Buckeye running back CJ Donaldson, and West Virginia transfer, crashes in for his first touchdown as a Buckeye to provide a 7-0 halftime lead. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Matt Patricia’s debut as defensive coordinator couldn’t have gone better…new quarterback Julian Sayin kept his cool…and the fans enthusiastically embraced another noon game.
Columbus, OH – Let the repeat chatter begin.
No more worrying about the new quarterback, all the new starters, the new coordinators or a natty hangover. THE Ohio State Buckeyes are back for more noon games, more big games, more pressure, more of everything their fans crave.
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On a gorgeous 70-degree Saturday afternoon in the Horseshoe, in a season-opening showdown against No. 1 Texas, in front of 107,524 leather-lunged fans, No. 3 Ohio State did many things well. Most of all, they didn’t make mistakes, commit turnovers or lose their poise.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Ryan Day said over and over in recent days there was but one goal from 12:14 to 3:27 p.m. His baby-faced quarterback believed him. His defense believed him. And his fans now believe in him even more than last January when he raised the national championship trophy. Some surely believe now that a second one might not be too far away.
“The saying this week was the only thing we expect was to just go out there and win,” redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin said. “Don’t expect to do this, this and this on offense. Just go out there and win.”
There are always ways to improve and some of those were seen Saturday. But there is no “yeah, but” when you beat the No. 1-ranked team, when your defense is as good as it gets and you sing “Carmen Ohio” with smiles, pride and tears.
A game of this magnitude was always going to come down to the end. And when Texas’ final play fell two yards short of a first down with 1:27 left, the crowd shook Ohio Stadium to its concrete core. And Texas’ most visible and passionate fan, actor Matthew McConaughey, turned and walked off the sideline, conspicuous in his cowboy hat and boots, blue jeans and burnt orange flannel.
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Ohio State had done it to Texas again, and he and all the eyes of Texas couldn’t watch any more. McConaughey didn’t look up at the scoreboard. He knew what everyone else knew.
Ohio State, the reigning national champion and quite possibly this week’s new No. 1, had just beaten Texas again, 14-7.
“There’s a lot we can build on here, a lot we have to improve on,” Day said. “The team you see right now will not be close to the team you see halfway through the season or at the end of the year. But it certainly makes the corrections a lot easier to make after the win.”
Not many big ones…but Brandon Inniss hauls in this pass from Julian Sayin in the first half of Saturday’s opener with Texas.
And it’s always easier to win when the defense plays like it did against an offense expected to be great. The Longhorns have play-calling savant Steve Sarkisian, the next Manning quarterback, this one named Arch, and speed in the backfield and at receiver.
However, the Buckeyes showed they have the players and coaches to compete with any offense, much like last year. New defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, the former successful DC for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots and unsuccessful head coach of the Detroit Lions, couldn’t have dreamed of a better debut.
The Buckeyes limited Manning and company to 336 total yards, made a crucial interception, sacked him once, pressured him often and stopped the Longhorns cold on four fourth-down attempts, including two near the goal line.
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“I’m really proud of our guys coming out and stepping up to the challenge from front end to back end,” Patricia said. “The guys did a tremendous job with the adjustments. We were moving a lot of parts. It was a really great effort by the players.”
The offensive players were happy to talk about the defense.
“Our defense showed they can play no matter who’s on the field on the other team,” wide receiver Carnell Tate said. “They’re the reason we won the game.”
Sayin, who completed 13 of 20 passes for 126 yards, knew exactly what to expect from the defense. He spent the entire offseason trying to win the quarterback job with them in his face and covering his receivers.
“They’re very fast, very physical,” he said. “And Coach Patricia does a great job of mixing things up and keeping you on your toes as a quarterback. It’s very hard to play against them.”
The Longhorns found the same to be true of two new OSU defensive starters: middle linebacker Arvell Reese and cornerback Jermaine Mathews. Reese stuffed the run on the first fourth-down stop near midfield on Texas’ first possession. He stuck Manning for a one-yard gain on a scramble that looked promising, he got the only sack and he made nine tackles.
If Texas had asked Ohio State guard Luke Montgomery about Reese – and he didn’t mind giving them advice – this is what he would’ve said.
Linebacker Arvell Reese hauls down Arch Manning in the first half for the Buckeyes’ only sack of the game.
“Get hands on him fast otherwise you’re toast – that’s what I do,” he said. “He’s going to have a heck of a year. I’ve always said he’s definitely underrated for all the other guys that they talk about.”
And Mathews, a player who has been hyped as a backup to Davison Igbinosun and the departed Denzel Burke, made two big plays when Manning didn’t see him coming. His interception late in the third quarter set up the Buckeyes’ second touchdown.
“I told him he’s going to lock down No. 1 (Ryan Wingo) and you’re gonna get a pick,” Montgomery said.
