Hero Kanu has lived both versions of the Texas-Ohio State matchup, and that makes him one of the few people in Austin who can fully appreciate how much this one has built up.
He was wearing Ohio State colors when the Buckeyes knocked off Texas in a 2024 College Football Playoff semifinal and kept rolling toward the national championship. A year later, he was on the other side, in burnt orange, when Ohio State beat Texas again in the 2025 season opener. That one stung for the Longhorns, too, because it helped knock the preseason No. 1 out of the playoff picture.
Now the teams meet again Saturday night, with No. 1 Ohio State heading into Austin to face No.
5 Texas. It’s the first time a No. 1 team has visited Austin since Alabama came in 2022.
“I’m not going to make this game personal,” Kanu said Monday. But he did not downplay what the matchup means on the national stage.
“I think this is the game everybody is the country is looking forward to,” Kanu said. “This is a playoff-caliber type game.”
For Texas, the recent history is hard to ignore. Ohio State has controlled the biggest moments in both of the last two meetings.
In the 2024 semifinal, Texas had a late drive going for what could have been a tying touchdown before Jack Sawyer got to Quinn Ewers, stripped the ball and turned it into an 83-yard touchdown the other way. The play sealed the Buckeyes’ win and sent their sideline into a frenzy.
Last season in Columbus, Ohio State won 14-7 and dictated the game for long stretches. That loss carried real consequences for Texas, coming first in a three-loss stretch that ended with the Longhorns missing the playoff despite finishing strong.
Kanu still knows plenty of people on the Ohio State side, but he says the usual friendly back-and-forth won’t be part of this week.
“We don’t talk this week,” Kanu said. “We can chat after this week.”
Sarkisian isn’t spending much time on what this game could mean down the road. He’s focused on the challenge in front of Texas right now.
“I don't need to spend so much energy and time on ‘what does this game mean?’ As a competitor, we get to play the No. 1 team in the country, a team we've had two battles with the last two years,” Sarkisian said.
“We've got 10 other games to go play,” to determine the season's ultimate destination, Sarkisian said.
Ohio State and Texas have not exactly been frequent opponents. The schools have been playing football since Ohio State’s first season in 1890 and Texas’ in 1893, yet Saturday will only be the sixth meeting between them. Still, with two recent showdowns already decided by Ohio State, this one arrives with plenty of familiar baggage.
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The Longhorns have offered enough recent resistance to make this a tougher assignment than the rankings suggest, especially against a Buckeyes offense still trying to settle into its rhythm against elite competition. Ohio State has the talent to answer any challenge, but this game has the feel of one that could hinge on a few crucial plays and leave plenty to debate afterward, which is exactly why it stands out on a slate full of intriguing matchups. [Read more 🡒]