COLUMBUS, Ohio — Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning failed to live up to lofty expectations in his starting debut Saturday at Ohio State, but Texas coach Steve Sarkisian called the 14-7 loss just “one chapter” in Manning’s season.

With scouts from more than a dozen NFL teams watching, including the nearby Cleveland Browns, Manning was inconsistent, displaying flashes of promise tempered by mistakes. He completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, 1 touchdown and an interception — an underwhelming day for a player some have already pegged as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft.

He also entered the game as the Heisman Trophy favorite (+650) at ESPN BET Sportsbook.

“For Arch, the expectations were out of control on the outside,” Sarkisian said. “I’d say let’s finish the book before we judge him. That’s one chapter.”

Texas started slowly offensively, struggling to create big plays. Manning was 0-for-5 with an interception on throws of more than 5 yards in the first three quarters. Sarkisian and Manning sat together in the locker room at the half, though, and went over some film and made some adjustments. In the fourth quarter, Manning completed 4 of 7 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown on passes of more than 5 yards.

“They’ve got a good scheme,” Sarkisian said. “They’ve got a very smart secondary, and they made Arch work. I thought at halftime, Arch having a chance to really sit and look at the tape and understand some of the coverages they were playing, I think that helped him into the second half.”

Still, it was too little, too late. Texas had four drives that ended in turnovers on downs, its most since its 2017 season-opening loss to Maryland. The Longhorns failed to score on their two red zone drives, including a fourth-down stop just inches from the goal line that deflated a 15-play, 70-yard drive that ate up 6:54 in the third quarter.

“I felt like hey, we don’t give them a chance to sub to real big people,” Sarkisian said. “We went with the sneak. I think they got under us pretty good and kind of took Arch’s legs out from him. Hindsight’s 20/20. If I could do it all over again, we’d probably sub and they’d put their big guys, we’d put our big guys in and see if we could get in the end zone.”

Manning finished with an off-target percentage of 37%, the worst by a Texas quarterback in a game over the past decade, according to ESPN Research.

“It took us too long to get the ball down the field,” Manning said. “That starts with me. … They’re a good team, but I thought we beat ourselves a lot. That starts with me, and I’ve got to play better for us to win.”

Manning, whose running ability is one of his strongest assets, added 38 yards on 10 carries, with his longest run being a 15-yard burst. The Longhorns outgained Ohio State 166-77 on the ground, and Sarkisian said he’d like to incorporate Manning’s running ability earlier.

“I think when that happened, I felt like he started really playing,” Sarkisian said of Manning’s rushing. “And we saw some real flashes and glimpses of the type of player that he’s going to become here.”

Texas had four new starters on its offensive line, but Manning had ample time to throw. He occasionally executed passes with precision, and other attempts were high, low, or thrown behind his receiver.

“I felt like Arch had good time in the pocket to throw it,” Sarkisian said. “I felt like we were moving the line of scrimmage; we were running the ball. We just didn’t create explosive plays early in the game like we did in the second half of the game. … I think we could have thrown it better than we did, but we didn’t throw it the way we wanted to because of the O-line. I thought the O-line gave us ample protection and opportunities to throw the ball down the field.”

Texas won’t play another Power 4 opponent until Oct. 4 at Florida, and those within the Longhorns’ program agreed that the offensive issues are correctable before the SEC slate begins.

“We had opportunities to score points and we didn’t,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got to make a couple of throws. We’ve got to make a couple catches. We’ve got to make a couple better calls, but those are things that are fixable for us and I feel confident in that.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State opened its national title defense by playing dominant defense.

The third-ranked Buckeyes rattled quarterback Arch Manning and stuffed top-ranked Texas four times on fourth down on the way to a 14-7 victory Saturday at the Horseshoe.

Two of those fourth-down stops came inside the Ohio State 10-yard line.

Another came on Texas’ final possession. Manning found tight end Jack Endries on fourth-and-5. But Buckeyes star safety Caleb Downs wrapped Endries up two yards short of the first down to seal the win.

“The story of the game was the defense,” said Ohio State coach Ryan Day. “Those fourth-down stops were big.”

The Buckeyes defeated Texas with a fourth-down stop in last year’s CFP semifinal. Jack Sawyer stripped Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers on fourth-and-goal and scooped up the fumble for the game-clinching touchdown at the Cotton Bowl, propelling Ohio State to the national championship game.

