The rosters that take the field for Saturday’s Ohio State vs. Texas game at Ohio Stadium will look very different than the ones that faced off in the Cotton Bowl in January.
Ohio State had 14 players selected in the 2025 NFL draft. Texas had 12. Most of the starters from last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal between the Buckeyes and Longhorns are now playing professionally – and yet, Ohio State and Texas still have two of the most talented rosters in the country, ranking third (Ohio State) and fourth (Texas) respectively in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite, which ranks teams based on the composite recruiting rankings of the players on their rosters.
How do they stack up against one another? Today at Eleven Warriors, we’re comparing their rosters side-by-side at each position group for a look at where each team could have advantages over the other in Saturday’s top-three matchup at the Shoe.
Given that it is the first game of the year for both teams and that so many of their stars from last season are gone, this exercise requires a good amount of projection as to how good each team will be at each position this season. In determining which team could have the edge at each position, I gave more weight to proven production than unproven hype – though the margins are slim between the teams at most positions.
Below, we analyze how the two teams compare at every position group on offense and defense, as well as on special teams, then put together what a composite starting lineup could look like if the two rosters were combined before offering some overall analysis on what this could all mean on Saturday.
Quarterback
Projected Starters
Ohio State – Julian Sayin
Texas – Arch Manning
We’ll start with Saturday’s most high-profile matchup of individual players, one that features the top-ranked quarterbacks from both the 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes. No. 1 overall 2023 prospect Arch Manning enters his first full season as Texas’ starting quarterback while No. 6 overall 2024 prospect Julian Sayin will make his first career start.
While Manning has already been anointed by some as college football’s next superstar, that’s based more on his recruiting pedigree and his last name than anything else right now. He performed well while filling in for an injured Quinn Ewers in two starts last season, completing 41 of 60 passing attempts for 583 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions in wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State, but Saturday will be his first time playing a full game against a marquee opponent.
Still, Manning certainly has more experience than Sayin, who appeared in just four games last season with all of those appearances coming late in blowout wins as Ohio State’s third-string quarterback. Manning has also been Texas’ clear-cut starting quarterback all offseason, whereas Sayin spent most of the offseason battling Lincoln Kienholz to be the Buckeyes’ starter.
Both quarterbacks are gifted passers with massive upside, and either or both of them could end up ranking among college football’s elite QBs this season. Given that Manning has been at Texas for two years and has already played with the game on the line whereas Sayin has no comparable experience to what he’ll face on Saturday, however, Texas enters the season opener with the higher floor at quarterback.
Advantage: Texas
Running Back
Projected Starters
Ohio State – James Peoples
Texas – Quintrevion Wisner
Both Ohio State and Texas have deep stables at running back, but neither of them enters 2025 with the same kind of star power the Buckeyes had with TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins last season.
Big things are expected from Texas native James Peoples entering his sophomore season at Ohio State, but like Sayin, he’s unproven after playing only in blowouts last year. CJ Donaldson brings a track record of production from West Virginia, having rushed for 2,058 yards and 30 touchdowns over three seasons there, but it’s still to be seen whether he can become a game-changer in Ohio State’s offense.
Texas has the most proven RB on either team in Quintrevion Wisner, who rushed for 1,064 yards and five touchdowns last season. The Longhorns will also be buoyed by the return of CJ Baxter, who ran for 659 yards and four touchdowns in 2023 before missing all of last season with a knee injury. Jerrick Gibson, who ran for 377 yards and four touchdowns on 78 carries as a freshman last year, gives the Longhorns another weapon out of the backfield with big-game experience.
Like at quarterback, a valid argument could be made for either side here, especially when factoring in the potential immediate contributions of freshman Bo Jackson for Ohio State. But the returning experience the Longhorns have from Wisner, Baxter and Gibson gives them the slight edge.
Advantage: Texas
Wide Receiver
Projected Starters
Ohio State – Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss
Texas – Ryan Wingo, DeAndre Moore Jr., Parker Livingstone
Ohio State has Jeremiah Smith and Texas doesn’t. Need I say more?
Perhaps I do, given that Smith had only one catch for three yards in the Cotton Bowl. But he’s still the best wide receiver if not the best overall player in all of college football. And Ohio State has plenty of other weapons at wide receiver, led by another returning starter in Carnell Tate and a potential breakout star in slot receiver Brandon Inniss, who can burn Texas’ secondary if they devote all of their attention to covering Smith.
Ohio State will have the two best receivers on the field in Smith and Tate, and it could arguably have the three or four best when factoring in the potential of Inniss and Mylan Graham.
