“Arch Manning hasn’t done a thing yet.”
That was Urban Meyer’s blunt assessment of college football’s most-talked-about quarterback during a recent appearance on “The Joel Klatt Show.” While the Texas redshirt sophomore has only appeared in 12 games with two starts in his collegiate career, his last name and recruiting pedigree continue to generate massive expectations — including being the favorite to win the Heisman in 2025 and to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
But Meyer wants to see Manning play at an elite level before falling for “Arch Mania.” In fact, the former Ohio State head coach believes Manning should be managed conservatively by Texas coach Steve Sarkisian in Saturday’s game against No. 3 Ohio State (noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).
“I’m hearing the word Heisman. I’m hearing the words national champion and first pick overall,” Meyer said. “I went back and watched [him] recently. He’s a good player. He’s a really good player. But get a couple of first downs.”
With Manning now entrenched as Texas’ starting quarterback, the Longhorns enter the season as the betting favorite to win the national championship. However, Meyer pointed to their “good defense” as a reason to keep things simple for Manning in Saturday’s game.
“I’d be shocked if you saw something wild with these two teams early in the game,” Meyer said. “I’d be very restrictive as far as throwing that ball between the hash marks. Your heart starts [beating fast]. It’s like that point guard that gets all excited. You know what happens? The ball is bouncing off the back of the rim. Why? Because he’s excited.”
As Meyer alluded to there, he would also ask Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin to play a conservative style if he were still the Buckeyes’ head coach. With Sayin making his first career start on Saturday, Meyer said that the sophomore quarterback is his biggest concern for the Buckeyes.
“Julian Sayin is going to be the biggest question mark,” Meyer said. “Offensive line, they lost four starters, but I’m hearing this is the best depth they’ve had and they feel really good about the O-line. The tight end, [Max Klare], the transfer from Purdue, is an excellent player. Very athletic, which you saw. Then, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss at the other receiver spots to complement Jeremiah [Smith].
“So, the long-winded answer is: I don’t think there’s much of a drop-off early in the year. I don’t see him scoring a ton of points early. I see them hanging in there and playing, especially in this one [against Texas]. … I see this being kind of a low-scoring game, winning with defense, until that offense gets cooking.”
Like Manning, Sayin was also a highly-rated recruit. He was the third-rated quarterback in the Class of 2024 (via 247Sports), originally committing to Alabama before transferring to Ohio State after Nick Saban’s retirement.
Sayin edged out redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz to be named the starting quarterback, with Ryan Day not officially naming a starter until this past week.
With Sayin and Kienholz entrenched in the quarterback battle throughout spring and fall camp, Joel Klatt said that he heard from people around the Ohio State program that it reminded them of the quarterback battle between Dwayne Haskins and Joe Burrow in 2018.
“They’re saying that this is similar, where it’s Julian’s ability to throw the football that just brings the ceiling so much higher, in particular with the weapons on the outside, like Smith and Tate,” Klatt said.” But Kienholz made it tough just because of his grittiness, his athleticism — maybe not in direct comparison to the style of Burrow — but this idea that there’s this gritty competitor there that just made it tough on them to name a starter.”
Julian Sayin (right) beat out Lincoln Kienholz (left) for Ohio State’s starting quarterback job. (Photo by Icon Sportswire)
Even though Ohio State is dealing with inexperience at quarterback and has to replace 14 players who went to the NFL from its national championship-winning team, the Buckeyes arguably have the most talented roster in the nation. Smith and safety Caleb Downs are widely viewed as the best players on their respective sides of the ball, while Ohio State ranks third in 247Sports’ team talent composite rating.
“I hate to say it like this, because you never want your quarterback to play like this, but he can’t screw it up,” Meyer said of Sayin. “They got excellent coaches. Ryan’s an expert quarterbacks coach. You give him so many easy throws. You don’t need to win this game, Julian. You do not have to do that. You have enough cats around you.
“You’re going to see a bunch of screens, I would imagine, to Jeremiah and the crew. You’re going to see a strong run game. You’re going to see easy throws. I would always tell these young quarterbacks, give us two first downs and your job is accomplished. That’s all you got to do.”
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