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    Jeff Howe
    It didn’t matter if it was by one point or 100.
    It doesn’t matter that it took a horrendous, miserable first half to set up the program’s biggest comeback win since 2007.
    It doesn’t matter that Texas still has to navigate a brutal SEC schedule before thinking about returning to the College Football Playoff.
    The Longhorns needed Saturday’s 24-23 win over No. 1 Ohio State in the worst way.
    To get the scarlet-and-gray monkey off their back
    For Steve Sarkisian, who’s won four of his last five games against top-10 opponents, to change the narrative about him in big games.
    For Arch Manning, who’s yet to lose a start at home, to prove that he’s not the same quarterback who looked miles away from being a franchise player in Columbus last season.
    For Texas to prove that it's ready to kick in the door to national championship contender status after knocking on it in 2023 and 2024.
    The Longhorns overcame a 23-3 third-quarter deficit to win, scoring the game’s last 21 points. After stumbling, fumbling and falling over itself in the first half, Texas flipped the script in the second half, outgaining Ohio State by 107 yards (239-132), winning the battle on the ground (103-46) and executing critical situations at an elite level (5-for-9 on third down, 2-for-2 on fourth down and 3-for-3 in the red zone with three touchdowns).
    Sarkisian and the Longhorns have a lot to fix. That work can start on Sunday.
    Playing the Buckeyes close wasn’t going to be good enough. Texas made the plays it needed to make to position itself for an epic comeback.
    And now that it’s done, the Longhorns cleared a huge hurdle toward grabbing the next rung in college football’s hierarchy.
    ***
    Kade Phillips and Cam Coleman deserve huge kudos for the comeback.
    Phillips recovered a punt that bounced off Ryan Niblett’s face mask in the third quarter. With a 23-3 lead, an Ohio State recovery deep in would’ve paved the way for a Buckeye rout.
    On the offense’s ensuing possession, Coleman pounced on an Emmett Mosley V fumble, which would’ve wiped out a third-and-9 conversion in the Ohio State red zone.
    The comeback wouldn’t have been possible without those two plays. The mistakes Texas made time and again in the first half gave way to timely clutch moments down the stretch.
    ***
    Colin Simmons made two game-changing plays in the second half that won’t show up in the box score.
    On third-and-4 from the Longhorns’ 27-yard line, Simmons pressured Julian Sayin, rushing a throw down the sideline intended for Jeremiah Smith (a well-defended play by Bo Mascoe) that fell incomplete.
    The next snap was Connor Hawkins’ 45-yard field goal that went wide left.
    On Ohio State’s last drive, Simmons forced a holding call (Austin Siereveld was in the game at right tackle after Phillip Daniels left earlier with an apparent injury), which put the Buckeyes 85 yards from the end zone with 17 seconds on the clock and no timeouts.
    ***
    The Texas offensive line came up big in the second half. Kyle Flood’s group reestablished the line of scrimmage in critical situations; two of the first downs the Longhorns gained on their game-winning drive were on the ground, which doesn’t include Hollywood Smothers going over the top for the winning score with 25 seconds left in regulation.
    ***
    Will Muschamp’s defense was up against in the first half. The offense’s inability to put together drives led to awful field position; 31 of Ohio State’s 37 first-half snaps (83.8 percent) were in Texas territory.
    With the Longhorns getting their act together on offense, the Buckeyes only ran 10 of their 26 second-half snaps (38.5 percent) on Texas’ side of the field. Texas winning the play differential in the second half played a big role in the Longhorns limiting Ohio State to 5.1 yards per play (6.5 in the first half) and a 1-for-6 mark on third down (5-for-8 in the first half).
    ***
    The All-22 film of Manning’s night will be picked apart in the coming week.
    Manning's first two and a half quarters were a worst-case scenario for any quarterback in a big game. When he wasn’t missing reads or open windows, Manning’s receivers let him down.
    With a comfortable lead, Matt Patricia dropped defenders into coverage to deny him deep shots. Thankfully, things changed on the Longhorns’ last three possessions and by the time he ripped a second-and-7 completion to Mosley for 19 yards down the Ohio State 1-yard line with 1:19 to play, he was locked in and dealing.
