MY THOUGHTS.....Texas

 

The defending national champions proved, at least for the opening week, they still have the mettle, defeating this year’s preseason number one team, the Texas Longhorns.  Despite replacing eight NFL draft picks on their defense from last season, the Buckeyes, with new defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, dominated in holding Texas scoreless until the last four minutes of the game.  The defense made four fourth-down stops, one of them at the goal and another inside the ten-yard line.  Arvell Reese was instrumental in those stops, making a total of nine tackles and getting the only sack on Texas quarterback Arch Manning.  Speaking of Manning, the Ohio State defense, despite only the one sack, was in his face from the start, forcing quite a few errant throws.  Safety Davison Igbinosun led the team in tackles with 10, while Jaylen McClain and Kayden McDonald, getting the first starts of their career, turned in outstanding performances, garnering eight tackles a piece.  The secondary played well, holding the explosive WR Ryan Wingo to two catches for 35 yards.  

The offense seemed a bit bland, but the play calling was to not ask first-time starter Julian Sayin to do too much.  Ohio State had trouble moving on the ground, as expected, against a Texas defense known to be stout against the run.  Overall, the Ohio State offense managed a mere 77 yards and 2.26 yards per carry.  I couldn’t help but be impressed by the hard running of senior C.J. Donaldson.  Coming out of the portal from West Virginia, Donaldson showed his tough inside running ability and led the team with 67 yards rushing and scoring the opening touchdown.  Sayin was not asked to do much, just not do anything foolish.  In this he excelled, going 13-for-20 for 126 yards.  His best throw of the game was a perfect 40-yard throw to Carnell Tate in the end zone to put Ohio State up 14-0.  After starting slow with a couple of drops, Jeremiah Smith came back to lead the team with six receptions for 43 yards, many of them underneath routes.  The tight ends: Purdue transfer Matt Klare and Bennett Christian got into the act, each catching one pass. 

 

                There were times when Texas was its own worst enemy as quarterback Manning appeared harried and made some bad throws and the play calling of Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was very questionable at times.  Nevertheless, Matt Patricia’s defense appears to be for real, and the receivers look to be just as good as last year.

                Next up is a 3:30 matchup in the ‘Shoe against Grambling as the OSU Alumni Band will make its yearly performance.