Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian Says Ohio State is a “Really Good Football Program,” Hopes to Face Buckeyes Again in College Football Playoff​

“Ton of respect for Ohio State. ... They're a really good program, and Ryan has a really talented roster. He's got really good coaches. They play the game the right way. They're tough.”

“Beating a team like that is, in essence, a win for the season, but I also think it serves as a good barometer of where we're at as a program this season. They're not going anywhere. I told Ryan after the game, ‘I hope we see you again.’ That's a good sign for both of us, right, if we get a chance to see him again. They're one heckuva team.”

“We felt like we had to apply more pressure on the quarterback. To do that, you gotta put your corners in one-on-one scenarios, and that was the struggle. We were trying to double (Jeremiah Smith) and that wasn't working, and we weren't stopping the run, and we weren't getting to the quarterback. So, we made the adjustment.”

We’re still doing this thing where we blame the defense despite the offense barely being able to do anything for a whole half resulting in them being on the field the whole time?

Captain Buckeye said:

A bit of sleep and I’m starting to think it’s really not worth being a sports fan. I gave up being a pro sports fan long ago and the bucks are about the last sports I watch.

you’ll likely end the year in a loss and even if you win it’s on to the next year.

Losses like last night are tough. I can’t imagine what these players and coaches are thinking after that collapse

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There are definitely more important and worthwhile things in life than sports games lol. I'm thankful for my Wife and French Bulldog.

I'm not going to stop watching the Buckeyes, but typically after they lose a game or two I tend to not be as invested until the playoffs. It's not worth the stress tbh. Maybe that's a byproduct of me growing up with the BCS, idk. From this point on I won't have to worry about "will they have a perfect season" and all the other bs. Hopefully they will improve and make things interesting come playoff time.

Kicker strikes again.

I’m still at a loss as to how OSU is in this current position of having “C” level talent at kicker and punter.

Takeaways from the game:

1. Jeremiah Smith is the best player in cfb

2. Sayin was fixated on Jeremiah too often however. Missed a couple easy ones. Seemed to have no rhythm in 2nd half. Good QB, not great as of right now.

3. Other WRs didn't do much, were they open and Julian didn't see them or did they just suck? Seemed like Texas defenders were stuck to them like glue and they couldn't separate.

4. Oline played decent, although not a whole lot of push in the run game.

5. Bo is by far our best tailback and has good vision to navigate through the hole. Good pass catcher out of the backfield.

6. Smith called a decent game. 2nd half was very disjointed. Took foot off the gas. Day or Smith's fault?

7. Tight ends played decently. They and the running backs were the secondary targets for Julian after Jeremiah.

8. Defense got exposed. They were lucky Arch missed a few throws that easily could have led to points.

9. Peyton Pierce should not be a starter at linebacker. Too slow and not very instinctive.

10. Interior DL looked like Swiss cheese at times. Soft other than a few nice plays by Walker. Houston and Smith disappeared and didn't do much of anything.

11. KJ was by far the best defensive lineman on the field for the Buckeyes. Made a number of plays. Other than Zion and Khary having a couple of pressures the other defensive ends were no shows. Russaw didn't do anything.

12. Late in the game Texas torched our zone coverage. Absolutely no pass rush and rushing 3 defensive lineman at that point in the game when it wasn't working pissed me off. Why!!!

13. Defense forgot how to play defense for the most important qtr of the game.

14. Still can't make a clutch field goal.

15. Another big game loss where the offense sputtered. Up 20 points to start the 4th qtr. Day's conservative nature in the 2nd half bites him in the ass once again. He plays not to lose and it's infuriating. Even the 2024 playoff run with Oregon and ND. Didn't step on their throats in the 2nd half either.

15. This game was en epic choke job that rivals the 2017 Super Bowl.

16. In the grand scheme of things, they lost by 1 point, on the road, to a top 3 team in the country (similar to Oregon road loss in 2024). I guess what makes this one feel so much worse is the manner in which the game was lost. Up by 20 freaking points to start the 4th quarter, and wiped out in 15 minutes of football. Not good!

billmac91 said:

I can’t stand Ryan Day’s “we need to win the 4th quarter” shit…..it annoys TF outta me.

