For many who benefit from the artwork of alliteration, there are many methods to explain Saturday’s scintillating season-opening showdown at Ohio Stadium between Texas football and Ohio State.
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NO. 1 TEXAS AT NO. 3 OHIO STATE
When/the place: 11 a.m. Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
TV/radio: Fox; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM, 105.3 FM (Spanish)
Gargantuan gridiron recreation.
Colossal conflict in Columbus.
Large battle between blue bloods.
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Name it no matter you need. This season-opening soccer fracas on Fox includes a Texas staff that tops the Related Press’ ballot and Ohio State, which is third. The sport comes just a few months after Ohio State’s street to a nationwide championship featured a 28-14 win over Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
“I do not suppose it may well (get right here quickly sufficient). I do not suppose it may well,” UT operating again Quintrevion Wisner stated this week. “We’re positively prepared, although. Large recreation developing, large second. We’re ready.”
Ohio State Buckeyes security Sonny Types (6) tackles Texas Longhorns huge receiver Ryan Wingo (5) through the second half of the Cotton Bowl Traditional School Soccer Playoff semifinal recreation at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Jan. 10, 2025. Ohio State gained 28-14.
Ohio State and Texas respectively rank second and fifth on faculty soccer’s all-time wins chart. Simply two of UT’s 961 wins have come on the Buckeyes’ expense. Ohio State has additionally overwhelmed Texas twice.
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However regardless of not assembly one another that always, Texas and Ohio State have created loads of reminiscences collectively. Vince Younger’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Limas Sweed at Ohio Stadium acquired UT’s 2005 championship run began, and Ohio State bested Texas in Austin a 12 months later in a showdown between the top-two groups within the AP ballot. Quan Cosby’s dive into the top zone on the 2009 Fiesta Bowl stays a spotlight at Texas whereas Jack Sawyer’s sack, strip and rating to seal final season’s Cotton Bowl will not be forgotten anytime quickly in Columbus.
Texas’ historical past vs defending champions
After besting Texas on the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State superior to and gained the nationwide championship. Seven months later, Ohio State turns into the ninth defending champion in a 50-year span to play Texas the next season (a tenth defending champion, LSU, had its dwelling recreation towards Texas in 2020 canceled due to the pandemic).
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None of these defending champs, nevertheless, have been the primary staff listed on UT’s schedule. Texas performed Michigan final 12 months through the second week of the season, however Oklahoma and Nebraska have been convention foes in 1976, 1986, 1996, 1998 and 2001. USC and Miami’s 1990 and 2005 championship follow-ups featured postseason video games towards Texas.
Ohio State can be simply the third top-five staff that Texas has confronted in a season opener previously 50 years. Texas beat No. 5 Auburn in 1983, however was overwhelmed by the fifth-ranked Tigers to open the 1987 season.
Heading right into a recreation of this magnitude, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian admitted that he would have preferred to “get some footing beneath you with some new gamers, some guys that possibly have not performed with you, even when they’re transfers.” Sarkisian, although, pointed out that Ohio State is in the same boat. The Buckeyes are simply the sixth staff since 2000 to open up their championship protection towards a ranked opponent.
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“I feel on the finish of the day, if it is each of our first recreation, you’re feeling OK. The place I might be actually uncomfortable if this was our first recreation, and so they had already gotten the sport below their belt,” Sarkisian stated. “So it simply is what it’s. You attempt to put together your staff as greatest you’ll be able to. You attempt to reduce the self-inflicted wounds, and so you’ll be able to play as clear a soccer as potential come Saturday at midday.”
Based on UT, that is the twentieth time that the NCAA’s defending champion has confronted the No. 1 staff within the AP ballot. The Longhorns have been concerned in two of the earlier 19 showdowns. Texas was the reigning champion when it was overwhelmed in Austin by top-ranked Ohio State in 2006 and No. 1 Alabama on the 1965 Orange Bowl.
Chris Del Conte, athletics director on the College of Texas at Austin, publicizes Humann as a brand new sponsor throughout a press convention on the Texas Athletics Corridor of Fame on Monday Aug. 25, 2025.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-StatesmanDel Conte: Texas will proceed to schedule opponents like Ohio State
Final week, the SEC introduced that its soccer groups will every begin playing nine conference games in 2026. For UT’s first two seasons within the league, the SEC scheduled eight league video games. This implies SEC groups will solely schedule three nonconference video games sooner or later and league guidelines mandate that a type of contests have to be towards Notre Dame or a staff from the ACC, Large 12 or Large Ten.
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Texas already has future video games towards Ohio State (2026), Michigan (2027) and Arizona State (2032, 2033) on the books. Late final 12 months, Texas and Notre Dame introduced that they’re going to meet in nonconference in 2028 and 2029.
Texas hasn’t hidden its want to schedule video games that appeal to the highlight.
Lately, Texas has accomplished home-and-home nonconference sequence with Alabama, Cal, Notre Dame and USC, and the Longhorns hosted LSU and traveled to Michigan and performed Maryland inside an NFL stadium. Do not anticipate the Longhorns to vary that scheduling philosophy. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, who was a longtime proponent of the SEC increasing to 9 convention video games since UT performs Oklahoma on a impartial website yearly, told reporters this week the Longhorns have an “obligation” to play different big-name opponents.
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“The model of Texas, we owe it to school soccer to play the sort of recreation,” Del Conte stated. “We now have Michigan, we’ve got Ohio State, we simply scheduled Notre Dame. We had USC, we had LSU once we had a nine-game (convention) schedule within the Large 12. I feel with the discussions going across the CFP whether or not growth or not, the common season issues. Are we speaking in regards to the NFL opening video games proper now? No, they’re speaking about Texas taking part in Ohio State, they’re speaking about Alabama taking part in Florida State, Clemson taking part in LSU. These video games actually set the tone for school. We’re not shying away from it. We wish to protect faculty soccer within the nationwide panorama.
“Us not taking part in A&M for a very long time harm faculty soccer. Nebraska not taking part in Oklahoma is senseless to me. We have got to have these video games, they’re vital. Us taking part in Ohio State, everybody’s speaking about it. I am fired up for the sport.”
Relating to scheduling, Sarkisian does have a say in the matter. The soccer coach, nevertheless, stated this week that he leaves many of the work to Del Conte and his staff.
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However life within the SEC is hard sufficient as it’s. Would not the Longhorns be higher served taking part in their nonconference video games towards groups that are not anticipated to contend for nationwide championships? On Monday, Sarkisian did not suppose so. Within the coach’s thoughts, he stated, he did not imagine {that a} loss in one in every of these video games would hurt a staff’s possibilities at qualifying for the School Soccer Playoff.
“I take into consideration the CFP, and as we proceed to evolve from two groups to 4 groups to 12 groups and God is aware of the place we will go subsequent, my thought is sort of that you just get rewarded for enjoying these video games,” Sarkisian stated. “The purpose is to be rewarded for enjoying these video games. Clearly, you’ll be able to reward your self by successful. That is useful, however I simply do not suppose both us, or Ohio State for that matter, goes to get punished for enjoying on this recreation from a CFP standpoint.”
