"I don't think they are elite": Paul Finebaum downplays Ryan Day's Ohio State while giving Arch Manning an upper hand in season opener

Ryan Day will be entering the 2025 season with a whole new team after more than 14 players left for the NFL. While he has clarified that his team is not approaching the season as defending national champions but as a fresh campaign with a young team in hopes of lifting the golden trophy again.

The season opener is itself a challenge, with SEC giant Texas Longhorns looking to seek revenge for last season’s Cotton Bowl loss. According to college football insider Paul Finebaum, Day and the team will lose big time this year. They aren't as strong as they used to be and it will be an uphill task for the coach to replicate success from 2024.

While speaking to Molly Qerim and Chris Canty on ESPN's First Take, Finebaum mentioned that there has been a major shakeup in Ohio State's roster. They are entering with a young QB, although Arch Manning is a similar opponent, but Texas has better tools on offense and defense.

“These two teams met in January in the Cotton Bowl and Texas fell in that game. But the teams are different. The quarterback's different at Texas; the quarterback's different at Ohio State,” Finebaum said on the show on Thursday. [Timestamp - 1:11]

“I don't think Ohio State is what we saw last year winning the national championship. They're good, but I don't think they're a lead. It's a big event, one of the biggest games we have seen. But I think Texas' roster is better. I think Ohio State is going to be hung over from last year with a new quarterback,” he added.

Ryan Day announces his starting quarterback for 2025 season

The QB battle at Ohio State was intense through the entire offseason. Former Alabama commit Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz were the frontrunners for the QB1 job. On Monday, Day announced that it would be Sayin who starts for the team in 2025.

“You look at the numbers of the production, and we felt like he was in a situation where he was really ready to go play in this game,” Day said to the reporters on Monday.

Day mentioned that throughout the offseason Sayin was super consistent and happened to be a fast learner. This helped him get the better of Kienholz and eventually win the starting job. Looking at the current scenario, expect nothing less than an 11+ winning games season for Day & Co. in 2025.