CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: medinabuckeye1 on August 13, 2025, 05:12:57 PM
-
This is an unusual situation in that this will be Texas' second consecutive game against Ohio State. Ohio State had the NC against Notre Dame in between.
The two teams have four prior meetings with each team winning in the other team's stadium in 2005/6 and a split of postseason games with Texas beating Ohio State 24-21 in the 2009 (2008 season) Fiesta Bowl and Ohio State beating Texas in the 2024 CFP Semi-Final at the Cotton Bowl in January. All four games have been relatively big with the 2005 and 2006 games directly impacting BCSNCG participation, the Fiesta Bowl being essentially for #3, and the CFP Semi-final (sorry ND fans) being effectively for the NC. The winners of the 2005 (TX) and 2024 (tOSU) games won that year's NC. Here is a look back at the four previous games in this series:
Saturday, September 10, 2005 #4 Ohio State 22 hosted #2 Texas 25 in Columbus. Both teams had won the previous week against mid-major opponents. Texas' win kept them at #2 and they remained there all year up until ascending to #1 after beating the Trojans in the BCSNCG/Rose Bowl. Texas' three point win in Columbus was easily their closest game of the regular season and it was a doozy of a game. Texas scored the first 10 points then Ohio State stormed back to take a 16-10 lead. Texas kicked a FG as the first half ended to make it 16-13 in favor of Ohio State at the break.
The third quarter turned out to be a FG contest with tOSU winning 2-1. Thus, the Buckeyes were clinging to a 22-16 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Texas scored a TD with just over two-and-a-half minutes remaining to take a one point lead and sacked Ohio State's QB for a safety during Ohio State's desperate final attempt to arrive at the 25-22 final score.
Key plays/series:
After Ohio State kicked a FG with less than a minute remaining in the first half to take a 16-10 lead, Vince Young drove the Longhorns 34 yards in 00:31 to get Texas in range for a FG to cut the lead to 3 rather than 6 at the break. Given how the rest of the game played out, this was HUGE.
The Buckeyes had a six point lead and got a first down at the Texas 29 yard line with about six-and-a-half minutes to play. A FG would have made it a two-score game and likely ended it in favor of the Ohio State. The Bucks ran for no gain on 1st and 10 then threw a pass on second down. The pass was deflected at the line and caught in the backfield by the tOSU RB for a loss of a yard. On 3rd and 11 the Buckeyes attempted a pass to pick up the first down. I think Jim Tressel probably still has nightmares about that series. The 50 yard FG attempt on 4th and 11 barely missed. It was SOCLOSE that if the 2nd down pass had simply fallen incomplete or if Ohio State had run for a yard or two on 3rd down, the FG probably would have been good and Ohio State would have had a 9-point, two-score lead at 25-16 with just five minutes remaining.
Saturday, September 9, 2006 #2 Texas 7 hosted #1 Ohio State 24. Just like in 2005 both teams had defeated mid-major opponents the previous week. This time the game was not just top-4 but a 1vs2 GOTC showdown although Ohio State ended up playing three 1v2 GOTC games that year.
This was by far the least competitive of the four games in this series but even this one was a pretty good game. The key play/series was that after Texas tied the game late in the 2nd quarter with a TD, Troy Smith led Ohio State on a 5 play, 66 yard drive in less than two minutes to give Ohio State a 14-7 lead that they would never relinquish.
Monday, January 5, 2009 #3 Texas 24, #10 Ohio State 21 in the Fiesta Bowl. This was a back-and-forth sturggle until the final seconds. Ohio State led 6-3 at the break but Texas scored two 3rd Quarter TD's to take a 17-6 lead into the 4th quarter. Ohio State kicked a FG early in the 4th Quarter to cut the lead to 8 and 17-9. Then Ohio State scored a TD midway through the 4th quarter to pull within two at 17-15 but couldn't get the 2pt conversion. Ohio State scored another TD and failed on another 2pt conversion to make it 21-17 Buckeyes with 2 minutes to go but Texas scored a TD in the final seconds for the 24-21 win.
