OTF Premium Tried and true football principle of utmost importance for Texas against Ohio State

[Jeff Howe]

For all of the talk regarding strategy, keys to victory and other games within the game that will determine a winner in Saturday’s blockbuster season opener between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State (11 a.m., Fox), Ryan Day’s response to a question during his Tuesday press conference reinforced what makes the difference when push comes to shove in a high-stakes battle.

“If we don’t stop the run and run the ball,” the Buckeyes’ coach said when asked about the importance of success in the trenches, “we’re not going to win the game.”

Under Steve Sarkisian, the Longhorns are 33-4 when winning the rushing yardage battle. Since the start of the 2021 season, Texas has held an opponent under 100 net rushing yards in 19 games, winning 18 of them (last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl is the only loss).

While using a variety of formations and pre-snap movements to create mismatches in the passing game separates Sarkisian’s offense from other attacks, it’s much more potent when the Longhorns can run the football.

If the defense remains stout against the run, the offense doesn’t need to pile up rushing yards to be successful (only four of the team’s 13 wins last season saw Texas rush for 200 or more yards). Still, the ground attack can’t falter the way it did in the Longhorns’ losses last season, three games in which Texas averaged a paltry 39.3 yards per game and a forgettable 1.4 yards per attempt.

When adjusting the yardage totals to exclude sacks, Texas still only rushed for 231 yards on 61 attempts in its losses. Averaging 77 yards per game and 3.4 yards per attempt didn’t cut the mustard for an offense that netted 186.3 rushing yards per game and ran the football at a 4.8-yard-per-game clip in 13 victories (even with a 30-carry, 53-yard outing in the Peach Bowl win over Arizona State counting toward the production).

The Longhorns failed to reach 30 official rushing attempts in last season’s losses, including the loss to the Buckeyes (58 yards on 29 carries). Still, a sack-adjusted 85-yard effort on 25 carries (3.4 yards per attempt) positioned Texas to reach the national championship game.

Such production (as long as the re-tooled offensive line can create enough room for C.J. Baxter, Quintrevion Wisner and the other running backs to operate, Sarkisian stays patient, content to let his offense work over the Ohio State defense with a series of body blows throughout the bout) can get it off on the right foot in the first step of the 2025 squad’s quest to ascend to the top of the mountain.

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[Jeff Howe]

The late Mike Leach made it popular to say that a quarterback can't go broke taking a profit. That's the mindset Texas needs when running the football against the Buckeyes. Build on the small gains and they're likely to have a bigger impact later in the game.

[Bobbers]

Ohio State has depth issues that will be exposed in the 3rd and 4th quarters I think.

I don't care if the weather is beautiful, their OL is going to get worn down by having a fresh set of legs (Texas has 7 quality DTs) in front of you for the entire game.  Also, their DL won't be able to rotate enough players.

I think Texas wins a game that is close until the end of the 3rd quarter.  Texas by 10.

[Rocky P]

8 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

The late Mike Leach made it popular to say that a quarterback can't go broke taking a profit. That's the mindset Texas needs when running the football against the Buckeyes. Build on the small gains and they're likely to have a bigger impact later in the game.

With OSU not having a lot of depth on their dline, we need to wear down the starters, that way the oline can really lean on them in the 4th quarter

[ArizonaLonghorn]

Did anyone else think the answer to this pop quiz was "Win the turnover battle"?

Edited 6 hours ago by ArizonaLonghorn

[CGG]

Sark needs to remain patient, rely on everything he has learned in the losses from the last few years, while staying aggressive and taking the deep shots.  I really enjoyed the show earlier in the week where Rod broke down the script plays from the two Bama games and the Michigan game the last three years. I am excited to see how the offense performs when the full Sark playbook can be unleashed.  Hopefully this game is similar to when Sark faced OSU in 2020.

[Quinncent McManning, Jr.]

I think a lot of this game hinges on whether we can get a north south run game with Baxter. We didn’t have that in the cotton bowl and it hurt us.  Hope Baxter still has the one cut and go ability. Moving the ball 4 to 5 yards on first down makes this offense deadly. Ohio state is thinking of the same thing with Peoples. 

[Chop]

1 hour ago, Rocky P said:

With OSU not having a lot of depth on their dline, we need to wear down the starters, that way the oline can really lean on them in the 4th quarter

I’ve heard/read every once in a while that starters on the top teams aren’t much better than the mid-pack or top 2/3rds teams. It’s the fact their backups and 3rd string are much much better that allows them to really get better and pull away usually

 

this is true here. Our depth should be much better than their depth allowing us to stay fresh and help 

[Here for the Wins]

I’d be curious to see any analysis that proves or even slightly substantiates that depth wins over the starters.

For example, the OSU had 10 starters on defense that logged 65% or more of their defensive snaps.  They undoubtedly had some missed time for injuries and most definitely some garbage time snaps.

Offensively, they have 7 guys.  That doesn’t includes Simmons and McLaughlin, lost to season ending injuries, or their replacements. Now, you have the TE and two highly drafted RBs who were not included.

I would wager that non-garbage time plays has little usage of backups.  Texas is a bit different and this year may prove differently.  Injuries are the largest factor in the depth chart coming into play, and beyond one or two guys going out it is very difficult to overcome multiple injuries.  Ohio State had two once the season started but were buoyed by tons of game experience.

[Helotes Longhorn]

When I was a kid, my oldest brother told me to watch the line of scrimmage for both teams first possession.  Whichever direction the line of scrimmage moves will tell you which team will likely win the game.  Hopefully our big guys will win that battle.  

[HookemChappy]

I haven't seen it happen often but a rotation of Stroh and Neto at the G spot could help wear that DLine down some. It would be nice to see some Duo and power.

[DanielOnorato]

3 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

The late Mike Leach made it popular to say that a quarterback can't go broke taking a profit. That's the mindset Texas needs when running the football against the Buckeyes. Build on the small gains and they're likely to have a bigger impact later in the game.

Tom Brady was elite at this. Allow your playmakers to work their magic while keeping the defense honest. Only get greedy if you absolutely have to but more often than not you're in good down and distance. One of the reasons I prefer Emmitt Smith over Barry Sanders. Keep the ball, if you can hit a homerun, take it but if you keep working a mismatch and have a point guard on Tim Duncan in the post...drop it to Tim Duncan in the post. Win.

[Here for the Wins]

1 hour ago, DanielOnorato said:

Tom Brady was elite at this. Allow your playmakers to work their magic while keeping the defense honest. Only get greedy if you absolutely have to but more often than not you're in good down and distance. One of the reasons I prefer Emmitt Smith over Barry Sanders. Keep the ball, if you can hit a homerun, take it but if you keep working a mismatch and have a point guard on Tim Duncan in the post...drop it to Tim Duncan in the post. Win.

Don’t drink too much.

Barry Sanders does not rush for a million yards at OSU and Detroit unless he knows how to hit the hole.

[DanielOnorato]

6 minutes ago, Here for the Wins said:

Don’t drink too much.

Barry Sanders does not rush for a million yards at OSU and Detroit unless he knows how to hit the hole.

Also had the most negative yardage rushing in nfl history if you combine his losses. Smith much better in red zone. 

Edited 1 hour ago by DanielOnorato

[Here for the Wins]

If people don’t block, you will lose yards occasionally.  You may even adjust your game by virtue of that.

[Jarveaux]

Great article Jeff . Hope you got to see Rod on the Paul Finebaum show. He represented OTF & Texas Longhorns well. 

[Beard N Balls Bundle]