    Manning went 8-for-11 for 67 yards and a touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter (a 3-yard toss to Ryan Wingo). Manning's second half (16-for-23 for 136 yards) was much better than his first two quarters (7-for-14 for 60 yards and an interception).
    Manning's two most important completions came on fourth down: a fourth-and-6 scramble that resulted in a 9-yard completion to Emaree Winston en route to the first touchdown of the game and a 12-yard strike to Mosley on fourth-and-6 to keep a 13-play, 72-yard touchdown drive alive.
    Even though Smothers (21 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns) and Raleek Brown (54 yards on 10 carries) helped the offense grind out long drives in the second half, Manning wasn’t a bus driver on Saturday. In program history, only Colt McCoy (2006 over Texas Tech and 2007 over Oklahoma State) and Vince Young (2004 over Oklahoma State) quarterbacked Texas to bigger comeback wins than the one Manning engineered over the Buckeyes.
    It wasn’t always pretty, but Manning executed when it was do-or-die down the stretch, which is what the great ones do.
    ***
    It’s going to take a minute to process everything that happened on Saturday.
    What felt like another chapter in the ongoing saga of the Longhorns failing to deliver when sharing the stage with Ohio State instead became an epic comeback, capping an unforgettable week on the Forty Acres. Instead of another version of Texas’ previous losses to the Buckeyes or Georgia, the Longhorns went back into their bag from last year’s comeback win over Texas A&M.
    Down at halftime after a mostly listless first half against a top-five opponent, Texas dug deep and gutted out a victory the hard way.
    Thankfully, that’s the performance the Longhorns replicated.
    Jeff Howe
    It’s time to tackle “One Burning Question,” an On Texas Football in-season feature where we’ll examine a question facing the Texas Longhorns entering a game.
    On Sunday, we’ll revisit the question to see whether Steve Sarkisian’s team answered it successfully.
    This week, with No. 4 Texas hosting No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC), the question is:
    Can the Longhorns win the line-of-scrimmage battle against the Buckeyes?
    In the back-to-back losses the Longhorns have suffered at the hands of the Buckeyes, rushing yards have only told part of the story in the trenches.
    When Ohio State ended Texas’ 2024 season with a College Football Playoff semifinal win in the Cotton Bowl, the Buckeyes out-rushed the Longhorns by 23 yards, 81-58. Last season, Texas took advantage of Matt Patricia deploying more resources to defend Arch Manning and the passing game, racking up 166 yards on 37 attempts and leaving Columbus with a plus-89 edge on the ground in a loss.
    Rushing yardage isn’t the only way to determine which team wins in the trenches. Those other areas, unfortunately, have been problematic for the Longhorns against the Buckeyes.
    Fourth down, for instance, was a consequential down in the first two rounds of a college football blue-blood trilogy.
    The Buckeyes are 2-for-3 on fourth down in their last eight quarters against Texas. One of those conversions was an 18-yard run by Will Howard on fourth-and-2 in the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl, which kept a 13-play, 88-yard touchdown drive alive. The other came in last year’s game, when CJ Donaldson scored the first touchdown on a 1-yard run that capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive.
    The Longhorns, meanwhile, went 1-for-3 on fourth down in the Cotton Bowl, with one failed attempt resulting in Jack Sawyer’s game-clinching 83-yard scoop-and-score. Texas was 1-for-5 on fourth down in last season’s loss, including a failed quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line, a fourth-quarter drive that stalled in the red zone and the offense’s last possession, which ended with Manning finding Jack Endries under duress two yards short of the line to gain on fourth-and-5 from midfield.
    Clearly, Ohio State’s pressure on Manning last season and Quinn Ewers in the Cotton Bowl significantly tipped the scales in the Buckeyes’ favor.
