Early Storylines For Ohio State Leading Into The Texas Matchup

Week 1 is now wholly in the rearview. Both Ohio State and Texas took care of Group of 6 opponents to tune up for this top-five matchup of College Football Playoff contenders. While some folks are out there wondering if Oregon should ever play Boise State again because it was just too difficult, two of the largest brands, winningest programs, and most decorated teams will face off on campus, as the college football gods intended. How much can we take away from beating down Ball State and Texas State? Not much, but we sure can try!

Ohio State Storylines Leading Into The Texas Matchup

Offensive Line/Run Game Questions?

Last week, the only real concern in the 56-3 beatdown was the offensive line and the run game. Sure, Bo Jackson and Ja’Kobi Jackson finished with 83 yards and a touchdown each, but it wasn’t the most encouraging performance. When you remove the runs by non-running backs, Ohio State ran the ball 28 times for 230 yards and two touchdowns. That’s 8.21 yards per carry.

However, take away those two big runs and things look a bit worse. Subtracting touchdowns by both Jacksons, the stat line was 26 rushes for 116 yards and no touchdowns, good for just 4.46 yards per carry. Bo Jackson had one run for 11 yards, but the rest were four, four, two, one, negative two, negative one, and negative one yards. Ja’Kobi Jackson, however, was alright. Of his other seven rushing attempts, five went for at least five yards.

If Ohio State can get something going against Texas, it’ll be welcome. Texas State was able to outrush Texas 161-156, but it did run the ball five times more.

Overall, the offensive line is going to get a real test against Texas. That Longhorn defensive line is a bit better than Ball State’s; we are fairly confident in that assertion. Phillip Daniels hit the bench for a couple of series; will he be the go-to right tackle again, or will there be more lineup jumbling?

Julian Sayin vs. Texas Round Two

When these two teams faced off last year, Julian Sayin had his “worst” game in his young career. We put quotations around worst because the training wheels are still firmly on the young quarterback in Week 1 of his first season as starting quarterback, resulting in just 20 passing attempts. Of course, a few of those incompletions were drops, so grain of salt.

The Texas defense was solid last year and held Sayin to just 126 yards, the second-fewest total allowed by the Longhorns all year (and the fewest against Power 4 teams). That was also with the help of aggressive game planning against the Buckeyes’ star receiver and Thorpe Award finalist, Jahdae Barron.

This year, it should be a bit different. On one hand, Ohio State will have an offensive coordinator not heading into his first career game calling plays. On the other, Sayin has a full Heisman Trophy Finalist season under his belt.

There will be no training wheels. Every broke Texas’ way last year. Sayin was in his first start, thus the conservative approach. Brian Hartline was calling his first game, hence the slow, run-first offense. Also, Ohio State did not play its best running back in that game.

Ohio State took the ball out of Sayin’s hands last year. This year, it should trust the offense to the returning star.

Striking The Pose

Speaking of star power, Jeremiah Smith is looking to make a real difference against Texas. In his first matchup in the Cotton Bowl, Smith was held to one catch for three yards. Last year, that number rose to six catches for 43 yards.

While Ohio State doesn’t have to force-feed Smith as other Heisman Trophy-contending receivers may need, it wouldn’t hurt. Maybe he can get a one-on-one matchup with a linebacker as we saw in a game out west last week.

Regardless, he put up 43 yards while the training wheels were on Sayin. This year, Arthur Smith has said he plans on making sure Smith gets the ball in as many ways as possible.

He made good on that promise against Ball State with eight receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Once halftime hit, Ryan Day spoke with Smith and asked if it was cool if they sat him down. Smith responded, “Whatever you guys wanna do, I trust you. Let’s just go beat Texas next week.”

Smith doesn’t need to stat-pad against lesser opponents; he’s locked in on bringing Ohio State another championship.

Force The Issue

Okay, enough about the offense. The rebuilt defense under Matt Patricia was great again against Ball State. In total, the Cardinals only managed 165 yards of total offense. Of those, 96 came in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand. The Buckeye defense forced five three-and-outs (all in the second half), and only conceded any points because Ball State’s kicker has a bazooka for a leg.

Ohio State wasn’t the only contender with a frustrating performance from its offensive line and run game in Week 1. Texas ran the ball 36 times for 156 yards with three touchdowns. Arch Manning and Karle Lacey Jr. accounted for just nine of those yards, which might just be Texas preserving some Manning-designed runs for Week 2.

Either way, only getting 147 yards from your running backs against Texas State isn’t ideal.

Can Ohio State force Texas to be one-dimensional? Of course, Manning is nowhere near what he was in the matchup from last year. Against Texas State, Manning went 20/27 passing for 305 yards and four scores with one interception. “Forcing” Texas to win through the air could just be playing into its strengths. The duo Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman is one of the best in the nation, on par with Smith and Devin McCuin.

This is going to be a game that Devin Sanchez and the rest of the secondary have to be ready for.

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