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The two biggest CFB quarterback battles have been decided

A year removed from competing for a national championship, Ohio State and Notre Dame entered the preseason with undecided quarterback situations. Our Ryan Roberts outlined the highly anticipated battle between C.J. Carr and Kenny Minchey for Notre Dame. Additionally, our Brandon Little broke down the victory for Julian Sayin for Ohio State.

Ohio State’s case wasn’t exactly a surprise. His talent was evident since he transferred in from Alabama as a true freshman. While there was a declared competition between him and Lincoln Kienholz, it would’ve taken a catastrophe for Sayin not to start.

Unlike his predecessors, Sayin will not get a slow acclimation period against cupcake opponents. The first and biggest game of Week 1 features a matchup between Ohio State and Texas, where he’ll square off with Arch Manning.

Sayin’s supporting cast will have a lot of new faces as many key defensive members left for the NFL. It does help that he’ll have some talented targets in Carnell Tate, Brandon Innis, Max Klare, and, oh, some guy named Jeremiah Smith. The Buckeyes will face one of the best defenses in college football, so Sayin cannot start slow.

For Notre Dame, their situation came down to the wire. Minchey and Carr alternated for the lead until the highly touted Carr won the job. Many expected Minchey to win after the start he had to training camp, but a strong finish for Carr was enough for him to win out.

Similar to Sayin, Carr will immediately be thrown into the fire on the road against Miami. With this reignited rivalry, Notre Dame fans are praying they can start the season off with a win over the U. To Carr’s advantage, he has a bolstered wide receiver room that added Malachi Fields and Will Pauling this offseason. They also return Jaden Greathouse, who had a huge role in their national championship run.

Carr won’t have to do everything as he can lean on his superhero running back, Jeremiyah Love, and his sidekicks, Jadarian Price and Aneyas Williams. He also has an elite defense returning most of its key leaders at every position group.

All eyes will be on both young quarterbacks in their primetime matchups. If either has a shaky first start, it could derail the momentum needed for reaching the College Football Playoff.

“I have been told multiple times, by different people in the know, that Minchey was in fact the “winner” of spring. For some, they don’t want to hear that. Carr has been billed as the ‘Golden Child’ who can do no wrong. It’s inconceivable to think that Minchey, who wasn’t rated as high as a recruit, could possibly challenge Carr. The truth is that Minchey stepped up and gave Carr everything he could handle.” —Ryan Roberts

“Sayin brings a lightning-quick release rarely seen in Columbus. While he has a smaller frame, his arm talent jumps off the screen, and he’ll have no shortage of playmakers to make his life easier, most notably star wideout Jeremiah Smith.” —Brandon Little

Arch Manning’s latest comments cause a stir

s Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning going to declare for the 2026 NFL Draft or not? We all thought his grandfather Archie put that possibility to rest when he said he didn’t think it was a part of the plan.

Well, Arch decided to completely dispel that statement when speaking to the media this week. Our Zach Berry recapped the saga with Arch’s latest comments on the matter.

Initially, the ambiguity of Arch’s draft future was fun. It was an engaging point of conversation among friends, especially those desperate for their team to draft him. You could hear the craziest conspiracy theories from fans praying for him to declare. But now this is just annoying.

Understandably, Arch can’t control his grandfather from making a statement for him in an interview. But you’d think that Arch and his contingency of decision makers would all be on the same page for how they’d address this question.

Ultimately, I do not think Arch will declare for 2026, and I think he and his family love the attention it generates by leaving that door open. He’s arguably the biggest name in the sport, so any way he can create talking points is to his benefit. It does not make sense for him to have stayed at Texas for two seasons, only start one, and then leave. He could have transferred to any top program if he intended to get to the NFL as fast as possible. Additionally, Arch already makes so much through NIL that sticking around as long as possible is for the best.

If Arch lives up to the hype this season, the build-up to his decision will captivate the attention of football fans for weeks. Maybe he should do a LeBron-style interview to maximize the situation.

“We all know Manning is talented and has all the tools to eventually be an NFL quarterback. But would he be ready after the 2025 season? Most expect him to work through some growing pains this season while also showing signs of being an elite signal caller.” —Zach Berry

Best bet of Week 0

Kansas State -3.5 vs. Iowa State

It feels so amazing that betting on college football is finally back. It’s even better that we’re granted a chaotic Big 12 battle between Kansas State and Iowa State in Ireland.

For this matchup, I love taking Kansas State to cover because of the massive changes Iowa State’s offense endured this offseason. Cyclones quarterback Rocco Becht will be without his top two targets, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. This isn’t your typical wide receiver departure to the NFL; Becht is losing a tandem that produced over 2,300 yards combined in 2024. While Avery Johnson was erratic last season, I expect he’ll be able to create enough plays as a runner in this fist fight.

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