Paul Finebaum: Texas will beat Ohio State, and 'beat them badly'

Paul Finebaum is wearing his heart on his sleeve ahead of this weekend’s matchup between Texas and Ohio State. He’s not just expecting the Longhorns to win — he’s expecting them to trounce the Buckeyes.

“I expect Texas to beat them, and I think they’re going to beat them badly,” Finebaum stated, via Get Up on ESPN. “I know people are saying, ‘Are you out of your mind?’ Well, that may be up for debate, but I really think Texas is the better team.

“I don’t like Ohio State’s situation, from a coaching standpoint. Two new coordinators. Yes, both teams have new quarterbacks, but Arch Manning has a lot more experience than Julian Sayin. Remember, he came over from Alabama after [Nick] Saban retired.”

Many will point to the Buckeyes defeating Texas last season in the College Football Playoff, and the fact that the Longhorns will be entering enemy territory. Still, Finebaum doesn’t believe that’ll be much of a factor when it comes to the highly-anticipated showdown.

Heather Dinich is on the other side of the equation though. She rebuked Finebaum’s proclamation, predicting Ohio State will come out on top when the final whistle blows in Columbus.

“Ryan Day is 39–3 at home, and only one of those losses was by more than seven points — that was in 2022 to Michigan. This is going to be a close game. I like the Buckeyes,” Dinich responded. “They’ve got the best player on offense in Jeremiah Smith, and the best player on defense in Caleb Downs.

“Yes, two new quarterbacks. But I talked to Sark about those new coordinators, and Sark (Steve Sarkisian) told me this, ‘Ohio State is still going to look like Ohio State.’ Matt Patricia might add some wrinkles, but he’s expecting the same team.”

One thing is for sure, whichever team comes out on top will be set up for success over the rest of the season. On the other hand, the loser likely won’t fall far, and will still have plenty of time to get their act together over the next couple of months, but there will certainly be less room for error.

The quarterback battle is a fascinating one, with the aforementioned Manning and Sayin taking over their respective teams. Whoever gets the win will kickstart their time as the unquestioned leader of their team in grand fashion.

It all begins this weekend, in one of the bigger opening-weekend games in recent memory. Paul Finebaum is predicting a blowout win for Texas, but he’s an outlier in that prediction, not the norm.