Week 2 already has the feel of a heavyweight fight, and ESPN is bringing its biggest pregame stage to Austin for Texas’ showdown with Ohio State.
“College GameDay” will set up on the lawn of the LBJ Presidential Library on the University of Texas campus, with the show running from 8 a.m. CT to 11 a.m.
CT. Fans can catch it on ESPN, ESPNU and Disney+.
The traveling pregame staple is now in its 40th season, and the formula is the same: break down the day’s biggest games, make picks, and bring in a guest picker to add one more layer to the spectacle. This week, that role goes to Glen Powell, the Austin native and Texas student who will join the set as the celebrity game picker.
Powell won’t be the only notable face in the mix. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and Oregon coach Dan Lanning are also expected live.
The usual GameDay crew is set to be there as well, with Rece Davis fronting the show and Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit expected alongside him. The program has featured plenty of familiar names over the years, including Lee Corso, Nick Saban, Chris Fowler and others.
Austin has become a familiar stop for the show. This is the 11th time “College GameDay” has come to UT, and the crew was last there two years ago for Texas’ game against Georgia.
Then comes the main event. Texas, ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25, will face No.
1 Ohio State at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday on ABC.
In Other News...
Texas May Get An Unexpected Boost Before Ohio State
Texas got a bit of encouraging news this week as Derrek Cooper moved from an early injury concern to a possible game-day option for the showdown with Ohio State. The running back left the season opener with an ankle injury, and Steve Sarkisian had previously suggested Cooper would be in a boot for the foreseeable future, which made the early outlook sound pretty grim for the Longhorns.
Now, the possibility of a quicker return has changed the tone around his status, even if it still comes down to a last-minute decision. Cooper has been seen as a valuable short-yardage piece, and his reputation has been helped along by positive evaluations from both teammates and scouts, so Texas will be watching closely to see whether that unexpected boost materializes in time for one of the biggest games on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Urban Meyer Sees Ohio State Texas Coming Down To One Big Play
Urban Meyers take on the Ohio State-Texas matchup was simple enough: it should be tight, and the kind of game decided by a single moment rather than a long stretch of dominance. He pointed to the quarterbacks, Julian Sayin and Arch Manning, as the central figures in a meeting between two teams that both rolled through their openers against overmatched competition, and he also acknowledged the boost Texas gets from playing at home.
Meyer stopped short of treating the Longhorns home-field edge as enough to swing his prediction, even while describing the contest as close to a toss-up. The bigger picture is what makes this one so interesting for Texas: a marquee nonconference game, a quarterback spotlight, and the kind of early test that can turn on one play, one mistake or one timely drive. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning Faces A Very Different Ohio State Test This Time
Arch Manning and Julian Sayin met a year ago as two of the most closely watched quarterback prospects in the sport, and the game mostly belonged to the defenses. Since then, both quarterbacks have moved past the label of promising newcomers and into a stage where coaches are talking about confidence, command and the way each has grown into the job.
This time, the matchup carries a different feel because Texas is not walking into the same kind of mystery it faced before. Manning has a year of experience behind him, Ohio State has a clearer read on what he can do, and the Buckeyes challenge is less about surprise than about whether they can again make him uncomfortable when the spotlight is brightest. [Read more 🡒]