Kirk Herbstreit knows how big of a marquee game it’ll be when the Texas Longhorns pay a visit to Columbus to play the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Longhorns are led by one of the most-hyped college football players of all time in Arch Manning, who comes from the legendary Manning family. Texas has been a national championship contender in recent years, reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals in each of the past two seasons. Furthermore, they’re considered the title favorites this year, according to betting odds.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes are the defending national champions and are one of the top favorites to win the national championship. They’ll feature a new starting quarterback this time around with Will Howard entering the NFL. The projected starter is Julian Sayin, a 19-year-old sophomore who has just 12 passing attempts to his name.
While the pressure is on for both programs entering the big game, Herbstreit believes it’s Manning — which means its the Longhorns — who faces the most pressure due to heightened expectations for the 21-year-old redshirt sophomore. Manning is the projected favorite to win the Heisman Trophy this season.
“To answer your question about pressure, you have the defending national champs that are always under pressure, especially at home,” Herbstreit told The Escapist in an exclusive interview. “You have Texas coming in with Steve Sarkisian and with Arch Manning. I don’t think it’s a lose-the-game, you’re-out-of-the-playoff kind of game. So I don’t know if it’s that kind of pressure, but I think just the expectations on Arch Manning, he probably has the most pressure.”
Herbstreit: Arch Manning Will Be Judged After Opener
Herbstreit, a Buckeyes alum and former starting quarterback of the program, mentions how everyone is going to make a judgment on Manning due to his last name
“Because of that last name, you can only protect him for so long,” Herbstreit said. “Now he’s going to go out there, and everyone is going to make a judgment on how he plays in that game. Not that he can’t correct it the next week or later in the year, but there’s going to be some strong social media opinions on what they see from Arch based on how he plays in that game Week 1.”
While Herbstreit is best known for his work as a color commentator for ESPN and ABC’s coverage of college football, he’s also dipped into commentating for the NFL. The 55-year-old is the color commentator for Amazon’s NFL on Prime coverage for Thursday night games.
Although the Cleveland Browns aren’t slated on the schedule this season, they’re one of the more intriguing teams in the NFL due to the Shedeur Sanders situation. Sanders was a projected top first-round draft pick this year only to fall all the way down to the fifth round.
Herbstreit: ‘Someone’s Going To Get Cut’ In Browns Quarterback Room
The Browns actually selected Dillon Gabriel — who was picked in the third round — ahead of Sanders and they feature veteran quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett on the roster. That’s not including the injured Deshaun Watson, who still hasn’t recovered from an Achilles injury. He’s expected to miss the entire 2025 season.
Herbstreit — an Ohio native — expects the Browns to go with Flacco as the starter, with Sanders in a backup, “developmental” role.
“My guess would be that they got to go with a veteran, with Joe Flacco, would be my guess,” says Herbstreit. “Camp hasn’t even started, and one thing I read, he (Sanders) looks like he should start. The next thing is, he’s only playing with the younger guys, and he’s still in a developmental role. That’s pretty common for a (draft) pick. It takes time to make that adjustment. My guess would be he makes the team, but he’s more in a developmental role.”
It was only two years ago that Flacco led the Browns to the playoffs as the Comeback Player of the Year. However, the 40-year-old veteran spent last season with the Indianapolis Colts and went 2-4 as their starting quarterback for several games.
If neither Sanders, Gabriel or Pickett proves to be capable of being the starter, Cleveland likely turns back to Flacco to being its starting quarterback. Herbstreit expects Sanders to make it on the 53-man roster despite the team currently carrying four quarterbacks.
“If you take Deshaun away, you still have four (quarterbacks),” says Herbstreit. “Most teams keep three. Someone’s going to get cut and I think it’s going to be based on how things go in camp. If we’re betting on what we think Shedeur will do, my bet is he makes the team, but he’s in a backup role.
“If I’m the Browns, you got to go with a guy like Flacco, just because two years ago, he was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year because of what he did in Cleveland. You hang your hat on him and hope he can stay healthy for most of the year.”
Herbstreit has been a staple on the NCAA Football video games since NCAA Football 04. He made a return as one of the voices of the game with the series’ return last year.
“Joey Galloway, a buddy of mine (a fellow Ohio State alum), we played that video game, Bill Walsh College Football, years and years ago,” says Herbstreit. “It was called Bill Walsh College Football, and that was my senior year when we were playing it. We played it all the way through, and then when I was all of a sudden on the game, because he and I would play for hours, it was quite a thrill. I’m calling all these games in real life, and now I’m on the video game. I was like, ‘Man, I’ve officially made it, being on this video game.’ This is like back in, ’05, ’06, somewhere back there.”
The Emmy-award winning Herbstreit details how “excited” he was that the game returned last year. NCAA Football 25 returned with immediate success and fanfare, becoming the best-selling sports game in the United States in history.
“And then when it went away, it was such a bummer, because I was not only doing the voice work, but I was a consumer,” says Herbstreit. “I played it, and I thought it was gone for good. Then when it decided to come back, and they allowed it back, I was obviously very excited to be part of it again, and the game is at a whole different level now. With technology and the voice work we did, we worked very hard on, I know it was a thrill last year.”
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