Longhorns vs. Buckeyes — what you need to know
Two of the biggest names in college football will face off today when Texas plays Ohio State for a spot in the College Football Playoff title game.
- Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET.
- Where to watch: ESPN.
- Streaming: Fubo (try for free)
- Latest odds: Ohio State, -6.
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Can the Longhorns keep up?
The Buckeyes are playing with such great confidence it’s difficult to find a scenario in which they lose. Maybe if Howard throws a pick six and Texas keeps Quinn Ewers upright, the Longhorns will keep it close. Texas has the personnel to match up with Ohio State, but the Longhorns need to find a new gear that they haven’t shown this year. The Buckeyes, however, have reached cruising altitude.
My prediction: Ohio State 34, Texas 17.
Watching Will
I’m intrigued by how Will Howard navigates Texas’ defense. The Longhorns have 44 sacks and 21 interceptions while allowing just eight passing touchdowns. Howard never beat Texas in his former life at Kansas State. Can he play a near-perfect game for the third straight outing and rid himself of the Texas shadow? People are watching.
Contain the explosive plays
The Buckeyes must contain Texas’ explosive passing attack. The Longhorns have 102 plays of 20-plus yards, by far the most in the country. Ohio State’s secondary did a nice job in preventing big plays by allowing only 40, but it will have to cover Texas receivers over every pebble of rubber filament, like it did against Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Protect Ewers at all cost
The Longhorns absolutely need to protect quarterback Quinn Ewers better than they have in any game this year. Ohio State ranks third nationally in sacks with 47. Texas sits 104th in sacks allowed with 33. The Longhorns gave up six to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and three last week to Arizona State. If the Buckeyes reach Ewers at the same rate as the Bulldogs, turn out the lights on Texas.
What Ewers learned at Ohio State
Quinn Ewers had just wrapped up his eighth grade year when he stepped into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for a recruiting camp on June 8, 2018, and dazzled Ryan Day, then Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
“He … had a tremendous release,” the Buckeyes head coach said recently. “I remember grabbing him and grabbing his dad and said, ‘Man, you got a bright future ahead of you. I don’t know if this is good or bad, but we’re going to offer you a scholarship to Ohio State, even in eighth grade.’ Again, I don’t know if that’s legal or not, but we did.”
GO FURTHER
What Quinn Ewers, Ohio State and Texas gained from his fascinating four months in Columbus
Your views on Ohio State vs. Texas
Song H.: These are the two most talented teams left but with that said, OSU is healthier and seems to have fully realized their talent the last two games. I’m rooting for Texas but the undisciplined, non complementary offense/defense will not beat OSU when they’re hitting on all cylinders. I hope it’s an exciting game but unless Texas ends up playing a complete game (they haven’t done it all year), I just don’t see them beating this version of OSU.
Joshua M.: As an OSU fan, it’s hard to imagine this game playing out the way the first two did. Texas defense is better than Tennessee’s and much better than Oregon’s. Their DL will cause OSU more difficulty and our OL is due to make some mistakes – they have been playing out of their minds considering their injuries. But of course we’ll have our moments. I expect our offense to look something like the way it did against Penn State – respectable but flawed. On the other side, Texas will break a few big plays with that skill talent and I expect Quinn to be at his best – finally healthy and he looks fully confident. OSU will shut down a consistent running game, so it will come down to whether Texas can break through often enough to keep up.
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