We are just three days away from what many have dubbed the biggest regular season game in Sarkisian’s Texas tenure. Ohio State comes to Austin for a Top 4 matchup
, carrying the No. 1 ranking Texas carried into Columbus last season. Much of the time in college football, you get games decided by sheer talent discrepancy, not true Xs and Os matchups. Texas vs. Ohio State, because of the remarkable talent for both teams, will be a game decided by matchups.Here are the five matchups I believe will define Saturday night:
Will Muschamp vs. Arthur Smith
This is an easy one. Two “new” faces in both places, both carrying remarkable resumes behind them. On Saturday, it’ll be a true chess match. Jeremiah Smith was held largely in check by former Texas DC Pete Kwaitkowski. Can Muschamp
match that vs. Jeremiah Smith while keeping his aggression up front? Can Arthur Smith find openings for Jeremiah Smith against a Texas defense that will be gameplanning for him? Beyond that, can Arthur Smith find consistent openings for a run game that started slow against Ball State? Whenever you play a high-powered offense like Ohio State, the coordinator battle tends to decide if the defense can keep up.
Steve Sarkisian vs. Matt Patricia
It’s straightforward but the play callers will decide this game. Last season, Patircia decisively won the battle against Sarkisian, bottling the Texas offense and consistently confusing Arch Manning. Does Sarkisian have answers for Patricia the second time around? It’s known the pieces for Sarkisian to work with have improved but they still need to be schemed open against this defense. The run game didn’t look overly efficient against Texas State, meaning Sarkisian will have to get creative to find running lanes vs. Ohio State. These are two of the top playcallers in the country. Patricia dominated the first matchup. Can Sarkisian return the favor this time around?
Texas WRs vs. Ohio State Secondary
This is another matchup where Ohio State got the best of Texas last season. The Texas WRs struggled to find separation against the Buckeye secondary, leading to more offensive inefficiency. This season, the Texas WR core seems to be much improved and, while losing Caleb Downs, the Ohio State secondary is still top notch. Cam Coleman vs. Devin Sanchez is one of the top WR-CB matchups in the country this season. Ryan Wingo vs. Jermaine Matthews Jr. was a top tier matchup last season(that Matthews won). Emmett Mosley vs. true freshman Jay Timmons is an intriguing battle in the slot. Top to bottom, it’s future NFL players vs. future NFL players. Who will win the battle?
Texas Pass Rush vs. Ohio State OL
The areas Texas struggled against Ohio State last season were where they struggled all season. This is the exception to that rule. The Texas pass rush has not impacted the Ohio State games to the degree they’ve impacted others. That needs to change this weekend if Texas wants to win. Julian Sayin, when given time, is arguably the best QB in the country. Texas will need to consistently pressure him to have consistent success in this game defensively. The Ohio State OL is still shuffling, trying to find their starting five up front. Can the Texas pass rush, particularly Colin Simmons, take advantage of that unlike past matchups?
Texas RBs vs. Ohio State LBs
As this game approaches, it feels the non-WR pass catchers could define this game. For Texas, both Smothers and Brown are dangerous out of the backfield and flashed that against Texas State. The Ohio State LBs are led by a quartet of Christian Alliegro, Payton Pierce, TJ Alford and Riley Pettijohn. This unit has two players with elite experience(Alliegro and Pierce) and two younger players with remarkable upside(Alford and Pettijohn). The ability for Smothers and Brown to win matchups on the outside vs. the Ohio State LBs could decide this game. Not to mention the ability to make them miss in the run game on a consistent basis.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Matchups to watch: Play calling duels will define Texas vs. Ohio State
