The No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns have an extremely difficult season opener as the program is set to take on the No. 3-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Leading up to the contest, Arch Manning revealed the mindset he and his teammates have for the upcoming season.
Manning, who is 21 years old, fielded a question about Texas having a target on its back due to being the No. 1-ranked team in the nation. However, the Longhorns quarterback flipped the script and claimed his team is putting a target on all of their opponents instead, according to Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods.com and shared by Dennis de la Paula of Fox 7 Austin.
“I mean, that's all of Texas,” said Arch Manning. “I think we kind of try to shift the narrative – we're going for everyone else. The target's not on our back. We have a red dot on everyone else. Targets not on our back. We have that red dot on everyone else.”
Love how Arch Manning answers this "target on your back" question from @AnwarRichardson:
"I think we kind of try to shift the narrative – we're going for everyone else. The target's not on our back. We have a red dot on everyone else."#HookEm @fox7austin pic.twitter.com/UL1U4QnhOW
— Dennis de la Pena (@dennisonfox7) August 25, 2025
That's the type of mentality Texas needs to have, considering the Longhorns have several marquee matchups. The program will not only face off against Ohio State in Week 1, but they will also play the No. 15 Florida Gators, No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners, No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs, and No. 19 Texas A&M Aggies.
Expectations are high for Texas with Arch Manning officially playing as the starting quarterback. He has played sporadically for the Longhorns in his first two years at the program, and this is his first season as the starter. Through 12 games played so far in his collegiate career, Manning has recorded 969 passing yards and nine touchdowns with a 66.3% completion percentage. He's also accumulated 115 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
Texas takes on Ohio State at the Horseshoe on Saturday, August 30. It's one of the most highly anticipated matchups to kick off the 2025-26 campaign this year.
