Arch Manning Details Texas Longhorns' Mentality Heading To Ohio State

Since Sarkisian took over in Austin in 2021, the Longhorns are 14-8 on the road, but that record doesn't tell the whole story. In his first season as the head coach, they were 1-5 when traveling to their opponent, but in the last two seasons, they are 10-1, with the only loss being a neutral-site game against Oklahoma.

The Longhorns have not lost an actual road game in two seasons under Sarkisian's direction, and Arch Manning understands that. The highly anticipated signal caller knows that no matter where his team is playing on the road, they will have a big target on their back. He knows opposing fan bases salivate at the thought of throwing the horns down when their team beats the Longhorns.

Yet, he says that doesn't affect him, or any of the other guys in the locker room. To them, they know the talent they have and what they are capable of. Arch understands it's him and his guys vs. the world, because in a hostile environment, the quickest way to take them out of the picture is to take a lead and silence them.

"Yea, it's a different mentality. It's us against the world when we're on the road, and I think the teams the previous years, I think Quinn [Ewers] did a really good job on the road. He had a ridiculous record on the road, so learning from him and the teams last year, to carry over to this year.".

For the Longhorns, though, playing challenging road games to begin the season isn't new. They played Ohio State's biggest rival, Michigan, in the second week last season, and they were returning as the defending national champions. So while this will be Arch's first time starting in one of those affairs, he knows what the atmosphere is like, and if past success is a measure of predictability for the Longhorns, they have to like their odds.