchdowns behind Ewers. He earned two wins on his own when the latter went down with injury. Aug. 30 will be his first meaningful start for the Longhorns, and all the eyeballs have translated to him being pegged as a Heisman Trophy favorite now that the QB1 job is officially his.
Texas reached the College Football Playoff semifinal for the second consecutive season last year. Sarkisian and Co. will be hoping third time is a charm with Manning at the helm to attempt a charge at the program's first national title since 2005.