Ohio State’s defense of its national championship got off to a tremendous start Saturday afternoon. The No. 3 ranked Buckeyes were led by their defense in a 14-7 win over the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns.
The win extends the Scarlet and Gray’s win streak of season-opening victories to 26. The streak is the longest active one of its kind in the country, as the last loss in the opening game for the Buckeyes came in 1999 against Miami.
The Silver Bullet defense stole the show from the highly anticipated debut of Arch Manning, holding the Longhorn offense scoreless until there were four minutes left in the game. New defensive coordinator Matt Patricia dialed up a beautiful game plan within the secondary to force Manning into some tough situations.
Offensively, the new Buckeye starting quarterback, Julian Sayin, performed well. While his 13-of-20 passing for 126 yards and a touchdown won’t blow anybody away, his composure and poise were evident when the lights were brightest.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Julian Sayin’s poise and composure were at a near elite level.
All the quarterback hype surrounding this matchup centered on Arch Manning. Buckeye fans were obviously looking forward to what Julian Sayin can do, and he outduelled Manning. As mentioned before, the stat line is not eye-popping in any sense, and it would’ve been better if not for some uncharacteristic drops from this receiving room, but Sayin showed some real flashes of excellent potential.
The one gripe: the coaching staff did not open up the playbook for Sayin, something head coach Ryan Day admitted on the television broadcast immediately after the game. However, Sayin managed the game remarkably well for a young player making his first career start, heck, playing in his first meaningful snaps of collegiate football. His decision-making was near excellent, he didn’t put the football in harm’s way, and his composure, especially under pressure, is what a more seasoned QB brings to the table.
Couple that with the fact that Manning did not live up to his hype. Whatever it may have been attributed to, crowd volume, the pressure of the moment, etc., Manning was rattled. He had an off-target percentage of 37%, meaning 11 of his 30 pass attempts were deemed off target to his receivers. That is the highest percentage from a Texas starting QB in nearly a decade, and is a baffling number from someone who is supposed to be a future number one pick in the NFL Draft.
Manning will be fine. He will get his issues figured out and will only show improvement. It is indisputable that Sayin was the better quarterback, and Buckeye fans should be thrilled with what their new signal-caller showed them.
While the defense stole the show, there is a lot of work to be done.
Well, the Matt Patricia hire looks like a really good one. Yes, the goal line defense is still outstanding. Yes, the secondary played its tail off, and the group of defensive backs that calls itself BIA (Best in America) might indeed prove to be one of the best units in the country. It was a massive reason why Manning had a tough time in this game.
However, the defense didn’t do anything spectacular in their scheme, and this defensive front was kind of…meh. Much like the coaching staff didn’t open up the playbook offensively, it didn’t seem like they offered up much defensively either.
Specifically looking at the defensive front, the Longhorns averaged 4.5 yards per carry, the Buckeyes walked away with only one tackle for loss, and there were not a lot of blitz packages shown. Even in the four-man rushes, not many stunts or twists were present, and there was a lot of trouble shedding blocks from a Texas line with four new starters.
Manning didn’t have it this game. Yet, if Drew Allar at Penn State or even Parker Navarro at Ohio, whom the Buckeyes will see in a couple of weeks, gets the kind of time Manning got to sit in that pocket, eventually the defensive backs will have a lapse.
Throw in the fact that starting lineman Kenyatta Jackson went down with an injury, and Eddrick Houston may still be dealing with some side effects from a hyperextended knee suffered in training camp, there is a lot to watch up front for the Silver Bullet defense.
Neither team looked to play at its best, and that especially bodes well for the Buckeyes.
Okay, yes, this one is a little bit of a cop out. Obviously, nobody looked their best. Duh. It’s week one. Nobody realistically should be looking their best right out of the gate. That’s an unrealistic expectation.
Most everybody expected hiccups from both teams. However, the amount that both can expand on what played out is extraordinary. These are two squads that are expected to be in the field of 12 in the College Football Playoffs, and likely still will be. Both have a lot of growing to do, and different versions will be showing themselves in the postseason.
Here’s the kicker for Ohio State: they just beat the number one team in the country, which is the best win anybody will have on their resume after this week, and they barely opened the playbook. Imagine what happens when this team does crack open the full potential of this offense. If the playbook is to be opened defensively, imagine what happens when the pass rush develops and this team starts to really disguise different packages. Two words. Watch. Out.
GAME RECAP
Texas gained control of the football first, using the ground game to piece together a solid drive into Buckeye territory. However, a huge play was made early by junior linebacker Arvell Reese, stuffing Longhorn tailback CJ Baxter on an early fourth-down conversion attempt.
The second quarter is where the offense came alive for the Buckeyes. They took advantage of some costly Longhorn penalties and the run game grinded out the game’s first touchdown, with it being the former West Virginia Mountaineer CJ Donaldson hitting paydirt for the first time as a Buckeye.
In the third quarter, the Silver Bullet goal line defense resurfaced, halting a 15-play, nearly seven-minute Texas drive. On fourth-and-goal from the one, Caden Curry and a host of Buckeyes met Manning at the point of attack to force another turnover on downs.
The very next drive for Texas was short-lived, as the secondary forces Manning into an uncomfortable deep-ball that pays off for the defense. Jermaine Matthews intercepts the route and picks off the pass, and that gave some spark to the Ohio State offense.
A little under two minutes into the final frame, Sayin spins a ball deep to the endzone for Carnell Tate, who makes a spectacular catch after bobbling it off his own body to secure a 14-0 lead for the Scarlet and Gray.
As uncomfortable as Manning looked, the Texas quarterback found a good rhythm late, going 3-for-4 and throwing for 65 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown to Parker Livingstone to cut the lead in half, 14-7, with 3:28 left to play.
The Buckeyes were forced into a three-and-out, leaving Texas with plenty of time to tie the game. Manning began the drive with a 30-yard strike to Jack Endries, but couldn’t refind his rhythm. On fourth-and-five with the game on the line, Manning found Endries again, but the star Buckeye safety, Caleb Downs, sealed the game with an immediate takedown of the Texas tight end.
Ohio State will next take on the Grambling State Tigers next Saturday. Listen live on 98.3 WPKO.
