{"id":321851,"date":"2025-08-27T14:13:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/321851\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T14:13:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:13:15","slug":"five-reasons-ohio-state-football-will-beat-texas-in-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/321851\/","title":{"rendered":"Five reasons Ohio State football will beat Texas in Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ohio State<\/a> kicks off the 2025 college football season this Saturday with a high-stakes showdown against a familiar opponent: the No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns<\/a>. These two teams last met in January at the Cotton Bowl with a spot in the College Football Playoff<\/a> national championship on the line. The Buckeyes<\/a> came out on top<\/a> in that battle and are hoping to start this season in similar fashion\u2014by wrangling the Longhorns<\/a> once again and jumping out to a 1-0 start.<\/p>\n

We believe this Buckeye team is being underrated at the moment and think they’ll come out on top this weekend. Maybe we’re biased, or maybe we just know a little bit more about the roster and the talent waiting to burst out than the national media.<\/p>\n

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With that in mind, here are five reasons we think Ohio State beats Texas on Saturday at the Shoe.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah Smith\"Sept.<\/p>\n

Sept. 7, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA Division I football game on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.<\/p>\n

The last time the Buckeyes faced Texas, more than seven months ago, the Longhorns made it a priority to shut down standout freshman wide receiver and First-Team All-American Jeremiah Smith<\/a>. He was held to just one catch for three yards and spent most of the game serving as a decoy in the Ohio State offense.<\/p>\n

That likely won\u2019t be the case this time around. With a new quarterback under center in Julian Sayin<\/a>, expect Smith to be a focal point from the opening snap. Sayin will look to get the ball in his hands early and often, setting the stage for what could be a big-time revenge performance.<\/p>\n

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The Texas offensive line\"Dec<\/p>\n

Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; The Texas Longhorns offense lines up for a snap against the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron E. Martinez\/USA Today Network via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Texas enters the season with a rebuilt offensive line, returning just one starter and replacing nearly 70 percent of last year\u2019s snaps after three linemen were drafted to the NFL. While talented, this unit will be playing its first game together\u2014on the road, in a loud and hostile environment.<\/p>\n

Expect new Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to turn up the pressure and test their chemistry early with a variety of blitzes aimed at keeping Arch Manning on his toes.<\/p>\n

Ohio against the world\"The<\/p>\n

The Ohio State Marching Band waves an “Ohio against the world” flag during the first half of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against the Oregon Ducks at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2025.<\/p>\n

This has been a rallying point for Ohio State for over a decade, and it played a major role in last year\u2019s push for a national championship. Despite being slight favorites in this matchup according to Vegas (-1.5), the Buckeyes still seem to be flying under the radar.<\/p>\n

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Many fans and analysts appear to be leaning heavily toward Texas. ESPN\u2019s Paul Finebaum didn\u2019t hold back<\/a>, saying on “Get Up,” \u201cI expect Texas to beat them, and I think they\u2019re going to beat them badly.\u201d That kind of doubt tends to fuel Ohio State. Historically, the Buckeyes respond when the outside world counts them out\u2014and it seems like that\u2019s exactly the narrative heading into Saturday.<\/p>\n

Julian Sayin\"Ohio<\/p>\n

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin (10) takes a snap during football training camp at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Aug. 1, 2025.<\/p>\n

All offseason, the spotlight has been on Arch Manning and the hype surrounding his Heisman<\/a> campaign. He enters the year as the odds-on favorite to win the trophy at nearly every major sportsbook in the country. Meanwhile, Ohio State\u2019s starting quarterback, Julian Sayin, has flown under the radar with far less national buzz. Sayin was a five-star recruit<\/a> and the No. 2 quarterback in the nation coming out of high school. He originally committed to Alabama<\/a>, chosen by none other than Nick Saban<\/a> to be the future of the Crimson Tide<\/a>. That kind of endorsement from the greatest coach in college football history speaks volumes.<\/p>\n

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After Saban\u2019s retirement, Sayin made the move to Ohio State, where he now has the chance to make his mark. On Saturday, expect him to come out firing and introduce himself to the college football world in a big way.<\/p>\n

Matt Patricia\"Ohio<\/p>\n

Ohio State Buckeyes defensive coordinator Matt Patricia watches during football training camp at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Aug. 1, 2025.<\/p>\n

Ohio State fans were surprised and disappointed when former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles left<\/a> for conference rival Penn State<\/a>. Knowles wanted a contract extension before the national championship game, but Ohio State and head coach Ryan Day hesitated. Sensing the uncertainty, Knowles began exploring other opportunities and ultimately became the highest-paid assistant coach in college football.<\/p>\n

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To fill the gap, Ohio State hired Matt Patricia<\/a>, a well-known defensive mind and literal rocket scientist with a storied NFL career. Patricia\u2019s unique background and experience should bring out the best in Ohio State\u2019s defensive talent in 2025. On Saturday, expect him to have a few tricks up his sleeve that catch the Texas offense off guard.<\/p>\n

The Buckeyes will aim to start strong and get their playmakers going right away. Expect this game to be a tough, low-scoring defensive battle and promises to be must-watch TV.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: 5 reasons Ohio State will beat Texas in Week 1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ohio State kicks off the 2025 college football season this Saturday with a high-stakes showdown against a familiar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[615,1675,331,332,7,2233,2226,2277,49,48,1446,1078],"class_list":{"0":"post-321851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-arch-manning","9":"tag-buckeyes","10":"tag-college-football","11":"tag-college-football-playoff","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-jeremiah-smith","14":"tag-julian-sayin","15":"tag-matt-patricia","16":"tag-ncaa","17":"tag-ncaa-football","18":"tag-ohio-state","19":"tag-texas-longhorns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115101145993907076","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}