Before the Texas Longhorns' kickoff against the Ohio State Buckeyes, fans of the defending national college football champions made no secret about their thoughts on Arch Manning. When FOX's Big Noon Kickoff showed Manning on the screen in front of a raucous crowd of Buckeyes fans in Columbus, they had just one word for him: “Over-rated!”
"Overrated" chants break out among Ohio State fans as Arch Manning is shown 😅 pic.twitter.com/rqNFKwBv8j
— Big Noon Kickoff (@BNKonFOX) August 30, 2025
The Texas-Ohio State clash is arguably the biggest game of the entire college football season, and it is taking place in the Saturday at noon (ET) window of Week 1. The teams are ranked No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, and there is a good chance that we see both these teams in the College Football Playoffs in a few months.
While this is a matchup between blueblood, heavyweight programs and highly decorated coaches in Ryan Day and Steev Sarkisian, the most intriguing matchup is between the two young QBs.
Arch Manning needs no introduction to the national stage, as the grandson and nephew of three all-time great NFL signal-callers. However, the young passer is starting his first season at the helm of the Longhorns after sitting for two seasons behind Quinn Ewers. Manning passed for 939 yards last season in spot duty with nine touchdowns and just two interceptions, but being QB1 is a different story.
The Texas-Ohio State football game will go a long way toward telling us if Manning is the next in the long line of quarterback savants or truly, as Buckeyes fans say, “over-rated!”
On the other side, 20-year-old Julian Sayin will make his first collegiate start after spending a year at Alabama and one more behind Will Howard, who led his squad to a natty last season. Can Sayin live up to the expectations of Ohio State fans and to the hype surrounding his battle with Manning?
The good news is, we don't have to wait too long to find out.
