There is already enough bad blood between Texas and Ohio State to make their Week 2 clash feel like a playoff game. Ryan Day has owned Steve Sarkisian so far, beating Texas in both 2024 and 2025 and leaving Sarkisian with no answers. Now the Buckeyes walk into Austin on Sept. 12 looking to make it three straight. Texas finally gets the home-field advantage, but that advantage means little unless Sarkisian can finally flip the script.

Steve Sarkisian, though, is not talking like a coach with everything to lose. He is leaning straight into the underdog role and putting the pressure back on Ohio State. Texas beat writer Tyler Horka of On3 shared Sarkisian’s comments on X, and the message was clear that this time, Texas is not running from the challenge.

“I know the pressure is ‘on us,’” he said. “Well, we’re kind of going in as the underdog in this thing, and we’ve got something to prove.”

Sarkisian cannot erase two straight losses to Ryan Day, but he can decide who feels the pressure in the third meeting. Calling Texas the underdog is not humility. It is a calculated move to put the burden on Ohio State and let his own team play like it has nothing to lose.

That is a bold way to sell the underdog card when FanDuel actually opened Texas as a 2.5-point favorite in February, with the total set at 46.5. So why is Sarkisian so eager to make Ohio State the team with something to prove? Maybe he sees weaknesses in his own roster that the betting market missed. Or maybe he is simply trying to dump the pressure on Ryan Day before a Week 2 game that could expose exactly where Texas stands.

Nobody needs to explain the stakes. Ohio State enters 2026 as the team with the highest national championship probability in ESPN’s FPI at 17%. Texas follows at 12.8%. Both programs are expected to be in the national championship conversation. This is also arguably the biggest nonconference game on the schedule. But during SEC Media Days, Texas LB Colin Simmons showed he isn’t treating it like some sacred event.

“Every game is a must-win,” he said. “It ain’t no game that we looking down on. It don’t matter if you’re Ohio State or Texas State. We’re taking every game with the right preparation.”

That sounds like standard player-speak until you look at Texas’ schedule. ESPN’s FPI ranks the Longhorns’ schedule as the third toughest in the country, behind Oklahoma and Arkansas. There won’t be many opportunities to take a breath. That makes the Ohio State game important, but it doesn’t make it the whole season. And perhaps that’s the mindset Steve Sarkisian wants.

But not everyone is buying Sarkisian’s attempt to soften the pressure. Texas cannot afford to treat Ohio State like just another early-season game; another loss would immediately shrink the Longhorns’ margin for error and put the entire season under pressure.

“You have to win that game if you’re Steve Sarkisian. You have to win that game if you’re Arch Manning because it still is so early that it does set the tone for the rest of your year.” Tyler Horka Said.

He doubled down on the stakes. “Win that game, and it sets the Longhorns up to be the top dog in the SEC. Lose that game, and the margin of error is minuscule and UT is at risk of underachieving again.”

And Sarkisian has a reason to treat Ohio State differently. The Buckeyes ended Texas’ 2024 season with a 28-14 win in the CFP semifinal, then beat the Longhorns again, 14-7, in Columbus to open 2025. Two meetings, two losses, and Texas failed to score more than 14 points in either one. Whatever the betting line says, Ohio State has had Sarkisian’s number so far.

Texas did not exactly help itself in Columbus either. The Longhorns went 0-for-3 on fourth-down attempts in the red zone during that 14-7 loss, wasting chances that could have flipped the game. Those are mistakes Sarkisian cannot afford again. If Texas loses another close one because it cannot finish drives, there will be no blaming the talent gap.

This time, there is nowhere to hide. Ohio State is coming to Austin for the first time since 2006, with College GameDay already set to be there. Texas lost to the Buckeyes in the CFP semifinal, then went to Columbus and lost again. Now Sarkisian finally gets to face Ohio State’s Ryan Day on his own field. If Texas still cannot flip the result, the “underdog” label will start sounding a lot less strategic.

And for Arch Manning, this one is personal. His first major start came at Ohio State last season, and it was a dud: 17-of-30 for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception as Texas failed to score until the fourth quarter.

Now Manning gets Ohio State again, this time in Austin and with a full season of starting experience behind him. More importantly, he may finally be done overthinking the position. Sarkisian recently told Colin Cowherd that Manning stopped trying to make every play perfect and finally started playing free.

“He was working so hard,” he said. “He wanted to do everything so right that the second half of the season he just said, ‘Screw it. I’m gonna go play,’” 

That’s a revealing admission. Arch Manning doesn’t need to prove he’s perfect. He needs to play. And against Ohio State, that distinction could become enormous.

But Texas has another problem to solve before Manning even gets his shot at Ohio State.

Trevor Goosby injury adds another layer to Texas-Ohio State

The Trevor Goosby injury could not have come at a worse time for Texas. He suffered a knee injury in practice, with Pete Thamel reporting a bone bruise, and there is still no clear timetable for his return.

If Goosby cannot go against Ohio State, Sarkisian loses one of his best protectors in the exact game where Arch Manning cannot afford to spend the afternoon running for his life. And replacing Goosby would be far easier said than done.

He is already viewed as a potential first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, and his job protecting Arch Manning becomes even more important against Ohio State. The Buckeyes may be replacing eight defensive starters, but Texas cannot afford to let a reshuffled front turn Manning into a target all afternoon.

A loss would not kill Texas’ playoff hopes, but a third straight defeat to Ohio State would make every mistake after that feel bigger and every remaining margin thinner.

The Longhorns have too much talent and too much season remaining for one September result to erase everything. Winning, however, would be a different story. A victory in Austin would give Steve Sarkisian one of the biggest wins of his tenure.

More importantly, it would prove Texas can handle the biggest game on the schedule without treating it like something bigger than football. Steve Sarkisian’s team will bring something to prove. And in a game this loaded, that might be the advantage the Longhorns need.