3 opponents that will test Arch Manning's mettle as Steve Sarkisian looks to bag national championship in 2025 season

Texas quarterback Arch Manning is heading into his first season as the starter for Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns squad. After playing behind Quinn Ewers for the past two seasons, Manning is stepping into the starting role amid tremendous hype.

While some of the hype is warranted because of his stellar play when he was put into games, he still has a lot to prove and could face a few tricky tests next season.

Here are three opponents that could test Arch Manning's mettle as he looks to lead his team to the national championship.

3 teams that could test Arch Manning's mettle this season

#1 Ohio State Buckeyes

Arch Manning will have arguably his biggest test of the season in the first game of the year. The Longhorns are scheduled to play the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes on Aug. 30. While the Buckeyes lost some key players, including quarterback Will Howard, in the offseason, they are still a formidable squad and a national championship contender.

If Manning has a strong game against the Buckeyes and helps the Longhorns pull off the win, he will further boost his stock as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. However, if he loses or has a bad performance, some of his hype could be lost.

#2 Florida Gators

The next big test for Arch Manning will likely come in the fifth game of the season against the Florida Gators. While the Gators are not projected to be one of the top teams in the SEC, they have one of the conference's top quarterbacks, DJ Lagway. This has all the makings of a classic quarterback shootout.

#3 Georgia Bulldogs

The Texas Longhorns had a strong 2024 season, reaching the semifinal of the College Football Playoff. However, there was one team that the Longhorns could not figure out: the Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs defeated Texas twice, including in the SEC championship game.

Manning and the Longhorns will play the Bulldogs in their third-to-last game of the season. It will be a tough test at the stage of the season when the Longhorns will likely be competing to secure a spot in the SEC championship game.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly