Steve Sarkisian has spent five years pushing Texas toward a moment like this, and now it’s here: No. 1 Ohio State is headed to Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday with the Longhorns sitting at No. 4 and the pressure turned all the way up.
This is the third straight season Texas has lined up against the Buckeyes, and the first two meetings left plenty of scars. Both ended in frustrating losses filled with coaching and execution mistakes.
For Sarkisian, the pattern is bigger than one matchup. Since 2024, Texas has faced Ohio State and Georgia five times, and he is 0-5 against Ryan Day and Kirby Smart in those games.
Against everybody else, the Longhorns are 24-1.
That’s why this one feels different. Texas has built itself for the NIL era, leaned hard into talent acquisition and loaded the roster with the kind of pieces that are supposed to travel anywhere and beat anyone. The Longhorns landed some of the state’s best players, including defensive end Colin Simmons, and added the most coveted status symbol in the sport: A Manning.
After narrowly missing the College Football Playoff last season, Texas went even further all-in to set up what is expected to be Arch Manning’s final year. The Longhorns worked to bring back left tackle Trevor Goosby, defensive tackle Hero Kanu and safety Jelani McDonald.
They dipped into the transfer portal for wide receiver Cam Coleman, linebacker Rasheem Biles and running backs Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers. They also made a major change on the sideline, replacing highly respected defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski with Will Muschamp.
On paper, it’s a loaded group. Texas has playmakers at every level, a veteran core and a staff built in Sarkisian’s image. The program didn’t leave much to chance, especially after trusting its own development at running back and wide receiver in 2025.
Coleman arrived from Auburn and is viewed as the No. 2 receiver in college football. Wake Forest transfer Sterling Berkhalter gives Texas another important depth option. Brown was a 1,000-yard rusher at Arizona State, and Smothers came close to that mark.
“It kind of reminds me when Joe Burrow had Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase,” Texas State coach G.J. Kinne told CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz. “He's got elite weapons around him and he's really talented.”
Ohio State is the standard Texas is trying to chase. Two years ago, the Buckeyes held onto key defensive talent, added offensive transfers around Emeka Egbuka and TreVeyon Henderson, and rolled to a national title behind one of the most dominant playoff runs ever.
Now the roles are flipped. Texas is peaking, while Ohio State is reloading in 2026.
Four Buckeyes were taken in the top 11 of the 2026 NFL Draft, and seven went in the first two rounds. Five of those players were on defense, including standout safety Caleb Downs.
Still, quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith both finished in the top 10 in Heisman voting last season, even as much of the supporting cast turns over.
That backdrop is what makes Saturday such a crucial test for Sarkisian. Texas has shown it can handle plenty of teams. It has not shown, yet, that it can consistently survive the very top tier.
The cost of not doing it showed up last season. After a 14-7 loss to Ohio State, Texas wound up outside the College Football Playoff bubble despite wins over Oklahoma and Texas A&M. The rest of the season followed the same frustrating rhythm: a 29-21 loss to Florida, overtime games against Kentucky and Mississippi State, then a 35-10 blowout at the hands of Georgia that again exposed the gap between Texas and the elite.
And if the Longhorns stumble again, the road gets no kinder. Two weeks after Ohio State, they go on the road to No.
18 Tennessee and then head to the Cotton Bowl for No. 11 Oklahoma.
No. 8 LSU, No.
9 Ole Miss and No. 10 Texas A&M are also on the schedule.
With the SEC moving to a nine-game league slate, 9-3 will likely be enough to get Texas into the postseason, but there’s no guarantee. And if that number falls short - or even if it leads to a quick exit - the scrutiny around Sarkisian’s handling of the Manning era will only get louder, the same way it has for Brian Kelly with Garrett Nussmeier and James Franklin with Drew Allar.
The money is real now, the stakes rise fast, and Texas has spent years building for this exact stage. Saturday is the chance for Sarkisian to finally clear the hump.
In Other News...
Arch Manning Showed Texas Fans Something Bigger Than His Viral Fall
Before Texas even got to the opening kickoff, Arch Manning had already given Longhorns fans a moment they were not expecting when he was knocked down by a bystander in the tunnel before the first game of the season. The scene spread quickly online and became one of those viral pregame clips that seemed destined to overshadow everything else, but Manning handled the moment with humor in his media availability and then turned the focus back where Texas wanted it.
Once the ball was in his hands, Manning showed the bigger takeaway for Texas was never the stumble itself. He settled in and delivered a strong performance, completing 20 of 27 passes for 305 yards and four touchdowns, a response that mattered far more than the replay circulating on social media. For a fan base watching closely, it was a reminder that the noise around Manning can be loud, but his play on the field can still speak the loudest. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning Gives Texas An Edge Money Usually Complicates
Arch Mannings name carries its own kind of gravity, and at Texas that now extends well beyond the huddle. Reported to have a $2.5 million contract for the current college football season, the Longhorns quarterback is still operating in a space where multiple NIL endorsement deals can add to his profile without turning him into the most expensive player in the sport.
For a program like Texas, that matters because money can so often become a source of noise, especially when revenue sharing and roster expectations are part of the conversation. Instead, Mannings setup may give the Longhorns a cleaner kind of edge as they get ready for No. 1 Ohio State, with the focus staying on the field rather than on the usual complications that can follow a high-priced quarterback. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Must Answer One Costly Question In Ohio State Rematch
Last seasons matchup with Ohio State offered Texas a reminder that good stretches of offense do not always add up to enough. The Longhorns moved the ball at times but left with a blank in the most important part of the field, and head coach Steve Sarkisian has pointed to that issue as one of the biggest lessons carried forward into this years rematch.
There is more confidence around the offense now, with Cam Coleman added at receiver and Arch Manning showing more pocket presence and decisiveness. Even so, the challenge remains the same for Texas in a game of this size: turn opportunities near the goal line into points, because against Ohio State the margin for error figures to be razor thin again. [Read more 🡒]