    The Longhorns pressured Howard on 11 of his 36 dropbacks (a 30.6 percent pressure rate, according to Pro Football Focus) in the CFP semifinal, resulting in an interception and two sacks. Ohio State turned the heat up a few more notches on Ewers, who was pressured on 20 of 44 dropbacks (45.5 percent pressure rate). Ewers was 6-for-15 throwing the football when pressured and was sacked four times. Texas only pressured Julian Sayin on five of his 20 dropbacks last season (the Buckeyes played with heavier personnel and designed a game plan that protected Sayin from making a potential game-changing mistake in his first start), with no negative plays to show for the few times the Longhorns moved the Heisman Trophy finalist off his spot. Manning was pressured on 41.2 percent of his dropbacks (14 of 34), and while his ability to get away from the rush resulted in only one Ohio State sack, a 5-for-10, 60-yard day with an interception meant Patricia’s defense did its job.
    Sarkisian's offseason changes to the roster and coaching staff weren’t just to get over the hump against the Buckeyes. Still, a quarterback with a full season as QB1 under his belt, a running back room with a new coach and an infusion of juice from the transfer portal, a revamped offensive line, the addition of a havoc defender the caliber of Rasheem Biles and Will Muschamp’s desire to dictate the terms of the game when sending in the defensive signals should make Texas more equipped to finish the job in the fourth quarter.
    Given the perimeter skill talent on the field and the quarterback play on both sides, the winner could be decided by whichever team can defend the run more often with a light box (six defenders or less).
    Both offensive play-callers (former Atlanta Falcons head coach and Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith calls the plays for Ryan Day's Ohio State offense) don’t mind using 12 personnel (two tight ends). Getting either offense to keep an extra tight end on the field is a win, with a capable running back or wide receiver relegated to spectator status on the sideline.
    The Longhorns have the tools to protect Manning, disrupt Sayin and control the running game well enough to win.
    We're roughly 24 hours away from seeing how it plays out and whether Texas can deliver a powerful statement that 2026 might indeed be different.
    Jeff Howe
    It’s time to determine "Who Has the Edge?," an On Texas Football in-season feature that looks at how the Texas Longhorns stack up with their opponent.
    The college football world will be fixated on the Forty Acres this week, with No. 4 Texas hosting No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC). With a slew of future NFL players littering the Longhorn and Buckeye rosters, the edges in the six categories were determined by the slimmest of margins.
    The game wasn’t decided until late in the fourth quarter the last two times Texas and Ohio State met on the field. Saturday’s tilt isn’t expected to be different.
    WHEN TEXAS RUNS THE FOOTBALL
    Matt Patricia’s decision to drop more defenders into coverage against Arch Manning in Columbus last season and Steve Sarkisian’s willingness to stick with the running game (37 rushing attempts were the third-most the Longhorns recorded in a game last season) played big roles in how well the Longhorns moved the ball on the ground against the Buckeyes.
    It was arguably the most consistent the Texas running game was in 2025. According to Pro Football Focus, Texas gained 55 yards on 15 A- and B-gap rushing attempts (3.7 yards per carry) against Ohio State last season.
    Patricia’s plan should focus on denying the Longhorns wide-zone runs, which tend to be Sarkisian’s go-to calls when the running game is clicking. Hollywood Smothers, Raleek Brown and the other Texas ball-carriers bouncing duo concepts to the outside should also be a point of emphasis for the Buckeyes.
    When that’s happened in the recent past, Sarkisian hasn’t had a counterpunch. To that end, expect the Longhorn running game to look a lot different schematically than the relatively bland plan of attack against Texas State, which produced inconsistent results.
    The Texas running backs had four of their combined 31 carries go for at least 10 years. Nine of those 31 carries were stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage. A combination of the running backs making more decisive cuts and blockers staying engaged longer (straining, as Sarkisian calls it) will go a long way toward the Longhorns achieving more ideal balance.
    The Buckeyes should feel confident stopping the run with a light box, with Eddrick Houston and John Walker leading the charge up front and Christian Alliegro and Payton Pierce cleaning things up behind them. Needless to say, forcing Ohio State to devote an extra defender to stopping the run (which is easier said than done, especially if Derrek Cooper can’t go after injuring his right ankle in the opener) will open things up for Manning in ways he didn’t have available to him inside the Horseshoe last season.
