Paul Finebaum guarantees Arch Manning, Texas will beat Ohio State in Week 1

You won’t find a bigger Arch Manning fan than ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum. On Friday morning’s edition of “Get Up,” Finebaum guaranteed that Manning will lead Texas to a win over Ohio State in both teams’ season opener on August 30.

“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,” Finebaum said. “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 [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: "I am as married to Arch Manning as an old geezer like me can be to a young, great college quarterback… the experience of being an understudy to Ewers and understanding Sark's system is what's going to get them over the top and probably — well, not probably —… pic.twitter.com/AcJkJNkIH5

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 11, 2025

Manning has yet to even start a meaningful game in Texas burnt orange, as his lone three starts last season came against UTSA, Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State in relief of an injured Ewers. In 10 appearances last season, he compiled 939 passing yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions.

Sarkisian using Ohio State game as motivation for his team

Sarkisian joined ESPN’s Greg McElroy on the “Always College Football” podcast last week, where he revealed that the Longhorns have been using the matchup against the Buckeyes as motivation during the offseason.

“I can always feel that little jab of what Ohio State is doing,” Sarkisian said. “They’re in training camp too. They’re in team run and they’re sore and tired too. I’m sure Ryan Day feels the same way about us. That’s the beauty of playing these games. This is three straight years for us. We played Alabama in week two here and went to Alabama in week two, two years ago. We went to Michigan last year and this year we’re going to Ohio State. So this is three straight years that it’s not gonna be new for our veteran players, having played at Alabama, at Michigan and now at Ohio State.”

The Texas program has grown in a major way since Sark took over in 2021, as it has gradually increased its win total every season since. After recording eight wins in 2022, the ‘Horns totaled 12 wins in 2023 and 13 wins in 2024. They will be looking to reach 14 wins this season, winning their first National Championship since 2005.

“We take a lot of pride in preparing for those games and take pride going into those games prepared to play with the right mindset and the right physicality that’s needed,” Sarkisian continued. “Definitely the right execution is gonna be needed in a game like that. We use it some degree. It’s not the end-all be-all because this is what training camp is all about. We’ve got to prepare ourselves for a grind of a 16 or 17 game season, but yet man it’s sure good to have those [big games] that are at the front end of the season to kind of kickstart you and get you ready to go.”