For those who are unfamiliar, non-conference games are scheduled far in advance; sometimes they are scheduled so far out, the players who will be suiting up on that particular game day are currently in elementary school.
When this particular game was scheduled all the way back in 2012, DeLoss Dodds was still leading Texas athletics and the Austin skyline was minuscule compared to today’s iteration.
“A coaching battle between Urban Meyer and Tom Herman will have to wait a few more years.” Tim Bielik wrote for Cleveland.com in May 2018.
Barring some poorly made coaching matchup predictions and the pushing of the original date, the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes will meet in the regular season for the first time in almost two decades for another top five bout.
In moments like this, I truly believe that there is some truth to the notion that sports are scripted or aided in some way. They are not even trying to hide it anymore — Lee Corso’s last game on ESPN College GameDay, sophomore quarterback Arch Manning’s first start as the cemented starter and a rematch of last season’s Cotton Bowl.
This game and all of the storylines that are almost too perfect, right? But let’s get this straight, I’m not complaining about it one bit, I’m a junkie for this kind of sports storytelling.
Now, I must throw my hat in the ring and give my thoughts on the most popular topic of conversation surrounding this game — the performance of Manning.
The media circus around the newest heir to the Manning quarterback throne either paints him as this pigskin-throwing god set to win every possible offensive award, or this severely overrated prospect who could not even beat an injured seventh rounder.
“They’ve got Arch Manning already winning the Heisman, too. And my question is, if he was this good, how come they let Quinn Ewers play all the time last year?” Steve Spurrier, College Football Hall of Fame coach, said on the Another Dooley Noted Podcast in June.
While this comes as a shock, given the amount of hype and expectations placed on the young signal caller heading into the season, Manning is a mortal just like any other student at the University; he just happens to come from the most famous quarterbacking family in football.
Very few players in the history of the game have drawn this amount of divisiveness. Comments like this from Spurrier and others come off as shortsighted. Whether he was better than Ewers last season or not, now it’s just a cheap talking point from a bygone era.
Understand that Manning will make his fair share of mistakes against Ohio State. He will make a poor read or a questionable adjustment at the line, which should come as expected, given Saturday’s game will be only his third start in his career.
But he was made for moments like this — leading the No. 1 team in the nation — into one of the nastiest and most hostile environments in all of American sport. He did not sit on the bench for two years with your thumb up his rear end and not learn anything. Saturday is Manning’s chance to prove he’s the real deal, with all of the eyes on Texas.
So, for you, dear reader, games of this magnitude only come so often. Relish in it, because after all, we are playing San Jose State next week.