Wingo (29 catches for 472 yards and two touchdowns last season) and Moore (39 catches for 456 yards and seven touchdowns) give Texas a talented one-two punch, with Wingo projected to be the star of their receiving corps as he moves into a full-time starting role as a sophomore, but they have just one other returning receiver (Ryan Niblett, three catches for 24 yards) who caught a pass last season.
Ohio State’s receiving corps beats Texas’ wideout roster on both top-end talent and depth, and it gives the Buckeyes the biggest advantage either team will have when comparing position groups against each other.
Advantage: Ohio State
Tight End
Projected Starters
Ohio State – Max Klare
Texas – Jack Endries
Ohio State didn’t often win the tight end category when we put together these comparisons for big games last season. That’s going to change in a big way this season.
The addition of Max Klare to a tight end room that also returns several quality veterans in Will Kacmarek, Bennett Christian and Jelani Thurman gives Ohio State arguably the best and deepest TE unit in the country.
Texas also made a push for Klare in the transfer portal this offseason, and was at one point viewed as the favorite to land the Purdue transfer before he committed to Ohio State. The Longhorns found another productive receiving tight end this spring after missing out on Klare by landing Jack Endries, who had 56 catches for 623 yards and two touchdowns at California last season.
That said, Klare is arguably the top receiving tight end in the nation, and the Buckeyes have far more proven depth behind Klare than the Longhorns do in their tight end unit, with Kacmarek being the best blocking tight end on either side.
Advantage: Ohio State
Offensive Line
Projected Starters
Ohio State – Austin Siereveld, Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinzman, Tegra Tshabola, Phillip Daniels
Texas – Trevor Goosby, Neto Umeozulu, Cole Hutson, DJ Campbell, Brandon Baker
Both Ohio State and Texas return only one full-time starter on their offensive line from last season, but the Buckeyes have the advantage of bringing back more linemen who played major roles in the CFP.
Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinzman and Tegra Tshabola reprise their roles as the left guard, center and right guard who helped lead Ohio State to a national championship last season after Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin went down with season-ending injuries. Austin Siereveld is unproven at left tackle after rotating in at guard last season, but expectations are high for the third-year Buckeye after he wowed his coaches and teammates this offseason. Daniels finished last year as Minnesota’s starting right tackle and seems to have performed well enough in preseason camp to beat out Ethan Onianwa, a three-year starter at Rice who will give the Buckeyes a highly experienced sixth man if he doesn’t start.
Campbell is the only consistent starter from last season who returns on Texas’ offensive line, and he split snaps at right guard in the CFP with Hutson, who will be playing center for the first time in his collegiate career on Saturday. Goosby is the most proven projected starter at tackle for either team, having played 312 snaps on the edge last season and allowed zero sacks, but Umeozulu and Baker will both be making their first career starts against the Buckeyes.
A majority of Ohio State’s starting offensive linemen have already proven they can excel as a cohesive unit in big games, and that gives the Buckeyes more certainty about what their offense has up front than what the Longhorns can have entering a major road test to start the season.
Advantage: Ohio State
Defensive End/Edge
Projected Starters
Texas – Colin Simmons, Ethan Burke
Ohio State – Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Caden Curry
Texas’ defense is led by one of college football’s elite edge rushers in Colin Simmons, who led the Longhorns with nine sacks as a true freshman and controversially beat out Jeremiah Smith for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award. They also return another experienced veteran defensive end in Ethan Burke, who’s recorded 68 tackles with 18 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks over the past two seasons.
Ohio State, on the other hand, is replacing its top two defensive ends from last season in JT Tuimoloau and Cotton Bowl hero Jack Sawyer. Kenyatta Jackson Jr. is expected to be a breakout star on the edge of Ohio State’s defensive line this season, while Caden Curry, Beau Atkinson, C.J. Hicks and Logan George give the Buckeyes a deep group of complementary defensive ends that should enable Ohio State to successfully replace last year’s stars at the position.
Still, Simmons stands out as the top edge defender in this matchup, with Burke also being a more proven commodity than any Ohio State defensive end. The Buckeyes look deeper on the edge than the Longhorns, but Simmons has the most potential of any defensive lineman to take over Saturday’s game, particularly in the pass rush.
