There is more excitement around the Texas Longhorns to open the 2025 season than just about anyone in the country. Part of that comes from the team’s massive College Football Playoff expectations. Another part comes from Arch Manning taking over as the team’s starting quarterback.

The hype for Manning is very real. The teams on Texas’ schedule know that too, and are circling the matchup on their calendars. However, as Manning recently explained, the mentality for the Longhorns is to turn that around and put the target on their opponents.

“I think that’s all of us at Texas,” Arch Manning said. “And I think we kind of try to shift the narrative. We’re going for everyone else. The target’s not on our back, but we’ve got a red dot on everyone else.”

Texas is coming off back-to-back trips to the College Football Playoff. In each of those runs, they would make it to the semifinal round before falling. Now, Texas wants to get over that hump and find itself in a national championship game. Certainly, the national expectation is that the Longhorns are going to find a way to manage that. The Longhorns are even ranked first in the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll.

Arch Manning, after two seasons of development behind Quinn Ewers, is taking over as Texas’ starting quarterback. That comes with its own anticipation and is going to draw attention from opposing defenses. After all, not only was he the top-prospect and a five-star recruit in the Class of 2023, he’s also a Manning, and with that comes pressure to live up to his family’s legacy of quarterback success.

In the playing time that Manning did get last season, he completed 67.8 percent of his passes for 939 yards and nine touchdowns to two interceptions. Manning also rushed for 108 yards and another two touchdowns.

Paul Finebaum makes prediction on Arch Manning in Week 1 game between Texas, Ohio State

Arch Manning and Texas are going to be tested immediately. The Longhorns open the season on the road against Ohio State, the team that eliminated them last season and went on to win the national championship. Ahead of that, Paul Finebaum shared a prediction for the Week 1 game.

“Guess who? Arch ‘Madness,’” Finebaum said. “It’s going to be Arch ‘Madness’ after the game. Manning leads the Longhorns to a smashing victory. I’ve been accused of being a little bit too high on Arch. I don’t think that you can be high enough on this young man. He is outstanding. I know the last name, we all do, but he is ready for this moment, and he is going to perform beautifully next Saturday. I can’t wait.”

Texas and Ohio State are scheduled to kickoff at 12:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, August 30th. That’s one of just five games against teams ranked in the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll that the Longhorns have to manage this season.