Julian Sayin, Ohio State excited for matchup against Texas in 2025 season opener

The Ohio State Buckeyes are set to open the 2025 regular season with a College Football Playoff semifinal rematch against the Texas Longhorns. It’s one of the most anticipated non-conference games of the season, and the Buckeyes are gearing up for a battle in Fall Camp.

One of the Ohio State quarterbacks, Julian Sayin, recently shared how excited the Buckeyes are for that game on Off Script with Zak Herbstreit. However, he also warned not to expect the exact same game as the two played last season.

“It’s a completely new team,” Julian Sayin said. “Completely new season. You know, wiping, clean slate. So, whatever happened last year is not important to this season. We’re focused on this season and just stacking it one day at a time during camp. Going to be focused on Texas. We’re excited. It’ll be a big game Week 1, and the guys on the team, we’re excited to play.”

Ohio State ended Texas’ season a year ago in the Cotton Bowl. There, the Buckeyes would win 28-14. The defense would be a key piece of that win, particularly the defensive touchdown that Jack Sawyer scored, stopping a Texas drive just short. The win propelled the Buckeyes to the title game, which they would also win.

This season, both teams are going to have new looks, but expectations remain high. At Ohio State, there was a good amount of turnover on both sides of the ball with the NFL Draft taking its fair share of Buckeyes. In the end, 14 Buckeyes would be selected. Another 16 Buckeyes transferred out of the program. On top of that, Ohio State is going to have new offensive and defensive coordinators.

Texas isn’t without its own changes too. The most notable of those is at the quarterback position, where Arch Manning is set to take over for Quinn Ewers. Of course, Ohio State is still looking for its own quarterback. There, Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz find themselves in a quarterback battle. It’s a battle that head coach Ryan Day has been open about recently.

“You want command of that offense. When you stand in there as a quarterback, you want everybody in that hall to believe in you. You want them to follow your command. That’s a three-part, and then taking care of the football, making routine plays, routinely getting us into the right play. That’s one of the things last year that I feel like Will [Howard] probably doesn’t get enough credit for,” Day said. “Was all the little things that kept the offense moving, sometimes throwing the ball away. That keep us on schedule.”

Texas makes the trip to Columbus on August 30th. There had been some push by Ohio State to move the game to Sunday, but the Longhorns wouldn’t agree to move the game to Sunday. That leaves the game scheduled for noon on Saturday. The hope is that Ohio State has its starting quarterback set soon to get ready for that game.