    EDGE: Ohio State
    WHEN OHIO STATE RUNS THE FOOTBALL
    Just looking at the box score from the Buckeyes’ season-opening 56-3 rout of Ball State, one might think the running game was dominant. Ohio State rushed for 237 yards (6.8 yards per attempt), with Bo Jackson and Ja’Kobi Jackson both gaining 89 yards on the ground and finding the end zone in the resounding victory.
    However, two long second-half touchdown runs (a 65-yarder by Bo Jackson and a 49-yard run by Ja’Kobi Jackson) bolstered the raw numbers.
    The Buckeyes ended the first half with only 35 net yards on 21 carries (2.1 yards per attempt). Six of Ohio State's 28 running back carries were stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage, while 20 attempts gained five yards or less.
    Like Sarkisian’s offense against Texas State, Arthur Smith utilized 12 personnel to fuel the Buckeye running game. Heavier personnel could force Will Muschamp’s hand when deciding how many defenders to devote to stopping the run. That would put more pressure on a Texas secondary entering the game under the gun, knowing it has to deal with Jeremiah Smith for 60 minutes.
    While the Longhorns will face better personnel than they did in the opener, Ohio State's offensive line isn't as big as Texas State's. The Buckeyes also won’t push the tempo like the Bobcats did (few FBS offenses do), which should keep Texas' defensive linemen from getting gassed as quickly as they did last week.
    EDGE: Texas
    WHEN TEXAS THROWS THE FOOTBALL
    After struggling for three and a half quarters, Manning found something that worked late in last year’s loss to Ohio State. He nailed a few vertical throws, including a 28-yard strike to Ryan Wingo and a 32-yard touchdown to Parker Livingstone; a 30-yard completion to Jack Endries kickstarted the Longhorns’ final possession, which ultimately ended in a turnover on downs in the closing minutes of regulation.
    Manning's trip to Columbus mirrored his development throughout the 2025 season. Although it took a while for Sarkisian to figure out what gets Manning going, what keeps him hot and what can get him out of a lull, the quarterback’s trajectory took off once he and the play-caller got on the same page.
    Manning has more seasoned personnel around him for his second start against the Buckeyes in 378 days. The Ohio State defense Manning faced last season is also replacing five of the first 62 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
    The Buckeyes still ooze talent. But Manning might find it more comfortable operating at home, without trying to identify where elite playmakers like Caleb Downs, Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles (three of the first 11 picks in the draft) are lined up before the snap.
    Ohio State isn’t facing the same quarterback who was struggling to keep his head above water in last season’s meeting. Manning, who quarterbacked Texas to three wins over top-10 opponents (two at home) last season, has proven himself as one of the top scrambling quarterbacks in the country, meaning he can make Patricia's call wrong, even when everything leading up to the time he takes off with the football looks right.
    EDGE: Texas
    WHEN OHIO STATE THROWS THE FOOTBALL
    Jeremiah Smith is due for a big game against the Longhorns. After holding him to one catch for three yards in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl, Texas bottled him up last season, limiting him to 43 yards on six catches (with two drops, according to PFF).
    What’s interesting about Smith’s 30-game career with the Buckeyes is that in the four losses he's played in, he’s put up massive numbers. Smith had a 100-yard game in three of the four losses and scored in two games. Smith's only sub-100-yard game in a loss was a five-catch, 35-yard performance against Michigan in 2024, when Will Howard took a big hit early, which helped derail the Ohio State passing attack.
    In the two wins over Texas, when Smith was held in check, Carnell Tate (and Emeka Egbuka in the Cotton Bowl) made clutch catches. Are Devin McCuin, Brandon Inniss, Chris Henry Jr. or Legend Bey ready to step up if the Longhorns successfully put the clamps on Smith again?
    For Muschamp’s defense to pull its weight in a winning effort, the plan must also include pressuring Julian Sayin.
