Ohio State’s collapse against Texas put a lot of problems on the table, but one stood out above the rest: the Buckeyes did not get enough heat on Arch Manning when it mattered most.
That showed up in the numbers and on the field. Pro Football Focus said Ohio State pressured Manning on only 13 of his 46 dropbacks. Over the full game, Manning averaged 3.58 seconds to throw, which was the longest time he has had in any of his starts for Texas and longer than any quarterback managed against Ohio State’s defense last season.
The real damage came late. On Texas’ final three drives, the Longhorns found the end zone three straight times, and Manning had a clean pocket for at least three seconds on 15 of his 24 dropbacks during those possessions, according to the game broadcast clock. He finished by completing 13 of his last 18 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown, and he added 34 rushing yards on five carries as Texas erased a 23-3 deficit and left with a 24-23 win.
Ryan Day made clear Wednesday that the pass rush has moved near the top of Ohio State’s list of fixes.
“It's something that, no question, coming out of the game, when you're listing all the things that we've got to get done moving forward, that's on the list for sure, and pretty high,” Day said Wednesday.
Day also pointed to the tactical reasons the Buckeyes didn’t come after Manning as aggressively at times, including the decision to drop more defenders into coverage to take away the deep ball once Ohio State had a fourth-quarter lead and the effort to keep Manning from escaping the pocket. But he also acknowledged that there were plenty of snaps where the rush simply didn’t land.
“We've got to get more pressure, for sure,” Day said. “We've got to create a little bit, a few more change-ups.
Now, we did call some of those. We didn't execute them very well.
There were times where I just didn't think we got the push that we needed to up front. Some of it was to cage him, that was by design, but other times, (defensive coordinator Matt Patricia) was letting them loose.”
The burden starts up front, and fifth-year senior captain Kenyatta Jackson Jr. is the headliner there. Jackson flashed big-time against Ball State in Week 1, leading all Power 4 edge rushers that week with eight quarterback pressures. Against Texas, though, he managed just one pressure on 29 pass-rush snaps.
That lone pressure did matter. It was one of Ohio State’s two sacks, and Jackson also helped limit a Manning scramble to a one-yard gain. Still, with Jackson as the only defensive end to play more than half the Buckeyes’ snaps against Texas, Ohio State needed much more from him.
The injury to Zion Grady didn’t help. Grady, Ohio State’s other starting defensive end, left with a knee injury in the second quarter, forcing the Buckeyes to shuffle their front.
They tried different looks, including moving Qua Russaw and Christian Alliegro into edge-rushing outside linebacker roles and kicking defensive tackles Eddrick Houston and James Smith outside to defensive end. None of it produced the kind of steady disruption Ohio State had from Caden Curry opposite Jackson last season.
One name to watch is freshman defensive lineman Khary Wilder. He played only five snaps against Texas, but he still tied for the team lead with two quarterback pressures. Both came back-to-back late in the third quarter, with the first forcing 4th-and-9 and the second nearly producing a stop before Manning escaped and hit Emaree Winston for a first down against Ohio State’s zone coverage.
How many quarterbacks in college football make this play? How many quarterbacks in college football make this play on 4th and 9 with the game on the line?
Texas QB Arch Manning is on the short list. He might be on it by himself. pic.twitter.com/XWQCcSefmn
- Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) September 14, 2026
Through two games, Wilder has four quarterback pressures in 19 pass-rush snaps, and Day said Tuesday that the freshman should see more of the field moving forward. Wilder has mostly lined up as a defensive tackle in Ohio State’s third-down Rushmen package, even though his primary spot is defensive end.
“I think that Khary's a guy that we've got to try to figure out ways to get him into the game,” Day said.
Sophomore linebacker Riley Pettijohn is another piece Ohio State may lean on more heavily. He worked some as a pass-rushing outside linebacker against Texas and picked up one of the Buckeyes’ two sacks.
“I would say Riley will continue to play more,” Day said. “He's a unique player that has the uncanny ability to slip blocks and make plays. And the more he plays, the better he's going to be.”
The larger picture is hard to ignore. Ohio State has only three sacks through two games and is tied for 81st in the FBS in quarterback takedowns.
If the Buckeyes want their defense to look like the one that powered them over the last three years, they need more than occasional pressure. They need the kind that ends drives, flips possessions, and keeps games from slipping away late.
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