Another pass breakup by Mathews was a tipped interception by Sonny Styles until his scoop off the turf was overturned by replay. But Igbinosun broke up a possible touchdown catch in the end zone two plays later on fourth-and-3 from the 9-yard line. He led the team with 10 tackles, and better yet, he didn’t draw any pass interference penalties.
“They’re big and they’re fast and they can cover a lot of space,” Patrica said of the back end of his defense. “Their ability to move in space and play the game with the speed that Texas has, those guys are fun football players to be around.”
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Of course, in an opener with so much new, the crowd in the Horseshoe and those crowded around TVs, had to bite nails and gnash teeth for most of the first quarter. Jeremiah Smith, the one and only, dropped two short passes on the second possession. He changed his gloves. The game changed. The mood changed.
Smith, in his new gloves, kick-started the first touchdown drive with a 16-yard catch over the middle and made six catches against a team that nearly shut him out in the Cotton Bowl. When the Buckeyes reached the red zone – the real estate they dominated in their championship run – they told the offensive line, “You got this.”
OSU defensive lineman Kayden McDonald pressures Arch Manning in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over Texas.
Sayin handed off on six straight plays, five to C.J. Donaldson and one to James Peoples. The time to take the lead came when the Buckeyes faced fourth-and-goal from just outside the one.
No one wanted to see kicker Jayden Fielding on the field until after the next play.
No way on this day, against this opponent, in this setting, would Day kick a field goal. He let new offensive coordinator Brian Hartline go for the end zone. The Buckeyes lined up in a heavy package, pushed the left side of Texas’ line out of the way and Donaldson scored with 8:57 left in the first half. Then Fielding got his turn and the Buckeyes led 7-0.
While Sayin was on target with every throw, his 6-for-11 start for 53 yards would have been better if not for Smith’s two drops – on one he had a lot of room to turn upfield – and another by new tight end Max Klare that would have converted a fourth down in the first quarter.
“I was impressed with his voice and what he was saying and what he was seeing,” Day said of Sayin.
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Sayin had rhythm throughout the game. Manning did not until the second half. Patrica’s defense wouldn’t let him throw it deep. He would look and dump it off or throw and hope against tight coverage. This Ohio State secondary will be difficult for any team to have consistent success downfield. They could reclaim the title of BIA (Best In America) and no one after this game will argue.
Some of Manning’s throws, especially slants, sailed high, which is a credit to the rush and the tight coverage working in tandem. He was 5 for 10 for 26 yards. Hardly the stuff of the Manning legacy. He ran five times for 13 yards and was sacked by Reese. Nothing Sarkisian called, including his acclaimed early-game script, established the Texas offense.
CJ Donaldson breaks an arm tackle on his longest run of the game in the second half.
The Ohio State defense made sure of it with fourth-down stops that made the roar in the Horseshoe sound like a night game.
The defensive line applied just enough pressure to the pocket and was ready to run him down when the secondary took away every downfield option. And the defensive front controlled the running game – 53 yards on 16 rushes.
When Texas found rhythm on its first drive of the second half, it learned why it’s unwise to go for it on fourth down against Ohio State’s goal-line defense. Last year Penn State, among others, learned that lesson the hard way. And, off all places, Texans should know not to mess with Ohio State’s goal-line defense.
The Longhorns moved 70 yards in 16 plays and took almost seven minutes to do it. On fourth-and-goal from the one, everyone in the stadium new Manning would try to sneak into the end zone. The Buckeyes knew it too, and Caden Curry and Kayden McDonald stopped him.
The Longhorns brought star power…actor Matthew McConaughey watches from the sidelines hoping for a second half Texas comeback.
The defense had won the game. Yet, the offense did what it needed to do with the opportunities the defense gave it.
After Mathews’ interception, Sayin heard on the sideline that the coaches might give him a chance to let it rip deep. And they did. Sayin completed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Tate for a 14-0 lead with 13:08 left.
Texas, never a team to doubt itself under Sarkisian, finally finished a drive on Manning’s 32-yard right-on-target touchdown pass to Parker Livingstone with 3:28 left. The Longhorns got another chance, but the crowd got louder and louder.
On fourth-and-five from the 50, Manning found out how quickly end C.J. Hicks can get to the pocket. He flipped a pass out to the side that was caught. But Caleb Downs stopped the play two yards short of the first down, and the Buckeyes got to run out the clock.
Patricia hadn’t coached in college for two decades. And he surely hadn’t been in a campus environment like Saturday.
“This place is loud – I absolutely love it,” he said. “You don’t get that kind of noise in an NFL game, so I’m super appreciative of that. I want to play home every game.”
The Buckeyes are now 4-3 at home against No. 1 teams. The Longhorns get why.
They and the nation learned Saturday that the Horseshoe, even at noon, can be a dark place for No. 1 teams.
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