We are just over 48 hours away from Texas facing Ohio State under the lights in Austin. We’ve gone through the Buckeyes, Longhorns and matchups to watch in this marquee matchup. Now, it’s time for the keys for Texas leaving with the biggest regular season win under Steve Sarkisian. Texas has different paths to winning this game, but none of them include Texas failing at these things.
Trusting The Run Game
This is the sole offensive concern that showed itself vs. Texas State. Outside of a few explosives, the run game was rather inefficient for the Longhorns. Against Ohio State, I don’t see the run game being overly consistent, but Sarkisian has to commit to it. While Arch is capable of “taking over” games, he shouldn’t have to in this game. Manning throwing the ball
35+ times in this game is not a great path to success for Texas. Even if it’s a slow start, Sarkisian and Texas need to commit to the run and wait for the explosives to come, which they will with the Smothers/Brown duo.
Force Sayin To Move
There isn’t a QB in the country that is more accurate than Sayin. If he is clean in the pocket, he will dominate the Texas defense. He would dominate any defense in the country if he was kept upright the entire game. Texas has to force the Buckeyes QB to move out of the pocket and make throws slightly off-platform. Now, he can make those throws as well, but allowing him to be on-platform is not an option. If Colin Simmons, Lance Jackson and this DL can’t get after No. 10 consistently, he’ll leave Saturday as the Heisman front-runner.
Crowd Wins Margins For You
This is the benefit to having this game on home turf. The DKR crowd needs to be a difference maker in this game, particularly when it comes to communication. Sayin needs to have trouble hearing the OL and vice versa. The noise needs to make a difference in this game, forcing Ohio State into presnap penalties on both sides of the ball. Obviously, the players and coaches on the field will decide this game but the Texas crowd needs to be a factor for the Longhorns to win this one.
Fourth Quarter Arch Brilliance
You aren’t getting the 4th quarter being able to stamp 1-0 on your record. These two teams are far too close for one team to dominate the other from start to finish. Both teams are too explosive and too special offensively to not have a game down the stretch. That is where someone like Arch Manning needs to be brilliant. He’ll need to make special plays with his arm or legs down the stretch in this game. Obviously, the players around him need to step up but at some point on Saturday night, Manning needs to be the best player on the field.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Keys to a Texas win vs. Ohio State: Trust the run, Manning in the 4th