    There might not be a better quarterback in the country than Sayin when he’s got a clean pocket. Sayin’s PFF grade of 94.4 from a clean pocket (82.1-percent completion rate, 2,883 yards and 25 touchdown passes against five interceptions) led FBS in 2025.
    In Ohio State’s losses to Indiana and Miami, however, Sayin was pressured on 39.2 percent of his dropbacks. Sayin completed just 42.1 percent of his passes (8-for-19) for 93 yards, no touchdowns and an interception, with 10 of the pressures leading to a sack.
    The question is whether Muschamp’s fronts and coverages can work well enough together to get to Sayin. If they do, it'll lead to the Longhorns generating the kind of pressure that will create opportunities for negative plays and turnovers.
    EDGE: Ohio State
    SPECIAL TEAMS
    The punters played a big role in last season’s game in Columbus, with Jack Bouwmeester’s ability to flip field position helping Texas stay in the game. Joe McGuire, who punted a career-high six times against the Longhorns, is back for Ohio State, while Bouwmeester’s replacement, Mac Chiumento, didn’t punt against Texas State.
    The Longhorns enter the game with the most proven return man on either side. Will the Buckeyes kick to Ryan Niblett?
    Former Baylor kicker Connor Hawkins connected on all seven extra points against Ball State. Hawkins, however, didn’t attempt a field goal, so the Liberty Hill product's first try in a Buckeye uniform will be under the lights at DKR. From that standpoint, one of the most important moments of last week’s win over Texas State might’ve been Gianni Spetic attempting and making a 48-yard field goal.
    Texas has suffered numerous kicking game lapses in games of this magnitude under Sarkisian. The Longhorns have the edge in the third phase on paper, but Jeff Banks needs to make sure they maximize it and make it an advantage on Saturday.
    EDGE: Texas
    COACHES
    Steve Casula is one of Sarkisian’s offseason staff additions that could help Texas against Ohio State.
    Casula was an analyst at Michigan in 2021, when the Wolverines started a four-game winning streak over the Buckeyes. Casula, who works with the Longhorn tight ends, didn’t bring a secret sauce with him from Ann Arbor that will magically give Texas an edge on Saturday.
    Still, Casula has been on a staff that put together a successful, winning game plan against a Ryan Day-coached Ohio State squad.
    Where Casula's impact could be felt is when the Longhorns run the football. The tight ends set a physical, nasty tone in the running game against Texas State. The offensive line and running backs following their lead could give Texas the toughness it needs to get over the hump against an opponent of the Buckeyes' caliber.
    Day has two former NFL head coaches calling plays on offense (Arthur Smith) and defense (Patricia). Even as Day has had to fill more coaching vacancies than he'd probably like throughout his tenure, Ohio State is in the discussion for boasting the best coaching staff in the country year in and year out.
    After losing to the Buckeyes in back-to-back seasons with largely the same group of coaches, will Sarkisian's staff changes be enough to help the Longhorns slay the scarlet-and-gray dragon?
    EDGE: Ohio State
    SCORE PREDICTION
    Texas 34, Ohio State 31
    Jeff Howe
    Three Texas Longhorn alums will be on the field when the New England Patriots visit the Seattle Seahawks to kick off the 2026 NFL season on Wednesday (7:20 p.m., NBC).
    Michael Dickson and Byron Murphy II ended the 2025 season by helping the Seahawks top the Patriots and Brenden Schooler in Super Bowl LX. The return bout at Seattle’s Lumen Field will be highlighted by the Seahawks raising the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship banner.
    Dickson and Murphy are the latest Longhorns to be a part of a Seahawks Super Bowl team. Seattle has had at least one Texas product on its roster for each of the franchise’s four trips to the Super Bowl, with Dickson and Murphy joining D.D. Lewis (Super Bowl XL), Marcus Tubbs (XL) and Earl Thomas (XLVIII and XLIX).