Advantage: Texas
Colin Simmons leads a Texas defensive line with more proven stars than Ohio State. (Photo: Jerome Miron – Imagn Images)
Defensive Tackle
Projected Starters
Ohio State – Kayden McDonald, Eddrick Houston
Texas – Cole Brevard, Maraad Watson
Ohio State and Texas both needed reinforcements at defensive tackle this offseason. The Buckeyes didn’t add any defensive tackles in the transfer portal; the Longhorns added five.
The Longhorns had a greater need to add starting-caliber defensive tackles, as Eddrick Houston and Kayden McDonald are both expected to be standouts on Ohio State’s interior defensive line. Each of them will be making their first career start on Saturday, however, and the Buckeyes have no proven depth at defensive tackle behind them, though Will Smith Jr. has emerged as a top backup.
Texas has a more proven tandem to lead its defensive tackle depth chart in Purdue transfer Cole Brevard and Syracuse transfer Maraad Watson, who Ohio State also pursued during the post-spring transfer window before he signed with Texas. They also bolstered their depth by adding North Carolina transfer Travis Shaw and Ohio State transfer Hero Kanu, who would be on the Buckeyes’ two-deep if he stayed in Columbus and is expected to be a factor in the Longhorns’ DT rotation off the bench.
It’s certainly possible that McDonald and Houston could prove to be the two best defensive tackles between these two teams this season, but the Longhorns have two DTs who have already proven themselves to be high-level starters in the Power 4 and more proven depth behind them, leaving far fewer questions about their interior defensive line entering the season.
Advantage: Texas
Linebacker
Projected Starters
Ohio State – Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese
Texas – Anthony Hill Jr., Liona Lefau
It wouldn’t be surprising if Ohio State and Texas end up having the two best linebacker units in college football this season, making this a true battle of strength vs. strength.
Sonny Styles is expected to be one of the nation’s top LBs in his second year playing the position after blossoming in the back half of last season. Arvell Reese is just as freaky of an athlete as Styles and looks poised to be a star at middle linebacker, while Texas native Payton Pierce is also expected to be an asset for the Ohio State defense as its No. 3 linebacker.
But Texas enters 2025 with the best linebacker in college football, Anthony Hill Jr., who was already a second-team All-American last season. Liona Lefau also returns as a productive starter from last year’s defense, while Trey Moore – a converted edge rusher who had 9.5 tackles for loss last season – could also be a weapon for the Longhorns as their No. 3 linebacker, particularly as a blitzer.
With a superstar in Hill and more proven veterans filling out the unit alongside him, Texas gets the nod at linebacker even though it could also be one of Ohio State’s top position groups.
Advantage: Texas
Cornerback
Projected Starters
Ohio State – Davison Igbinosun, Jermaine Mathews Jr., Lorenzo Styles Jr.
Texas – Malik Muhammad, Jaylon Guilbeau, Jelani McDonald
Both Ohio State and Texas are replacing their No. 1 cornerbacks from last season, with the Longhorns replacing a Jim Thorpe Award winner in Jahdae Barron. But both return their No. 2 cornerbacks from last season along with other experienced veterans around them.
Davison Igbinosun enters his third year starting in Ohio State’s secondary and Jermaine Mathews Jr. has enough experience to almost be a returning starter, especially considering he played 47 snaps in last year’s Cotton Bowl (on which he allowed just four catches for seven yards) after Denzel Burke suffered a shoulder injury. Lorenzo Styles Jr. is less proven as Ohio State’s new starting nickelback, but the Buckeyes have strong depth at cornerback, led by a pair of five-star recruits in sophomore Aaron Scott Jr. and freshman Devin Sanchez (another Texas native).
Malik Muhammad, Jaylon Guilbeau and Jelani McDonald all played substantial roles for an excellent Texas pass defense last season, giving the Longhorns a strong trio of veteran cornerbacks they can rely on. Guilbeau played primarily in the slot last season and is moving to outside cornerback this year, but his 691 snaps of experience should help him make that transition.
This matchup may be the biggest coin flip of any position group, as both teams have experienced veterans leading the way who helped Ohio State and Texas have two of the nation’s best pass defenses last year. But with Texas losing its biggest star in Barron and Mathews looking ready to be a star in Ohio State’s secondary this year, I’m giving the ever-so-slight edge to the Buckeyes at CB.
Advantage: Ohio State
Safety
Projected Starters
Ohio State – Caleb Downs, Jaylen McClain
Texas – Michael Taaffe, Derek Williams Jr.
Ohio State vs. Texas will feature two of the best safeties in the country, as Caleb Downs and Michael Taaffe were both selected as first-team preseason All-Americans by the Associated Press.
