Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin and Texas Longhorns signal-caller Arch Manning will have "all the eyes" on them when the No. 1 team in the country comes to Columbus as an underdog on Saturday.
ESPN's Jake Trotter put the two on the same pedestal in a feature piece about the Buckeyes' first-year quarterback.
"All eyes will be on Sayin and new Texas starting quarterback Arch Manning in the showdown at Ohio Stadium. It's a rematch of last year's College Football Playoff semifinal when both players watched from the sideline as Will Howard and Ohio State eliminated Quinn Ewers and Texas on the way to winning the national championship," Trotter wrote.
Trotter sounded skeptical of OSU's defense, which lost eight starters from the program's College Football Playoff National Championship roster. Both trenches are losing talent.
Inside Texas's Paul Wadlington believes it could mean a step back this season on both fronts, which might as well be a death knell to the team's repeat chances.
Urban Meyer believes onus is on Texas QB Arch Manning in Week 1
If you ask Urban Meyer, that spotlight isn't shared, and it's certainly not on Matt Patricia's unit -- despite taking the biggest loss in now-Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles.
“A player with that name and that background and the expectations put on him, he’s going to have to play great,” Meyer said on “The Triple Option” podcast. “And he’s picking a tough team to play great at, in a tough environment.
“If he struggles, mark this down, there’s gonna be a lot of pressure on that player, unfair pressure. Because he is a hell of a player. Is he going to win the Heisman? I mean, those are big, big questions asked.”
Good on the former title-winning coach for contributing to the psyche-out-Arch effort. Between Manning and Sayin, though, there are enough expectations for both of them to make this an early-season contender for game of the year.