COLUMBUS, Ohio — Julian Sayin had a 40-yard touchdown pass to Carnell Tate early in the fourth quarter, Ohio State got a couple of key stops in the red zone and the third-ranked Buckeyes opened the defense of their national championship with a 14-7 victory over top-ranked Texas on Saturday.

It was the fourth time the No. 1 team in the AP preseason poll has met the previous season’s national champion in the opener. The defending champ has won the last three.

“Just a gritty win to start the season,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “We just felt like in Week 1, we didn’t want to beat ourselves. We took that into consideration with everything that we did.”

Arch Manning completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown and an interception for the Longhorns.

Texas was 1 of 5 on fourth down, including being stopped twice in the red zone. Manning was stuffed at the 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal by Caden Curry and Lorenzo Styles Jr. on a QB sneak in the third quarter.

The Longhorns were driving for a tying touchdown late in the game but Jack Endries was stopped by Caleb Downs 1 yard short of a first down to end hopes of a comeback.

“Ultimately, not good enough. Obviously you don’t want to start off the season 0-1,” Manning said. “They’re a good team. I thought we beat ourselves a lot, and that starts with me. I’ve got to play better for us to win.”

Sayin was 13 of 20 passing for 126 yards. His best pass of the day came with 13:08 remaining in the game, when Tate beat Texas cornerback Jaylon Guilbeau for the long score. Tate juggled the ball before pulling it down in the end zone to put the Buckeyes up by two touchdowns.

CJ Donaldson opened the scoring midway through the second quarter on a 1-yard run up the middle to cap a 13-play, 87-yard drive that took eight minutes off the clock. The Buckeyes benefitted from a pair of penalties, including a face mask call on Colin Simmons that wiped out an incomplete pass on third-and-4.

Texas finally got points with 3:28 remaining in the fourth quarter when Manning connected with Parker Livingstone on a 32-yard touchdown.

The Longhorns defense forced a three-and-out, giving Texas a chance to tie.

After an entertaining Week 0 appetizer and a smattering of games Thursday and Friday, it’s time for Week 1 of the college football season to finally kick off. And the game to start off the first full Saturday of the season couldn’t be much better.

It’s the Texas Longhorns vs. the Ohio State Buckeyes. It’s the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the preseason AP poll facing off. It’s a College Football Playoff rematch and Arch Manning’s first major test as starter against the defending national champions.

Needless to say, it’s going to be good.

We’ll be keeping track of Texas-Ohio State — and any other notable happenings that might pop up — as the college football season returns. Here’s everything that’s going on across Week 1 in college football:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Just as it was the first time, Lee Corso’s final headgear pick was Brutus Buckeye.

Corso selected the third-ranked Buckeyes to beat top-ranked Texas on his final appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday.

He made the prediction on the 50-yard line at Ohio Stadium 16 minutes before kickoff, quite a change from the first time in 1996 when it was done in the parking lot outside the Horseshoe.

“To everyone who has been a part of the journey, thank you,” Corso said during the opening segment of Saturday’s show.

It was the 46th time Corso donned Brutus Buckeye’s head. Ohio State is 31-14 the previous occasions.

Coach Ryan Day gave Corso an Ohio State helmet with a buckeye leaf on it for each time he chose the Buckeyes. Day also gave Corso an additional sticker to put on in case he picked the Buckeyes.

An area restaurant also made an 85-pound cake of Brutus’ head.

Corso, who turned 90 on Aug. 7, has been a part of “GameDay” since its start in 1987 and has made pregame shows entertaining under a simple philosophy: “Football is just the vehicle. It’s entertainment, sweetheart.”

The three-hour show was a celebration of Corso more than a finale. Besides looking back at Corso’s career, the show analyzed Saturday’s key games and included an interview with Bill Belichick, who makes his debut with North Carolina on Monday night against TCU.

It was the 26th time “GameDay” was in Columbus. It was outside Ohio Stadium on Oct. 5, 1996, where Corso’s popular headgear prediction segment began.

Corso donned Brutus Buckeye’s head before Ohio State faced Penn State, and the rest is history.

Corso has worn 69 schools’ mascot headgear and has dressed up as Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish leprechaun, the Stanford tree, and Founding Fathers James Madison and Benjamin Franklin.

He has a 66.5% winning rate on his headgear predictions (286-144), which is much better than his 73-85-6 mark in 15 years as a coach at Louisville, Indiana and Northern Illinois.

Besides ESPN, Fox Sports showed Corso’s pick.