There are levels to that game, though. Taaffe is an excellent leader for the Texas secondary who recorded 78 tackles, 10 pass breakups and two interceptions for the Longhorns last season. But Downs – who made the game-sealing interception in last year’s Cotton Bowl – is the best defensive player in all of college football, having already earned unanimous All-American honors last season.
Both teams will be relying on an unproven second safety as Ohio State replaces Lathan Ransom and Texas replaces Andrew Mukuba. Derek Williams Jr. has a bit more experience than either Jaylen McClain or Malik Hartford, who are both expected to see playing time at safety for Ohio State, as Williams played 397 snaps off the bench in 2023 before missing most of last season due to injury. But McClain and Hartford have both shown promise when they’ve been called upon over the past two seasons, and expectations are high for both of them entering 2025.
Downs’ presence can go a long way toward making up for Ohio State’s inexperience around him at safety, and as such, the superstar in the middle of the Buckeyes’ defense gives them the overall advantage in the secondary.
Advantage: Ohio State
Special Teams
Projected Starters
Ohio State – K Jayden Fielding, P Joe McGuire
Texas – K Mason Shipley, P Jack Bouwmeester
Ohio State has returning starters at both kicker and punter in Jayden Fielding and Joe McGuire, but both of them still have plenty to prove as their 2024 seasons were a mixed bag. Texas’ transfer additions at kicker and punter, on the other hand, have both already been among the best in the country at their respective positions.
Mason Shipley has made 31 of 35 field goal attempts in his college career and made a 60-yard field goal last season, 13 yards longer than Fielding’s career-long field goal. Jack Bouwmeester ranked in the top 20 nationally in punting average in each of the last two seasons at Utah, averaging nearly three yards more per punt (44.7 to 42.1) than McGuire did last season.
Ohio State’s special teams shouldn’t be a weakness this season, but it still has to prove it can be a strength. Texas looks like it could have one of the nation’s top kicker-punter duos if Shipley and Bouwmeester perform as well as they did at their previous stops.
Advantage: Texas
Composite Starting Lineup
| Pos | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| OFFENSE | ||
| QB | ARCH MANNING | TEXAS |
| RB | QUINTREVION WISNER | TEXAS |
| WR | JEREMIAH SMITH | OHIO STATE |
| WR | CARNELL TATE | OHIO STATE |
| WR | RYAN WINGO | TEXAS |
| TE | MAX KLARE | OHIO STATE |
| LT | TREVOR GOOSBY | TEXAS |
| LG | LUKE MONTGOMERY | OHIO STATE |
| C | CARSON HINZMAN | OHIO STATE |
| RG | DJ CAMPBELL | TEXAS |
| RT | AUSTIN SIEREVELD | OHIO STATE |
| DEFENSE | ||
| DE | COLIN SIMMONS | TEXAS |
| DE | ETHAN BURKE | TEXAS |
| DT | MARAAD WATSON | TEXAS |
| DT | COLE BREVARD | TEXAS |
| LB | ANTHONY HILL JR. | TEXAS |
| LB | SONNY STYLES | OHIO STATE |
| CB | DAVISON IGBINOSUN | OHIO STATE |
| CB | MALIK MUHAMMAD | TEXAS |
| CB | JERMAINE MATHEWS JR. | OHIO STATE |
| S | CALEB DOWNS | OHIO STATE |
| S | MICHAEL TAAFFE | TEXAS |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||
| K | MASON SHIPLEY | TEXAS |
| P | JACK BOUWMEESTER | TEXAS |
Overall, Texas has a few more players who are already proven in starting roles than Ohio State, giving the Longhorns more players in the composite starting lineup than the Buckeyes. Their most pronounced advantage could be on the defensive line, where Ohio State has no returning starters, though the Buckeyes have plenty of talented players hungry to prove themselves in the defensive trenches.
Ohio State’s biggest advantage is the fact that it has Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs, the two best players on either team. But Texas has plenty of star power, too, especially on defense with the likes of Colin Simmons, Anthony Hill Jr. and Michael Taaffe.
The Buckeyes have more dynamic pass-catching playmakers and a more experienced offensive line, and Ohio State will need to capitalize on those advantages against Texas’ talented defense. Those advantages could help Julian Sayin overcome his inexperience in the all-important matchup of highly touted quarterbacks that will be pivotal to the game’s outcome.
On paper, the position matchups suggest that Texas could have a slight advantage over Ohio State in Saturday’s season opener. But the Buckeyes will aim to mitigate that advantage with their star power, big-game experience, and a home crowd of 105,000-plus behind them.
