Texas hunts opener

The Longhorns enter the 2025 season ranked No 1 and frame the year as a hunt to pressure rivals.

Texas aims to be the hunter as opponents feel the heat

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas opens the 2025 season as the No 1 team in preseason polls, with a marquee test at Ohio State in Columbus on Saturday. Arch Manning, the redshirt sophomore quarterback, says Texas is flipping the narrative from hunted to hunter and uses a red dot metaphor to describe how opponents are targeted. The Longhorns have drawn on a John Wick style mentality since leaving the Big 12, embracing the hate and turning it into fuel.

"We are going for everyone else," Manning said. Quintrevion Wisner, a central energy driver for the offense, says the team remains motivated by a mix of high expectations and lingering doubt from outsiders. He notes that turning that doubt into belief helps the program and its brothers. Colin Simmons offered only a brief, simple statement when asked about the mood around the team.

The mindset is a deliberate strategic choice. Framing opponents as the ones under pressure can lift a program’s confidence while keeping the spotlight on the opposition. If the approach translates to on-field performance, Texas could leverage the psychological edge for a challenging schedule. Yet the mindset also raises the stakes: a No 1 preseason tag traps the team in the glare of scrutiny and potential backlash if results lag behind hype. The opening game against Ohio State serves as a tough test of whether talk and symbolism can convert into consistent play over a long season.

Highlights

A season will reveal whether mindset and numbers align on the field.