    While Dickson and Murphy were drafted in 2018 and 2024, respectively, Schooler is one of nine former undrafted Longhorns on a 53-man roster entering Week. Ethan Burke is the latest member of the group after making the Baltimore Ravens’ 53-man roster, joining Schooler, Isaiah Bond (Cleveland Browns), PJ Locke III (Dallas Cowboys), Lil’Jordan Humphrey (Denver Broncos), Malcolm Roach (Broncos), Cameron Dicker (Los Angeles Chargers), Poona Ford (Los Angeles Rams) and Andrew Beck (New York Jets).
    — Trey Moore (Miami Dolphins), Jaylan Ford (New Orleans Saints) and DeShon Elliott (Pittsburgh Steelers) will begin their respective seasons on injured reserve with designations to return at some point during the season.
    Unfortunately, Alfred Collins won’t be joining them, with his impending trip to injured reserve for the San Francisco 49ers marking the official end of his second NFL season.
    Collins suffered a torn patellar tendon during the team's practice in Australia on Tuesday ahead of the 49ers’ season opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday (7:35 p.m., Netflix). The No. 43 overall pick in the 2025 draft, Collins played in 16 regular-season games for the 49ers as a rookie and saw action in both of the team’s playoff games.
    While Collins is the only former Texas player on the 49ers roster for lifetime Longhorn Kyle Shanahan, the Rams’ roster features five products from the Forty Acres: Ford and Jordan Whittington on the active roster, Matthew Caldwell on injured reserve and Jack Bouwmeester and Bill Norton on the practice squad.
    — The number of Longhorns in the NFL entering Week 1 is 53. That includes 43 on 53-man rosters, six on practice squads and four on injured reserve (Caldwell was placed on season-ending injured reserve when the Rams cut their roster down to 53 players).
    The number of Texas products on the practice squad is the same as it was after cutdown. The players, however, have changed.
    The Kansas City Chiefs released Cole Brevard after waiving him on cutdown day and bringing him back to the practice squad. Brevard worked out for the Buffalo Bills last Friday, but the team didn't sign him.
    Thankfully, D’Shawn Jamison helped the numbers hold steady. On the same day Brevard worked out for the Bills, the Arizona Cardinals added Jamison to their practice squad, giving the Cardinals three former Longhorns in the organization (Hayden Conner and Devin Duvernay are on the 53-man roster).
    ***
    Longhorns in the NFL in Week 1: 53
    Longhorns on the 53: 43
    Practice Squad: 6
    Injured Reserve: 4
    ***
    Arizona Cardinals (3): Hayden Conner, Devin Duvernay, D’Shawn Jamison*
    Atlanta Falcons (2): Bijan Robinson, Cameron Williams
    Baltimore Ravens (1): Ethan Burke
    Carolina Panthers (2): Jonathan Brooks, Ja’Tavion Sanders
    Chicago Bears (3): Roschon Johnson, Christian Jones*, Malik Muhammad
    Cincinnati Bengals (1): Jack Endries
    Cleveland Browns (1): Isaiah Bond
    Dallas Cowboys (2): PJ Locke III, Demarvion Overshown
    Denver Broncos (5): Jahdae Barron, Sam Ehlinger, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Brandon Jones, Malcolm Roach
    Green Bay Packers (2): Matthew Golden, Barryn Sorrell
    Jacksonville Jaguars (1): Quinn Ewers
    Kansas City Chiefs (1): Xavier Worthy
    Los Angeles Chargers (1): Cameron Dicker
    Los Angeles Rams (5): Jack Bouwmeester*, Matthew Caldwell#, Poona Ford, Bill Norton*, Jordan Whittington
    Miami Dolphins (3): DJ Campbell, Trey Moore#, Michael Taaffe
    New England Patriots (1): Brenden Schooler
    New Orleans Saints (3): Kelvin Banks Jr., Vernon Broughton, Jaylan Ford#
    New York Jets (4): Andrew Beck, Adonai Mitchell, Joseph Ossai, T’Vondre Sweat
    Philadelphia Eagles (4): Jaydon Blue*, Jake Majors*, Andrew Mukuba, Moro Ojomo
    Pittsburgh Steelers (1): DeShon Elliott#
    San Francisco 49ers (1): Alfred Collins
    Seattle Seahawks (2): Michael Dickson, Byron Murphy II
    Tennessee Titans (2): Gunnar Helm, Anthony Hill Jr.
