Arch Manning Finally Gets His Ohio State Redemption

Slow to start, strong to finish describes Arch Manning both in the 2025 season, and for the definitive win in his Longhorns career to date.

As Texas went into halftime of its showdown with No. 1-ranked Ohio State trailing 20-3, one could almost hear the sound of a thousand keyboards clacking away at the eulogy.

Overrated. Overhyped. And that Heisman Trophy campaign? Just plain over after another anemic performance against the Buckeyes.

It wouldn’t be hyperbole to suggest Manning’s struggles at Ohio State last year forged a perception of him that the quarterback never fully shook. He passed for 26 touchdowns, rushed for 10 and posted more than 3,500 yards, but Columbus loomed over Manning — so much so, he said in his postgame interview with ESPN that he “had nightmares about that game last year.”

You know that dream that places you back in college, and you realize you have a final for a course you never attended? Imagine that, but in the real world — and playing out in front of a few million people.

Of course, Texas going into intermission trailing by a three-possession margin wasn’t exclusively due to Manning. A Raleek Brown fumble on the first play from scrimmage set an ominous tone.

Things became even more bleak when Manning uncorked a deep ball to that Cam Coleman laid out to grab — only for the ball to ricochet up and into the waiting arms of Jaylen McClain.

Later, trailing 10-0, Manning stood tall in the pocket against blind-side pressure to launch a nearly 40-yard dime that hit but slipped out of the hand of an open Ryan Wingo.

And as much as Texas falling behind wasn’t the sole responsibility of Manning, neither was the comeback. Hollywood Smothers delivered some gutty runs, and Emmett Mosley defined clutch.

Mosley’s reception on fourth-and-6 from Longhorn territory early in the fourth quarter was pivotal. An incompletion there doesn’t just result in a different outcome, but a potential blowout loss.

Then there was the Longhorns defense, which allowed just three second-half points — thanks in part to some unlikely help from Ohio State.

The Buckeyes could not have gone any more conservative in the latter 30 minutes without turning play-calling over to William F. Buckley. Five possessions resulting in three punts and two field-goal attempts opened the door wide enough for Manning and Co. to escape through.

“Right when that happened, I knew,” Manning said in his postgame press conference, referring to a missed Connor Hawkins field-goal kick of 45 yards. “It was our time.”

Every play’s significance is heightened in crunch time, both on the winning and losing sides.

Manning’s comments contrasted with Ohio State coach Ryan Day’s after the game underscore this.

“That’s the biggest part of the season,” Day said in his postgame press conference. “You have to win the fourth quarter.”

Every winning play in the fourth quarter came from Texas, and more than a few from Manning. On the game-winning drive, his second-and-7 connection with Mosley for 19 yards set up Smothers’ eventual go-ahead touchdown.

Manning was hardly perfect over the course of the game, but that particular throw was picture perfect when Texas most needed it.