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On que……game 1000% did NOT need to be 4 quarter game. Put that away in 3rd quarter bc you’re that much better.

But they crawl into a shell, get way too
Conservative, and let Texas claw back into it. I’m sorry, but I just dislike the Ryan Day product right now….even in wine, it just isn’t much fun. I guess I’m spoiled and I’ll own that, but this team evolved into a stiff date.

lvbuckeye said:

Winning the 2024 natty is the worst thing that happened to Ohio State in my lifetime.

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Yeah, I fucking hated all 4 of those postseason games.

Mike80 said:

I don't give a shit if you've been a fan since 1923 and wiped the sweat off of Les Horvath's taint, no one cares.

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Hey, don’t bring me into this!

A bit of sleep and I’m starting to think it’s really not worth being a sports fan. I gave up being a pro sports fan long ago and the bucks are about the last sports I watch.

you’ll likely end the year in a loss and even if you win it’s on to the next year.

Losses like last night are tough. I can’t imagine what these players and coaches are thinking after that collapse

BuckBackHome said:

This is the reality of playing top teams so early in the season. Let's hope the staff and players learn and grow from this. Time to focus on Kent State.

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Idk these losses are all starting to feel the same. Not sure what to take away from this other than "Don't commit coaching malpractice in the 4th." Wasn't like Texas just ruthlessly exploited an obvious flaw. The obvious flaw is that Day is a head case in these matchups. Wouldn't have mattered if prime Bill Belichick was DC and prime Andy Reid was OC.

This is the reality of playing top teams so early in the season. Let's hope the staff and players learn and grow from this. Time to focus on Kent State.

All time choke job

It is what it is.

inliner311 said:

I think the design of the offense doesn't utilize our best player in Smith to his absolute fullest because Sayin isn't a good deep ball thrower. I think Sayin basically limits this offense. Smith and the other WRs were recruited to play one style which was basically a lot more about stretching the field and Sayin basically takes that out of the equation.

While I wouldn't say Sayin was the problem tonight. I do think if we had a better fit at QB to the other talent the offense would have more explosive plays and a higher ceiling. Sayin would fit better in an offense full of players that are great at getting YAC. Legend Bey might need to be incorporated more to help but since Day has been here the shifty YAC receivers haven't been a priority in recruiting. Route running and speed is what Day have looked for at WR. Without being able to stretch the field, the other WRs have to deal with a compressed field and Smith's talent doesn't open up the offense like it should.

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Sayin is one of the most accurate deep ball throwers in college football history. Tf you talking about?

Captain Buckeye said:

No, no way.

They certainly could’ve done something to ice the game but all the offense had to do was score 1 time. Literally just once.

I will edit to say that we need to evaluate the defense. Get #5 on the field on defense. I don’t care if that takes 26 off the field. Do it.

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The O didn't even need to score. They just needed to burn 4 minutes of clock and punt, and they couldn't even do that. They had a 1:05 3 and out and a 1:33 3 and out on consecutive possessions at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter. Texas scored a TD after each of those miserable possessions.

Jagdaddy said:

The question is, where does the pussy vibe come from? He didn’t have it as an OC, or even in his first year as HC. I’d really hoped he’d conquered it with the 2024 run, but apparently not.

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Head Coaches are generally the most conservative people on earth, and the longer they coach, the more conservative they get.

Tressel has 5 natties in 9 tries, but he was only conservative until the end of the season, and then he went balls out.

Urban went balls out all the time, but it lead to some inexplicable losses when his teams just couldn't get up for the 6th week in a row.

Andy Reid has always had an enormous playbook, and then the playbook reduced to nothing in the post season. it took Patrick Mahomes to finally bring him out of his shell.