    Washington Commanders (2): Samuel Cosmi, Charles Omenihu
    * — Practice Squad
    # — Injured Reserve
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — The most fascinating matchup when No. 4 Texas welcomes No. 1 Ohio State to DKR is between two men who won’t play a snap on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC).
    Ryan Day has turned the Buckeye offense over to Arthur Smith, the former Atlanta Falcons coach who spent the last two seasons as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator. Steve Sarkisian hired Will Muschamp as the head coach of the Longhorn defense when he brought him back for his second stint on the Forty Acres, which started with last week's 59-7 thumping of Texas State.
    Wisely, neither coach showed much in their respective openers. Still, their units produced big plays in lopsided season-opening wins.
    Smith’s Ohio State offense rolled up 671 total yards (9.3 yards per play), with seven plays from scrimmage that went for 20 yards or more (the Buckeyes averaged 4.1 20-plus-yard plays per game in 2025) in a 56-3 rout of Ball State. Muschamp’s defense forced three Bobcat turnovers last Saturday, including Rasheem Biles' forced fumble, which led to Graceson Littleton's 59-yard scoop-and-score.
    Both coordinators want to highlight players who can take over the game.
    Smith would love to facilitate Jeremiah Smith’s breakout game against Texas. That's one of several facets of the Ohio State offense that poses problems for Muschamp's group.
    The Longhorns held arguably the most talented offensive player in the country without a touchdown in two meetings with the Buckeyes. Smith turned 13 targets into seven catches for 46 yards and two dropped passes against Texas, according to Pro Football Focus; the Cotton Bowl (one catch for three yards) is Smith’s least productive game in the 30 he’s played for Ohio State, while last season’s yardage total in Columbus is the seventh-lowest he’s recorded in a game.
    Arthur Smith went with a heavy dose of 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) to help the Buckeyes get the running game untracked (Smith’s offenses with the Steelers ranked in the top half of the NFL in snaps out of 12 personnel in 2024 and 2025, respectively). While Ohio State entered halftime with 35 net rushing yards on 17 attempts (2.1 yards per carry) against the Cardinals, the running game exploded in the second half, ending the day with 237 net yards on the ground (249 yards and 7.5 yards per attempt when adjusted to exclude two sacks).
    Muschamp’s defense is expected to throw multiple looks at what should be a more dynamic offense, quarterbacked by Heisman Trophy finalist Julian Sayin. That means using Biles and Colin Simmons, who finished last season’s 14-7 loss to the Buckeyes with two tackles and a critical penalty that aided a Buckeye touchdown drive, as moveable chess pieces, which will force the Ohio State offensive line and Sayin to communicate amid a raucous crowd when locating two of college football’s best box defenders before the snap.
    “When you have a plan against somebody like him, you can't just throw all fastballs,” Sarkisian said on Monday. “As good a fastball as you have, if that's all you've got, sooner or later they're going to hit it. We've got to be able to mix our pitches up and how we defend him and how we defend the scheme. Arthur and Ryan, they believe in running the ball. They've got a good runner (Bo Jackson and Florida transfer Ja’Kobi Jackson both rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown against Ball State) and a good O-line. They've got other weapons.
    “Not every game you go into where you say, 'Hey, we need to know where this guy is every snap,'” he added. “We'd better know where No. 4 is on every snap.”
    Arthur Smith must put together a plan that unlocks Jeremiah Smith and creates playmaking opportunities for the Buckeyes’ other weapons, including UTSA transfer wide receiver Devin McCuin, who caught six passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in his Ohio State debut. Carnell Tate took advantage of the attention paid to Smith, catching seven balls for 87 yards in the Cotton Bowl and hauling in a game-clinching 40-yard touchdown last season at the Horseshoe.