Everyone here will remember the CFP semi-final from eight months ago in which a sack/strip/scoop/score by Jack Sawyer turned what looked like it was about to be a 21-21 tie late into a 28-14 Ohio State win.
-
Everyone here will remember the CFP semi-final from eight months ago in which a sack/strip/scoop/score by Jack Sawyer turned what looked like it was about to be a 21-21 tie late into a 28-14 Ohio State win.
Barf.
Anyway, there's NO WAY Texas can beat Ohio State!!!!
-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQA6Df205sk
-
This series may have the highest average ranking of participants of any series. Entering the 5th contest both teams have been ranked for all five with rankings of:
- 1 twice: tOSU 06, TX 25
- 2 twice: TX 05, TX 06
- 3 twice: TX 08 tOSU 25
- 4 twice: tOSU 05, TX 24
- 6 once: tOSU 24
- 10 once: tOSU 08
-
Barf.
Anyway, there's NO WAY Texas can beat Ohio State!!!!
Thats The Ohio State
-
I predict 27-24.
-
Barf.
Anyway, there's NO WAY Texas can beat Ohio State!!!!
Stop it I'll take Texas - 14 Buckeyes got drafted can't stock the shelves that fast.Could be Deja Vu - all over again in '05.Good omen for you billy goats on stilts
-
Stop it I'll take Texas - 14 Buckeyes got drafted can't stock the shelves that fast.Could be Deja Vu - all over again in '05.Good omen for you billy goats on stilts
Eh, Horns had 12 drafted, can't really play that card.
Gonna be a lotta fresh faces on the field on both sides. The game is in Columbus.
Which is why there is NO WAY Texas can beat the Buckeyes.
-
Programs like Texas and OSU of course lose a TON of talent each year, and restock. I was idly listening to Josh Pate last night, he's about the only "expert" I can tolerate hearing for more than a minute. He talked about how tough it is to evaluate the new players beyond their HS "stars".
In my world, these games come down to the unpredictable, a tipped or dropped pass, a fumble, key penalty, missed assignment ... they happen randomly I think. Such games result in "what ifs" for the losing side. "If only" #88 had not bobbled that pass. But it's fun to guess.
-
or possibly a sack/strip/scoop/score
-
(https://i.imgur.com/G41MoI2.png)
-
Eh, Horns had 12 drafted, can't really play that card.
Gonna be a lotta fresh faces on the field on both sides. The game is in Columbus.
Which is why there is NO WAY Texas can beat the Buckeyes.
Sure I can not sure if you saw what Treyvon Henderson did the 1st time he touched the ball with the Patriots - went yard.Losing him and Will Howard that is a lot of seasoning D-Line seems paper thin also.Horns by 10
-
(https://i.imgur.com/G41MoI2.png)
Bwarb whipping up some West Coast IPA's?
-
or possibly a sack/strip/scoop/score
well, ya know inexperienced QBs
-
A question, how critical is it today for starting QBs to have a lot of real game experience?
Had you rather have an uber talented inexperienced guy or a pretty good guy who started last season?
I lean to thinking these elite level QBs already have a ton of "real" experience these days, granted high level HS is not like high level college, but the pressure is present there. These guys come in in the spring, then practice all summer, then fall camp, my GUESS is they are a lot better prepared than they would have been in 1990, or 2000. The OCs may give them a simplified game plan, a shortened list of audibles to call, but if the team around them is elite, I think they can mostly avoid stupid mistakes and play quite well.
It would help to have a couple pastries out of the gate as UGA does, not facing OSU/Texas.
-
Barf.
Anyway, there's NO WAY Texas can beat Ohio State!!!!
If either of the new starting quarterbacks doesn’t play fantastically, they should be benched and then shot into the sun.
-
One fan base will be ecstatic, one will be morose. The latter may want to fire the coach and shoot the starting QB into the sun.
The former will annoint their team as the "new Alabama" with the title assured.
