ESPN's Heather Dinich puts Texas, Arch Manning on upset alert vs. Florida, DJ Lagway

Texas entered the 2025 college football season with plenty of unearned hype, much of which centered around the offseason promotion of former No. 1 overall recruit Arch Manning to the Longhorns’ starting quarterback. But that all came crashing down in Week 1 when Manning and visiting Texas struggled through a 14-7 loss to then-No. 3 Ohio State in Columbus.

Since then, the ninth-ranked Longhorns (3-1, 0-0 SEC) have won in convincing fashion against its remaining non-conference schedule before opening SEC play on the road Saturday at Florida in Gainesville. And while visiting Texas is currently a seven-point road favorite against the unranked Gators (1-3, 0-1 SEC), clearly Vegas oddsmakers aren’t quite sold on the ‘Horns leaving The Swamp with a lopsided victory.

And neither is ESPN insider Heather Dinich, who put Texas on upset alert Saturday during an appearance on Tuesday afternoon’s SportsCenter.

“I’m going with Texas at Florida, because I’m just not sold on the Longhorns right now,” Dinich said Tuesday afternoon. “And look, that atmosphere in The Swamp is still a tricky place to play, even when the Gators are down. So, can Arch Manning lift up this (Texas) offense against what they believe in Gainesville to be a very talented team? Can DJ Lagway provide the spark that Billy Napier has been looking for from these guys, like he did in the second half of last season? If they can, Texas can be in trouble because they have yet to get a win against a Power opponent.”

Texas has never lost to Florida in four all-time meetings, holding a 3-0-1 record over the Gators, including last season’s 49-17 drubbing in Austin. That said, with fans calling for his job for the second consecutive season, Florida head coach Billy Napier knows a win on Saturday could do wonders for his program.

“This is a tough game, right? And when the going gets tough, the tough get going,” Napier said. “It’s important that we are committed, that we are persistent, and that we’re focused on the work. This is the time in your life and in the game, as a competitor, as a teammate, you show resolve.”

Steve Spurrier expects to see ‘a different ball team’ out of Florida vs. Texas

It’s been a rocky start to the season for the Florida Gators and head coach Billy Napier. After opening with an FCS win, the Gators dropped three-straight games, including to multiple rivals, to fall to 1-3 and put Napier firmly on the hot seat going into their bye week.

The major challenge moving forward for Florida is that there are no breaks on the field coming up. That continues this week against the Texas Longhorns. It’s the third of four straight games against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25. It seems like a bad spot for the Gators. However, former Florida coach Steve Spurrier shared on Another Dooley Noted Podcast that he expects to see an improved team on Saturday.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be a good one this week,” Steve Spurrier said. “We’re well rested. Hopefully, we know our mistakes and areas we can improve and we’ll see a different ball team out there on Saturday.”

All eyes will be on the quarterback position for both teams. Coming into the season, Florida’s DJ Lagway and Texas’ Arch Manning were the two most exciting young quarterbacks in the SEC. Then, they both stumbled out of the blocks. Manning even faced booing at home earlier in September. Lagway, meanwhile, has had a turnover issue. In particular, a five interception game against LSU where the Florida offense struggled to do much at all.

— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.