Arch Manning and No. 1 Texas struggled to get anything going offensively in their Week 1 14-7 loss to No. 3 Ohio State. The Longhorns' offense scored just seven points and were just 1-for-5 on fourth down, while Manning completed 17-of-30 passes for 170 yards, one touchdown, and a back-breaking second-half interception.
The Buckeyes' defense, now led by long-time Patriots assistant Matt Patricia, dominated—reminding football fans again of the bearded genius with a pencil stuffed behind his ear, rather than the Bill Belichick disciple shoe-horned into calling offensive plays for Mac Jones.
On that note, during Monday morning's edition of ESPN's Get Up!, analyst Dan Orlovsky used the perfect analogy to describe what the new OSU defensive coordinator did to Manning, the Longhorns, and head coach Steve Sarkisian:
"Arch Manning and Sark got Bill Belichick-ed," he explained. "... Arch will not see another defense that is as sophisticated, as complicated, [and] as much as they change pre-snap to post-snap. I'm not telling America that Arch didn't have some misses. Of course he had some misses. Mechanically, he got worse as the game went on. [But] that game, in specific to Arch, went the way it did because of Matt Patricia for Ohio State, and that Ohio State secondary."
"Arch Manning and Sark got Bill Belichick-ed." 😯
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 1, 2025
—@danorlovsky7 on Texas' loss to Ohio State pic.twitter.com/tR75sVmYzE
It was quite the full-circle moment for Patricia, who for years helped New England draw up game plans to defend the likes of Peyton and Eli Manning, only to now have put their nephew into a tizzy.
Ohio State's journey to try and repeat as national champions will continue next Saturday with a home game against Grambling State at 3:30 p.m. ET.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Analyst Says Arch Manning, Texas Got 'Belichick-ed' By Ohio State, Matt Patricia.
