Week 1 of the College Football season has arrived and while Week 0 officially started the season, this week is the true beginning of the season as every team will play. There are plenty of massive games to start the year but, none are bigger than Texas Vs Ohio State. The matchup pits the top ranked Texas Longhorns against the 3rd ranked defending National Champion Buckeyes.
Trying to pick a winner in this game is almost impossible especially as we haven't seen either of these new look groups at this point. When trying to find a determining factor, quarterback can't be the reason as both teams have new starters and roster turnover can't be either as both teams were crushed by the NFL Draft.
Coaching continuity will allow Texas to knock off Ohio State
When trying to find a reason why either team will win this game, the biggest detriment for either team is the fact that Ohio State will have two new coordinators while Texas returns it's coordinators. This offseason, Jim Knowles left for Ohio State and Chip Kelly returned to the NFL leading Ryan Day to hire Matt Patricia and promoting Brian Hartline to offensive coordinator.
The bigger adjustment may be Brian Hartline making the jump to offensive coordinator as this is the first time he'll call plays as he was the OC in 2023 but, did not call plays. The Buckeyes have a first time starter in Julian Sayin and pairing him with a first time coordinator may lead to some early growing pains as both try to get a feel for each other and their new roles.
It can't be discounted that while Matt Patricia has had a ton of success at the NFL level, this is his first time calling a defense at the college level. The Buckeyes defense lost a ton of talent to the NFL and while Patricia gets a feel for his new players, it may be hard for him to get everything clicking in the first game especially against an offensive mind like Steve Sarkisian.
If Ohio State's coordinators end up finding a rhythm in this game it could end up swinging the game in their direction but, it's hard to believe that the Buckeyes are going to instantly snap into form.
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