Matt Patricia masterclass vs. Texas draws rave reviews from college football fans, media
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In a battle between preseason AP top-5 teams that went to the Buckeyes, 14-7, defenses were all the rage.
Ohio State was held to just 3.8 yards per play. Texas was held to 5 yards per play. The Buckeyes struggled to run the football. The Longhorns struggled when they went to the air.
Entering Saturday’s matchup between No. 1 and No. 3, the expectation was that Texas would find success when its defense was on the field. That unit, with its star power and continuity, was viewed as one of the best defenses in college football entering the new year.
Ohio State was much more of a question mark.
The defense was replacing key figures in the front seven from last year’s national championship-winning team. And once coordinator Jim Knowles left for Penn State, Ohio State’s Ryan Day made a heavily criticized hire and brought in longtime Patriots assistant Matt Patricia.
Patricia was a 3-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots. But he struggled as a head coach in the NFL and had not held a major position on a defensive staff at any level since being fired by the Detroit Lions in 2020.
In his Buckeye debut, Patricia was outstanding.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning — the preseason favorite to win the Heisman Trophy — completed only 57% of his pass attempts and was picked off in the third quarter to set up the eventual game-winning Ohio State score. Ohio State nearly picked off a second pass in the fourth.
Manning was held under 30 passing yards in the first half. Though the Texas run game was able to find moderate success, the Longhorns still averaged roughly 6 yards to go on their third-down attempts. They were also stonewalled at the Ohio State goal line in the third quarter and then turned away inside the Ohio State 10 in the fourth quarter.
Fans and media alike praised Patricia after the game, with some going so far as to say he outcoached Texas’s Steve Sarkisian.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
