"We're going for everyone": Arch Manning puts CFB teams on notice with bold warning ahead of Texas vs. Ohio State showdown

Arch Manning is set to lead Texas into the 102,780-seat Ohio Stadium for the season opener against Ohio State on Saturday. As a potential Heisman contender and with the Longhorns ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25, Manning enters his first season as a starter with enormous expectations.

During Monday’s media session, Manning discussed how he plans to manage the spotlight and issued a message not only to Texas’ toughest opponents but to all schools they will face in 2025.

"I think that's all of us at Texas, and I think we kind of try to shift the narrative, and we're going for everyone else," Manning said. "Target's not on our back, we have the red dot on everyone else."

Manning takes over for Quinn Ewers, who left Texas having won 11 consecutive true road games. Matching that accomplishment will be a big challenge, but Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian is focused on keeping expectations grounded for his QB1.

"Just go be him," Sarkisian said of his message to Manning (Austin-American-Statement). "That's really our messaging to all of our players, though. You don't have to do anything you've never done before. We're not asking any super-human efforts of you to do anything that is extraordinary. Just go be you."

Arch Manning acknowledges Ohio State challenge ahead of Texas’ 2025 opener

Alabama won the national championship in 2017 as the preseason No. 1 program, and Texas could follow a similar path in 2025, which may start with a potential win against Ohio State on Saturday.

However, Ohio State is returning some elite talents in 2025, including unanimous All-American safety Caleb Downs, and Arch Manning is aware of the challenge ahead.

"They (Buckeyes) got really good players," Manning said (via CBS Sports). "They're well-coached. They've got a bunch of guys that have played a lot of football. Caleb Downs, I can't say enough good things about him. He's a really good player. We're going to have to bring our A game."

During Ohio State’s 2024 championship season, Downs totaled 82 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two interceptions and six passes defended.

About the author

Maliha is a High School Sports news and listicles writer at Sportskeeda. A post graduate in Management Information Systems, it was her love for writing and sports which led her down the path of sports content creation. An experienced NBA and NFL writer, she covered the two sports extensively at SportsZion and SportsKnot before joining SportsKeeda.

Maliha is a huge Baltimore Ravens fan and is in awe of quarterback Lamar Jackson's dual-threat abilities. She also admires Tom Brady and her all-time favorite coach is 3-time Super Bowl champion Andy Reid. She is a big advocate of high school sports and believes that elite athletes reach a top level owing to the discipline, hard work, team dynamics, resilience, adaptability and self-confidence learnt by playing sports in high schools. Aaron Rodgers leading the Green Bay Packers to victory on his debut against the Minnesota Vikings is one of her fondest NFL memories.

Maliha places a high emphasis on accuracy in her content. She does thorough research, always double checks facts, and only uses information from most relevant and credible sources for her articles. When not writing, she likes to read history and biographical books.

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