It wasn’t pretty by the modern standards of college football, but No. 3 Ohio State’s gritty 14-7 toppling of the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns in a pageantry-filled opener Aug. 30 at Ohio Stadium was something for purists to savor.
Woody Hayes would’ve loved this one.
Anyway, there wasn’t a lot of offense, and that was A-OK by Ohio State. That’s largely how the Buckeyes‘ coaching staff drew up its game plan against the Longhorns. Gritty and tough, like overcooked steak, was the point.
The Buckeyes’ Julian Sayin was efficient and safe in his first collegiate start, while on the other side, the latest in the Manning quarterbacking lineage, Arch, left with a lot of room for improvement. A staunch, high-motor Buckeyes defense nearly posted the first shutout of a No. 1 ranked team in a season-opener in 33 years, outplaying Texas’ suffocating defense.
Despite losing eight starters from their 2024 College Football Playoff national title team, the Buckeyes (1-0) served up a heaping dish of misery with a side of angst to Manning, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and the rest of a Longhorns attack that attracted NFL scouts from nearly every team.
Here’s a look at how the day graded out:
Ohio State offense (3 leaves)
Anytime a top-rated team scores just two touchdowns in a game, questions arise out of concern that something went horribly, terribly, awfully wrong.
That doesn’t apply to the Buckeyes in this particular game. They faced the No. 1 team in the country, which features one of the best defenses in the nation, and did it with a new quarterback, new running backs and added pressure on a receiving corps that lost Emeka Egbuka.
Yes, Jeremiah Smith is now a super sophomore, but he’s still just one guy, and with an afternoon of double coverage plus a new starting QB, it was tough sledding. That’s why new offensive coordinator Brian Hartline and coach Ryan Day adopted a more conservative scheme intended to ease Sayin into his first start.
Sayin responded with a calm, cool, California-kid presence while making several impressive throws, including one from his own end zone to Carnell Tate for a first down with the Buckeyes pinned inside their own 10. It didn’t lead to points, but that was a big-time connection that helped OSU’s defense by flipping the field off an eventual punt.
Sayin’s final numbers weren’t jaw-dropping, but they impressive at 13-of-20 passing for 126 yards, a touchdown to Tate and no interceptions. Outside of not spotting Smith open down the field on fourth-and-short in the first quarter, instead checking it over to tight end Max Klare on the sideline for a dropped pass, Sayin managed things the way he was asked to do it.
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The Buckeyes’ run game was limited to 77 yards, but that shouldn’t be a huge concern considering the talent level they faced in the season’s first game. All in all, the Buckeyes executed an offensive plan that gave them the best chance to win while not giving the No. 1 team in the country a chance to overcome its own offensive foibles by forcing turnovers and/or defensive scores.
Ohio State defense (5 leaves)
Yes, the Buckeyes gave up a late touchdown that made things hairy at the end, but for the most part they dominated.
They forced four punts, picked off a pass, nearly had a second pick and forced four turnovers on downs, including a goal-line stand plus another that ended with a Manning incompletion in the OSU end zone.
Texas moved the ball in the second half, but nothing came easy for Manning or his top receiving targets. The Buckeyes also got to Manning for a sack by Arvell Reese on a day when former star defensive end Jack Sawyer, author of the decisive Cotton Bowl scoop-and-score, watched gleefully in street clothes.
Ohio State special teams (3 leaves)
No field goals for either side meant special teams came down to kickoffs and punts, the latter of which were hit-or-miss for the Buckeyes. Joe McGuire had a couple of punts flub off his foot, but also boomed a couple that flipped the field impressively. His longest boot was 55 yards and he pinned the Longhorns inside their 20 once on six punts for an average of 43.3 yards.
Notably, Smith was put into the game as a punt returner one time in the first half instead of Brandon Inniss, so watch for that twist in future games.
Ohio State coaching (4 leaves)
Two new coordinators called the shots for OSU along with Day, and there wasn’t a lot for critics to complain about.
A decision by Hartline/Day on the Buckeyes’ first drive to use a play-action pass on fourth-and-1 rather than keeping it on the ground seemed a bit questionable after Klare couldn’t bring in Sayin’s pass, but it didn’t impact the outcome of the game.
Day described Hartline as “unselfish” in his play calls while sticking to a mostly conservative approach, which allowed new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s side to give Manning headaches. The Buckeyes’ defense, as already noted, had outstanding success most of the day and they looked like a group coached by a coordinator who owns three Super Bowl rings.
Fun quotient (5 leaves)
What a way to kick off college football, right?
Texas didn’t bring BEVO, its live steer, but Matthew McConaughey had a big tailgate party and took in the atmosphere from the Longhorns’ sidelines during a memorable day that turned out … alright, alright, alright at the horseshoe. The tailgating scene was a madhouse for about four hours prior to kickoff, fans of both teams flashed “horns up” and “horns down” hand signals and two nationally televised pregame shows broadcast live on stages outside and inside the stadium
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ESPN’s Lee Corso also made his final mascot head selection on the field with 107,524 in their seats awaiting his pick. Was there even a doubt he’d pick Brutus in that setting?
The game was a bit of a snoozer, dominated by defense, but even that came around. Manning’s late TD toss to cut OSU’s lead to 14-7 with enough time left for a comeback and two timeouts added a little finishing sizzle to a steak served medium rare.
Officiating (4 leaves)
Given the frequency of officials seemingly making glaring mistakes in all sports, the crew that worked OSU-Texas deserves a collective pat on the back.
They didn’t commit any ire raising calls and should be lauded for both spotting a few tough-to-see infractions and getting a big call early in the fourth quarter right via video review that overturned Sonny Styles’ apparent interception. The officiating crew’s eagle eyes were also to thank for OSU avoiding a safety early in the third quarter, when the Buckeyes were called for holding in their own end zone.
An unsportsmanlike facemask penalty on Texas created offsetting penalties, allowing the Buckeyes to keep the score 7-0 and keep the ball for two more plays before punting from deep in their own end. Replays showed both calls were correctly made.
The Arch Manning experience (1 leaf)
After a full offseason of the latest Manning quarterback being touted as the next great one in the family, Arch Manning didn’t exactly play up to the billing.
Like a shortstop with an errant arm from deep in the hole, he skipped balls to wide open receivers, overthrew others so badly they couldn’t have caught the ball using lacrosse sticks and even drilled a pass off Ryan Wingo’s left knee on a short crossing route near the end zone in the fourth quarter.
Manning, however, did look the part with his team backed into a corner down 14-0 in the fourth. He made several fantastic throws in the latter stages of the game and showed off his impressive wheels enough to provide flashes of what he may develop into this season. In this game, however, Arch mostly collapsed.
Lee Corso (5 leaves)
What a way for one of the game’s legendary broadcasters to go out, right?
Corso was given one of the biggest stages the sport has to offer, and seeing his patented parade waive while donning the Brutus head was a classy, fitting way for him to make his exit as arguably ESPN’s most iconic college football personality.
Also, the Buckeyes made sure he departed a winner.
Dispatch reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