So it shouldn't come as a shock that Day is trending more conservatively.

As far as I'm concerned, the 2024 run is on the players. They won in spite of Ryan Day, not because of him. Unless and until Ryan Day proves that he ISN'T a turtle, and he turtled the entire 2025 season, then I have no faith in him. He turtled so magnificently tonight that he managed not only to pull his head and feet in the shell, but to flip on his back in the process.

Larry could be the head coach, with Curly as the DC, and Moe as the OC, and the Buckeyes would still win 80% of their games.

But Day is a good Christian guy with nipple rings and a Just for Men beard whose dad killed himself when he was a kid, so I guess that the scrutiny that comes with being one of the highest paid coaches in college football doesn't apply. Because reasons.

OHSportsFan said:

We need more mutiny then.

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Or a different guy running the show. Maybe nipple rings and a Just-For-Men beard really resonate with the recruits, but somehow I don't think that's it.

OHSportsFan said:

All the losses are the same.

His offense does not do enough for whatever reason (FGs, OL, one dimensional play calls).

Ohio State has now lost 3 of its last 4 games.

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Just like the end of the 2013 season to the beginning of the 2014. Hopefully this season ends the same

BuckeyeNation27 said:

Jesus. I didn't realize how soft y'all were. Maybe I'll be able to afford Maryland tickets now that all you guys are done.

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Eventually you might stop blaming the fans for the head coach's dumbfounding failures.

DaveyBoy said:

Trying to cool off but not having much success yet……

Ryan Day has faced these teams with equal or greater talent than his OSU team:
2019 Clemson - lost a heartbreaker
2020 Alabama - destroyed but it was covid year, so let’s throw it out
2022 Georgia - lost a heartbreaker
2023 Michigan -lost in a blowout but Stalions was
2024 Texas - won a very close game broken open by sawyer
2026 Texas - lost a heartbreaker

that’s a record 1-5…..fairly probably 1-4. Not inspiring

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To be fair that's just Ohio State... Always the bridesmaid. Winning titles is a crazy task.

Makes the Championship seasons really special.

gmen6981 said:

Could have lived with a hard fought loss, Hell the Bucks were underdogs, But to lose after blowing a 20pt lead? This one hurts.

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Winning the 2024 natty is the worst thing that happened to Ohio State in my lifetime. Day was an AWESOME OC. He's a horrible head coach.

Trying to cool off but not having much success yet……

Ryan Day has faced these teams with equal or greater talent than his OSU team:
2019 Clemson - lost a heartbreaker
2020 Alabama - destroyed but it was covid year, so let’s throw it out
2022 Georgia - lost a heartbreaker
2023 Michigan -lost in a blowout but Stalions was
2024 Texas - won a very close game broken open by sawyer
2026 Texas - lost a heartbreaker

that’s a record 1-5…..fairly probably 1-4. Not inspiring

Discounting the missed FG, that last offensive possession is going to bother the fuck out of me for a while.

2nd & 3 from the 27 yields 0 points.

2nd down and we call weakside zone that gets snuffed out with a nice assist in poor execution from the OL
3rd down and the OL surrenders pressure vs a 5 man rush with man free behind it. Meanwhile Julian checks to the vertical shot outside to Jeremiah and didn't work the (MUCH) higher 'Hank' to the boundary.

We've pretty much picked up exactly where we left off vs Miami.

- QB situation is highly dependent on the OL
- OL has individual rep fails on the majority of downs that limit the running game and/or passing game execution.

For me it all starts up front and this OL scarily reminds me of the Jim Bollman days at times.

Yep. Wouldn’t have mattered they would’ve just got the 2 points each time.

The biggest mistake was just not staying aggressive.

280 yards at the half compared to 97 yards.

And we fucking lost.

This is the kind of loss that makes a team lose a few more.

We can’t afford 2 more losses to here’s hoping Ryan gets it figured out.

1926Buckeyes said:

You guys get minions with your subscription???

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$77 per minion.