Paul Finebaum guarantees Arch Manning will lead Texas to win over Ohio State in Week 1
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Find someone who believes in you the way Paul Finebaum believes in Arch Manning.
During an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up Friday morning, the SEC Network host guaranteed that first-year starting quarterback Arch Manning would lead Texas into Columbus and knock off the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 1 next month. Finebaum, who has been Manning’s fiercest proponent this offseason, said Manning’s experience backing up Quinn Ewers will have him ready to play in one of the 2025 season’s biggest games.
“I am as married to Arch Manning as an old geezer like me can be to a young, great college quarterback, but I like everything about him,” Finebaum said Friday morning. “The Manning name matters, but it’s not going to matter on that field in a couple of weeks at Ohio State. The experience of being an understudy to Ewers and understanding [Steve Sarkisian]’s system is what’s going to get them over the top and probably — well, not probably — definitely beat Ohio State in the opener.”
During the same segment, Finebaum said Manning is the player under the most pressure to perform in 2025. Moments after that statement, ESPN’s Harry Douglas pointed out that Finebaum has directly applied some of that pressure.
Finebaum recently claimed Manning was the best college quarterback we’ve seen since Tim Tebow. A No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class, Manning has thrown a total of 95 passes in his 2 seasons with the Longhorns. He made 2 starts last season for Texas when Ewers was injured, filling in against Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State, but those are his only career starts to date.
Now, Manning has flashed supreme upside in his limited action.
When Ewers was initially knocked out of the UTSA game last season, Manning came in off the bench and became the only FBS or NFL quarterback in the last 25 years (according to OptaStats) to have a 50-yard touchdown pass, a 75-yard touchdown pass, and a 65-yard touchdown run in the same game. He went 15-for-29 for 258 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 51-3 win over ULM and then completed 26-of-31 passes for 324 yards with 3 total touchdowns in a 35-13 win over Mississippi State.
According to Game on Paper, ULM ranked 80th nationally last season in opponent-adjusted EPA per play allowed. Mississippi State ranked 127 out of 134 FBS programs.
Ohio State ranked third.
To a certain extent, very little from Manning’s first 2 seasons can prepare him for a season-opening game in Ohio Stadium against a defending national champion. The pressure, which Finebaum has helped to apply, will be enormous. And the Buckeyes are a 3-point favorite according to the early line from DraftKings.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
