The early portion of the Cotton Bowl Classic between Ohio State and Texas has been mostly Buckeyes.
After getting a stop to open the game, Ohio State drove the ball right down the field and Quinshon Judkins punched it in from five yards out to give the Buckeyes a 7-0 lead. Ohio State got another stop and the Buckeyes were driving for what felt like they would go up two scores before TreVeyon Henderson had an uncharacteristic unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that set Ohio State back and forced them to punt.
However, through a little more than a quarter, no one can deny which team is more physical and which teams looks more dangerous on offense. Will Howard is connecting with his wide receivers and the Buckeyes are — for the most part — moving the ball.
Texas, on the other hand, has had no success on the ground thus far and very little success through the air. Though Quinn Ewers has completed a few nice passes, he has also held onto the ball too long in certain situations, resulting in sacks.
Texas's defense is keeping it in the game — currently down 7-0 at the time of this writing — but the offense is doing nothing to help. Ewers is simply not a threat to the Ohio State offense, at least early on.
That brings us to the question: Will Texas turn to Arch Manning in an attempt to jump-start the offense? The Longhorn defense can only hold for so long before the floodgates will start to open. It's going to take the offense getting on the board and making some plays — including extending a few drives simply to keep the defense off the field — and Ewers isn't getting the job done, at least not early.
We'll see if Texas continues to lean on the veteran quarterback, or if they turn to their talented redshirt freshman in Arch Manning. Manning is at the very least a dual-threat and that may give Ohio State some pause from showing the same blitzes it has early.
It's a chess game, for sure, and while we don't know how it will all play out, Steve Sarkisian at least has to have this consideration in the back of his mind if things continue to go the way they're trending.