    The biggest question Muschamp faces is whether he can maximize his edge over the Ohio State offense.
    It's a role reversal from last season when Matt Patricia, who hadn’t called a game defensively since his three-year stint as the Detroit Lions coach ended in 2020, made life difficult for Sarkisian's offense in Arch Manning’s first-ever road start. The shoe is on the other foot in 2026, with Day and Smith trying to figure out what Muschamp, who hadn't been an in-game defensive play-caller since 2020 before doing so against Texas State, will do.
    “Coach Muschamp's a great coach, and we all have a lot of respect for him,” Day said on Tuesday. “But he really hasn't called the game in a while, so there's unknown here on how it's going to play out, what they're going to do defensively. We have to be able to respond to that in-game and figure that part of it out.”
    Other matchups to watch when No. 4 Texas hosts No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday:
    — Texas WRs Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo vs. Ohio State CBs Jermaine Matthews Jr. and Devin Sanchez
    Does Patricia have faith that his highly-touted cornerbacks can win one-on-one battles with the talented Longhorn wideouts? The Buckeyes dropped a lot of defenders into coverage in last season’s matchup with Texas, but that was against a wide receiver group without Emmett Mosley V (injury), with Wingo as the only proven commodity.
    While the Longhorns would love to take advantage of the speed and playmaking ability on the perimeter down the field, that can only happen if Manning can adequately execute the quick passing game and if Texas can run the football with any measure of consistency.
    — Texas Interior Offensive Line vs. Ohio State DTs Eddrick Houston and John Walker
    Taking away Raleek Brown’s 21-yard touchdown run in the third quarter brings into focus how the Longhorns struggled to run the football between the tackles against Texas State. Minus Brown’s scamper on a delayed handoff, Texas recorded 14 rushing attempts on A- and B-gap runs for 37 yards (2.6 yards per attempt), with a 7-yard run by James Simon the longest of the day.
    It’s a much tougher challenge for Connor Robertson, Brandon Baker and whoever’s in the game at left guard (Sarkisian said Monday that the plan for now is to continue rotating Laurence Seymore and Dylan Sikorski) this week against the Buckeyes. Houston and Walker, a transfer from UCF, can go a long way toward wrecking Sarkisian’s game plan by winning the line-of-scrimmage battle.
    It’s imperative that the Longhorns prevent that from happening.
    — Texas Edges Lance Jackson and Zina Umeozulu vs. Ohio State OTs Phillip Daniels and Ian Moore
    The trench concerns for the Buckeyes reside on the edges, where Daniels was benched early in the win over Ball State. It’s a given that Ohio State has to know where Simmons is, but this would be a great time for Jackson or Umeozulu to emerge as the kind of pass-rushing threat who can make teams pay for playing them straight up.
    Texas forcing Arthur Smith to put an extra tight end on the field to deal with edge pressure is a lot different than the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator utilizing 12 personnel purely out of personal preference. Simmons needs one of the two edge defenders opposite him to start taking steps toward being a reliable threat who can be counted on to get to the quarterback.
    — Texas LB Justin Cryer vs. Ohio State QB Julian Sayin
    Last season, Sayin was tremendous when attacking the middle of the field. According to PFF, 27 percent of his pass attempts in 2025 came on throws between the hashes and within nine yards of the line of scrimmage, which accounted for the highest percentage of his throws.
    Sayin was 96-for-106 through the air for 888 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions when throwing the ball to the part of the field Cryer will be responsible for covering. Furthermore, Sayin was 26-for-33 for 424 yards, five touchdowns and one interception on middle-of-the-field throws from 10-19 yards down the field (93.9 PFF grade); his 99.9 PFF grade on middle-field throws of 20 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage was his highest-graded target area of the season (19-for-24, 763 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception).
    Until proven otherwise, the path of least resistance trying to move the football against the Longhorns is to force Cryer and the Texas safeties to make plays in space. The second and third levels of the defense handled the challenge they faced from Texas State, but the degree of difficulty accomplishing the task will be cranked up several notches on Saturday.
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