No. 4 Texas has spent the past five years building towards this moment, the culmination of the Steve Sarkisian era in Austin. Following the inconsistent results of the 2010s, Texas has wholeheartedly embraced the NIL era. They landed many of the state's best players, including defensive end Colin Simmons.
They added the most sought-after status symbol in football: A Manning. On Saturday, No. 1 Ohio State comes to Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
It's the third straight season the Longhorns have played the Buckeyes, and both prior meetings ended in terrible, frustrating losses marred by coaching and execution errors. Since 2024, Texas has played championship-level programs Ohio State and Georgia five times. Sarkisian is 0-5 against Ryan Day and Kirby Smart over that stretch.
They're 24-1 against everyone else. Saturday is a pivotal opportunity for Texas to prove it can contend with the best. It's the defining game of the Sarkisian era, and one Sarkisian cannot afford to lose.
After narrowly missing the College Football Playoff last season, the Longhorns decided to push all their chips to the middle to maximize what is expected to be Arch Manning's final year. The Longhorns invested heavily in convincing left tackle Trevor Goosby, defensive tackle Hero Kanu and safety Jelani McDonald to return to school. They added wide receiver Cam Coleman, linebacker Rasheem Biles and running backs Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers via the transfer portal.
They also made a major coaching change, replacing highly respected defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski with Will Muschamp. On paper, the Longhorns are nearly unimpeachable. They've got playmakers at every level of the field and a coaching staff fully built in Sarkisian's image.
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