Texas spent the week trying to keep Saturday night in Austin from becoming something bigger than a football game.
That won’t be easy with Ohio State rolling in for one of the most anticipated matchups of the college football season. The Buckeyes bring enough talent to challenge Texas across the board, and for the Longhorns, the real test is staying true to themselves while the spotlight burns hot.
Steve Sarkisian has made that point over and over. Texas needs its veterans to steady the group, trust the work that’s already been done and handle the moments when the game tightens up.
Against that backdrop, three outcomes stand out.
The first centers on Jeremiah Smith. Texas has already shown in the past two meetings that it can limit one of college football’s most dangerous receivers, and it will certainly have a plan for him again. But players with Smith’s size, athleticism and ability to win contested catches are hard to neutralize for four quarters.
Texas can bracket him, tilt coverage his way and still watch him make difficult plays. The bold call here is that Smith makes his presence felt all night, even if the Longhorns keep him from fully taking over. If Texas decides to load up on him, Ohio State has enough talent elsewhere to make that a dangerous gamble.
The second prediction is built around pressure. If Texas wants to make Ohio State uncomfortable, it has to get after Julian Sayin.
Sayin is talented, but he’s about to face a level of physicality and disruption he won’t be able to sidestep. Texas defenders have talked all week about forcing him off his spot, speeding up his decisions and not letting plays develop cleanly. Will Muschamp’s unit has a chance to mess with the timing of the Buckeyes’ offense and make Sayin throw before he wants to.
That could show up as a turnover, or it could simply be a string of throws he usually wouldn’t attempt. Even if the box score doesn’t fully capture it, Texas can still create the kind of pressure that changes the game.
The final call: this one goes down to the wire.
A comfortable Texas win would be nice for Longhorn fans, but this matchup feels much more like a final-possession fight. The Longhorns have the talent to push Ohio State, but the Buckeyes have enough of their own to make every yard costly.
That’s where the veteran presence Sarkisian keeps stressing comes into play. He said the Longhorns need to “trust our process” instead of getting caught up in everything around the game. If Texas does that when the tension spikes, it has a real chance to stay composed and make the last critical play.
So the bold prediction is simple: Texas wins a one-score thriller, and the Longhorns are the team that finishes the job.
In Other News...
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For Texas, the debate is no longer just about being safely inside the top tier. The win over Ohio State gives the Longhorns a case to be viewed as one of the standard-bearers again, and the polling math now reflects that reality. Whether the voters are ready to put them back at the very top will be one of the most interesting questions when the new rankings come out, because the rsum argument is suddenly as strong as the brand name. [Read more 🡒]
Sarkisian Added One Awkward Twist To Texas Emotional Night
Texas victory over No. 1 Ohio State already had enough drama baked into it without the broadcast hiccup that followed Steve Sarkisian around on a memorable night. Technical difficulties kept the Longhorns coach from joining Laura Rutledge for a scheduled halftime interview on ESPN, leaving one of the games biggest voices out of the conversation while the biggest upset of the opening weekend was still unfolding.
The oddness didnt end there, either, as Sarkisians postgame exchange with Holly Rowe turned awkward before he walked off, adding an unusual coda to an emotional scene in Columbus. A Texas spokesperson later said ESPN technical issues were behind the halftime problem and also played a role after the game, which at least explains why a celebration night briefly veered into broadcast confusion. [Read more 🡒]