The Way to Beat Texas??????

[GetHooked]

A premise was advanced on another Texas site about an idea that Patricia might use to stop Texas.

I was actually thinking that we were going to handily take care of business in Columbus.  Now I'm not as confident.

1) We have a new O-Line.  We are a little banged up at Tackle.

2) We have a new QB that likes to throw downfield.

3) At least last year, our running game kindof stalled against tough defenses.

If Ohio State played 3 down and dropped 8, (Iowa State flyover) and forced Texas to beat them running the ball, could we do it?

Ohio State has better athletes.  It might work.  What do y'all think?

[BevoTenn25]

Ahh I wouldn't dive too deep in it. Their schemes and players are good, so are ours. Pretty evenly distributed sets of concerns for both teams. Hopefully we just flat out execute them. 

[TexasMDcoach]

"Better athletes"?  Overall I think both teams are very athletic some better than others depending on position group.  I think we will be able to run the ball if they sell out to that alignment.  We also have a mobile QB and so they will be prone to the scramble if they commit everyone to pass defense, unlike last year.  I think we will be OK.  

[HookemTexas]

Last year Texas was down to pretty much 2 RBs and a QB that didn't have the skillset to run.  This year, Texas has it's full stable of backs along with a QB that will take off and is pretty fast at that.  Go ahead and play a 3 front and get gashed.  If the O-line can't create holes against a 3 man front, Texas is in worse shape than what we've been sold.

[Quinncent McManning, Jr.]

I had been thinking about a what could go wrong thread.. essentially my thoughts were similar to what you mentioned. Arch is still experienced and it is simply unreasonable to expect him to play like a seasoned veteran like what Peyton and Eli were in their senior years.  He will likely turn the ball over. The OL is clearly vulnerable given lack of time to gel. The run game could falter if we can’t run inside with wisner and Baxter can’t produce enough agility to make the first guy miss.  Oh and we need to figure out a way to corral the best receiver in college football again.. this time without the Thorpe award winner. 
 

my hope is that we can pressure sayin enough to not allow the receivers to break free and stop the run with out experienced and fresh tackles.  I feel good that we will have success but there are too many offensive questions for me to think we are scoring a lot of points in this game. 

[GetHooked]

22 minutes ago, TexasMDcoach said:

"Better athletes"?  Overall I think both teams are very athletic some better than others depending on position group.  I think we will be able to run the ball if they sell out to that alignment.  We also have a mobile QB and so they will be prone to the scramble if they commit everyone to pass defense, unlike last year.  I think we will be OK.  

I was very unclear.  What I was trying to say was that Ohio State has better athletes than IOWA STATE.  It might make the scheme work better.  I'm not sure there's a team in college football that can out-athlete Texas. 

[Ironmanz35]

The game will come down to which QB does not make mistakes.

Sayin has zero collegiate experience to speak of.  His talent is undeniable, he has the weapons around him but what will that translate to on the field and how long of a leash does he get?

Arch has some experience but looking at the numbers he did not face any noteworthy defenses.  Arch's running ability is an X-factor but he has never seen a D or hostile environment like the shoe, if his line can keep him clean long enough to make plays with his arm that will open up his opportunities to run.

ULM 51-3

15/29 258 yds,  2td 2 picks. They were the 84th Defense in D1 and the 9th defense in Sunbelt conference

 

Miss St-35-13 

26/31 325 yds,  2td/o picks.  Good game against but against 125th defense in D1

 

UTSA 56-7

9/12 223yds, 4TD/0 Picks. They were 71st Defense in D1

 

[LonghornFan4Ever]

Talent wise, these teams are about even.  Might give a slight edge to Ohio State as they, along with Alabama and Georgia, still have more talented rosters than Texas, but the gap is closing fast.  I predict Texas will have the most talented roster in the country a year from now.  Curious to see if the 247 Sports Team Talent Composite rankings agree with me.  The 2025 version of that should be coming out in the next week or so with the season getting started this Saturday.

But there's not a wide enough talent gap between these two teams for that to be the reason Texas wins or loses this game.  When you have two teams with equal talent, it comes down to which team makes more splash plays.  Ohio State made the two splash plays seven and a half months ago and that was the difference.  We'll see if Texas can return the favor and come out of the Shoe 1-0.

[Jeff Howe]

1 hour ago, GetHooked said:

 

If Ohio State played 3 down and dropped 8, (Iowa State flyover) and forced Texas to beat them running the ball, could we do it?

 

Yes, because the best way to beat the three-safety defense is to run the ball hard, fast and downhill. That's one thing this offensive line can do, even with Goosby out. That's assuming Baxter isn't on a pitch count.

[Ironmanz35]

7 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

Yes, because the best way to beat the three-safety defense is to run the ball hard, fast and downhill. That's one thing this offensive line can do, even with Goosby out. That's assuming Baxter isn't on a pitch count.

Ohio State is more likely to run 3-4 and run blitz backers based on down /distance/formation.  They will not be dropping 8 at any time, the DB's at most in a known passing situation they will go nickel coverage with a 3 man front and bring a LB off the edge to rush.