On Saturday, the Buckeyes defense — featuring eight new starters and a new coordinator in Matt Patricia — came up big on fourth down again.

In the first half, Ohio State stopped Manning on a fourth-and-goal quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Texas finally got back inside the Ohio State 10. But cornerback Davison Igbinosun swatted away Manning’s fourth-down attempt in the end zone.

Texas scored a touchdown with 3:28 left to avoid being shut out for the first time in nine years, then got the ball back with just over two minutes remaining with a chance to tie. But after Texas pushed the ball to midfield, the Ohio State defense ended the threat with Downs’ one-on-one tackle of Endries.

“He was unbelievable back there as a field general,” Patricia said of Downs, one of three returning starters along with Igbinosun and linebacker Sonny Styles. “Guys stepped up to the challenge all the way across the board.”

This offseason, Patricia replaced Jim Knowles, who left the Buckeyes following the national championship to become defensive coordinator for rival Penn State. Patricia had won three Super Bowls with New England, including two as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator, but had never coached a college game until Saturday.

According to ESPN Research, Texas’ four turnovers on downs were the most in the game since a 2017 season-opening loss to Maryland.

“I thought the game plan was excellent,” Day said of the defense, “but the buy-in is what’s most important. What matters is the guys and warriors on the field believing in it. … The grittiness of our guys running around, there’s a lot we can build on.”

NEW ORLEANS — Jake Retzlaff passed for a touchdown on the first series of his Tulane debut and scored on a 69-yard run as the Green Wave rolled to a 23-3 victory over Northwestern on Saturday.

Retzlaff — who won 11 games at BYU last season but transferred after learning he faced a suspension for violating his former school’s honor code — accounted for 265 yards of offense. He passed for 152 yards and rushed for 113.

“It’s been a long offseason,” Retzlaff said. “So, I’m just so excited to be able to get on this field and play with these guys. I’ve got a great group of guys around me. I’m so fortunate.”

His numbers could have been better if not for six drops by Tulane receivers, including two in the end zone during one early drive that ended with a short field goal.

“Big-time performance for a guy who’s been here a whopping 38 days,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said of Retzlaff.

New Northwestern quarterback Preston Stone, a transfer from SMU, threw a career-high four interceptions in his Wildcats debut, including on his first pass. He also lost a late fumble.

“One game does not define us as a football team; this one just happens to be the first one and stings a lot,” Northwestern coach David Braun said.

“Preston Stone didn’t play his best football game today, but I said it boldly in that locker room, ‘Believe in that guy. That’s our quarterback,'” Braun added. “He’s mentally tough, physically tough. He’ll respond well.”

Tulane converted the first three interceptions into 17 points — starting with Retzlaff’s scoring pass to Justyn Reid in the back of the end zone — while building a 20-3 halftime lead.

“The defense set the tone and then we followed suit by scoring on that first possession,” Retzlaff said. “It’s awesome to have a defense like that, man. You can always rely on them to get a stop and they played an unbelievable game today.”

The game was Tulane’s first at home against a team from the Big Ten Conference since 1955, when the Green Wave also defeated Northwestern.

The midday, late-August kickoff forced the visitors from just north of Chicago to endure the type of uncomfortably hot, humid air for which south Louisiana is known during summer. Temperatures were in the mid-80s, but with the sun shining much of the game and humidity around 70%, the heat index was in the mid- to high-90s.

“We knew that it was going to be a nice, warm, humid day, but it’s nothing new for us,” said Retzlaff, whose team finished with 268 yards rushing. “It wore on them. … We were gashing them in the run game more and more.”

Tulane defensive back Javion White had two interceptions. The first, a leaping snag on a long pass along the sideline, set up Ratzlaff’s long TD run down the middle of the field, which was remarkably similar to one he had in junior college in 2022.

“It was déjà vu for me, actually,” Retzlaff said.

Tulane’s Kevin Adams and Jahiem Johnson also intercepted Stone in the first half. Northwestern also allowed three sacks.

Retzlaff, meanwhile, had 216 total yards by halftime — 212 passing and 104 rushing. That, and a strong defensive performance throughout, propelled the Wave to its first victory over a Big Ten team since 1970 at Illinois.