-
woulda been worse 20 seasons ago - one loss could knock you out of the MNC chance
-
Yup. Now a loss in this game just reduces your team's margin of error for making the playoffs.
-
I'm picking Texas by 2 scores. I know the transitive property doesn't hold water, but...
Just last year, Oregon held on to beat OSU in the regular season in a close, entertaining, fairly even match. Fast forward three months, the same teams take the field, and a huge can of whoop ass is opened, OSU rolls to an easy victory.
Now those roles are reversed. Texas had a 1st and goal from the three-yard line to tie the game. Then the sack/strip/scoop/score changed an evenly matched tie into the two-score final that the record books have documented.
And just like the SEC mouthpiece Finebaum says, Texas has a huge chip on its shoulder, and OSU is drunk on its national title. I think Texas comes out with their hair on fire and takes a comfortable lead. An OSU will claw its way back into a respectable final score. 27-17 bad guys.
-
Horns by 10
Yup
-
woulda been worse 20 seasons ago - one loss could knock you out of the MNC chance
Not "woulda", was. I was at this game exactly 20 years ago and it did knock tOSU out of the MNC chase.
Yup. Now a loss in this game just reduces your team's margin of error for making the playoffs.
Exactly, it is just about how many mulligans you have to give the rest of the way and seeding which apparently doesn't matter since last year's top-4 seeds each lost their CFP opener and the NC ended up being #7 vs #8.
-
And just like the SEC mouthpiece Finebaum says, Texas has a huge chip on its shoulder, and OSU is drunk on its national title. I think Texas comes out with their hair on fire and takes a comfortable lead. An OSU will claw its way back into a respectable final score. 27-17 bad guys.
With all the turnover I'm not sure how much this applies. In the old days you'd have had a LOT of starters on the Texas team that were major contributors in the loss in January and sure they'd likely have chips on their shoulders. Then you'd have had a LOT of starters on the tOSU team that were major contributors in the January win and NC and sure, they might be 'drunk on their NC' but turnover is higher than ever so for a LOT of the starters on both sides this will be the first time they've seen this opponent.
Frankly I think predicting this (or any first week game that is a reasonably even match-up) is an exercise in futility. I think that @Cincydawg (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=870) is right that:
I lean to thinking these elite level QBs already have a ton of "real" experience these days, granted high level HS is not like high level college, but the pressure is present there. These guys come in in the spring, then practice all summer, then fall camp, my GUESS is they are a lot better prepared than they would have been in 1990, or 2000. The OCs may give them a simplified game plan, a shortened list of audibles to call, but if the team around them is elite, I think they can mostly avoid stupid mistakes and play quite well.
With that said, there is still no substitute for real high-level college competition and nobody really knows how Arch Manning and whoever ends up starting at QB for the Buckeyes are going to perform. If one hits the ground running and looks like a Hypesman contender while the other has some freshman struggles then this could easily be a blowout either way. OTOH, if both look like Hypesmans or both look like freshmen then this is probably a close game, all else being equal (or reasonably close thereto).
A lot of times with new starters it can be both in the same game. In that 2005 game Vince Young ended up being the hero after leading Texas' game-winning drive late but earlier in the game he threw two "freshman" interceptions each of which set up the Buckeyes in FG range. Texas outgained Ohio State, gaining more than half-again as many yards but they had three turnovers that each resulted in an easy FG for the Buckeyes. Ohio State's only turnover was in desperation time AFTER Texas' game-winning drive. Those three turnovers kept Texas from walking away with it and almost led to an Ohio State win. That is the kind of thing that is basically impossible to predict.
-
Finebaum is an idiot and a blowhard who knows absolutely nothing about the Texas program. He doesn't consider Texas to be a real SEC team, which is fine because Texas is not a real SEC team, and never will be.
Buckeyes are replacing a lot of pieces with excellent new pieces. Texas is, too.
Game is in Columbus, Buckeyes win by 7.
-
Finebaum is perhaps no worse than some other "experts" on TV and radio. I doubt he even views himself as an expert on games. Maybe he does.
To me, he's boring and predictable, I tune him out.