Quote from O-Zone's preview of the game:

http://the-ozone.net/football/2006/Texas/preview.htm
(included below)

Lets just hope OSU thinks that too.

Round Two.

Saturday night will bring only the second meeting ever between Ohio State and Texas. Last year, of course, being the first, wherein Texas won 25-22.

There have been 36 meetings between #1 and #2, with the #1 team having a record of 21-13-2. However, since 1973, the #2 team has a record of 12-9. Texas has been involved in four of these matchups since the AP poll started in 1936 and is undefeated in them all--winning a national championship in each of those seasons. Conversely, Ohio State has an all-time record of 54-9-1 while ranked #1.

In more recent history, the Longhorns have won 21 games in a row. Texas is 19-1 in home night games under Mack Brown, winning ten straight. Since Mack Brown has come to Texas, the Longhorns' home record is 44-3. They have won sixteen straight at home and 36 of 37.

The Buckeyes have won eight in a row, their last loss coming at night in Happy Valley last season. The Buckeyes have not won a night road game since a win at Evanston in 2002. Also, Ohio State has lost its last four night games, including last season`s Texas game.

The Buckeyes do, however, have a 27-4-1 all-time record against the Big XII.

When Texas Has the Ball

Redshirt freshman Colt McCoy will start at quarterback for the Longhorns. He has been labeled a more athletic Major Applewhite and showed as much against North Texas. True freshman Jevan Snead also got a few snaps, but don't be surprised if his touches are limited--unless McCoy isn't moving the team.

Mack Brown won't ask McCoy to do too much, however, given the nature of the position and the offense, McCoy will still have a large load to bear. Texas will run some read option out of the shotgun where McCoy will have to decide whether to keep the ball or hand off based on what the Buckeye defensive ends do. It will also be up to McCoy to make any adjustments at the line, and do it correctly.

And that's all before the ball even leaves his hands.

McCoy did go down the field a handful of times against North Texas, but don't expect too much of it against the Buckeyes. Brown and his staff will want to put McCoy in as comfortable a situation as possible, which means some quick passes in order to bump his confidence and get his bearings. Expect the Buckeye defense to come after McCoy with some blitzes in order to keep him out of that comfort zone. Fortunately for Ohio State, the defensive line could also be an ample supplier of anxiety for McCoy. Last week against Northern Illinois, the Buckeye front four had 8.5 tackles for loss, including 3.5 sacks.

McCoy has plenty of options when it comes to throwing the ball. The first is the most well-known to Buckeye fans, Limas Sweed. Last week, Sweed had 5 receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns, including a 60-yard catch and run. Five wide receivers caught passes for the Longhorns last week. Billy Pittman was not one of them and he may be the most dangerous.

This will be the secondary's first coverage test. And the first real test for players like Nick Patterson, Antonio Smith, Donald Washington and Anderson Russell. As many passes will be caught underneath or in front of defensive backs in zones, tackling by the secondary will be imperative.

Getting to McCoy will also be key, because an uneasy quarterback leads to an uneasy offense. Protecting McCoy is an experienced line, considered by many to be the best offensive line in the country. Anchoring the line will be right tackle Justin Blalock. The Texas line did not give up any sacks to North Texas, which was to be expected. In fact, they only lost four yards rushing all game.

The interior of the Ohio State line will be leaned on heavily to break down the Texas running game. Defensive tackles David Patterson and Quinn Pitcock will dictate a great deal of what happens Saturday night. But it may very well be the defensive ends that are the story. The defensive ends accounted for 6.5 tackles for loss last week and will be counted on to keep the Longhorn backs pinned inside.

Against North Texas, the Longhorns rushed for 212 yards, however, Colt McCoy had the long run of the day when he scrambled for 27 yards. Selvin Young got the start at running back and ran the ball 12 times for 44 yards and Jamaal Charles carried it 14 times for 77 yards. Not to be outdone, McCoy ran the ball four times for 38 yards.

Much has been made about the yards that Garrett Wolfe gained on the Buckeyes, however, 147 of his 285 total yards came on three plays. That is correctable. The Buckeye linebackers have also been quite maligned, however a quick look at the stat sheet shows that they accounted for 18 of the 62 tackles last Saturday. For a frame of reference, the Texas linebackers only accounted for 13 of their 74 tackles.

This is not to say that Texas' running game is going to get shut down, it's merely a statement that Garrett Wolfe's performance against the Buckeyes wouldn't likely be repeated were he to be given another shot. Mistakes are learned from.

Still, there's a reason Garrett Wolfe ran for 171 yards. Young and Charles both offer differing talents for the Longhorns. Young has dropped weight and it shows. He's quicker than ever and finally healthy. Jamaal Charles won the 100 meters at the Big XII track championships and finished fifth at the NCAAs. Still, his longest carry last Saturday was 13 yards.

Handling all of the kicking duties for the Longhorns will be senior Greg Johnson. It should be noted that Texas hasn't had a punt returned for a touchdown against them since 1999, that's 86 games if you're counting. Johnson didn't attempt any field goals but was 8-8 on extra points. He also the leg to reach the end zone on kickoffs. Three of his seven kickoffs were touchbacks, which makes you wonder if Texas will gamble and try to kick it deep. If they do, Ohio State will be guaranteed a return or two. If they choose to pooch it, they will be giving the Buckeyes a short field, which isn't a good idea either.

The most dangerous returner for the Longhorns is cornerback Aaron Ross. He actually appears out of control on many of his returns, but it works for him. Receiver Quan Cosby and Selvin Young are the kick returners. Both are dangerous, but not Ramonce Taylor dangerous.

When Ohio State Has the Ball

Last week, quarterback Troy Smith ran the ball once against Northern Illinois. If he only runs the ball once Saturday night, the Buckeyes will win by three touchdowns.

Troy Smith will need to utilize his entire arsenal to pull out the victory in Austin. He'll need to be patient in the pocket, but know when it's best to leave. He won't have the time that he did against Northern Illinois.

Texas doesn't blitz very much as they tend to get pressure from their front four. If they do blitz Smith and don't get to him, the Longhorns become a man short, which is a bad proposition against the Buckeye speed on the outside.

Last week, the Buckeyes came out throwing. They very well may do the same thing this week, but it will be the running game that ultimately determines how effective the passing will be. If the Buckeyes can run the ball, the play action becomes deadly. The Longhorns only gave up a total of eight yards rushing to North Texas, though the Mean Green did gain 75 while losing 67.

Up front for Texas will be defensive tackles Frank Okam and Derek Lokey. Lokey is a bit undersized, but is tenacious. Okam is your typical 300-pound nose tackle.

As was mentioned above, the Texas linebackers were very quiet against North Texas. Middle linebacker Rashad Bobino was sixth on the team in tackles, yet led all linebackers with four. In fact, the top four tacklers for the Longhorns all came from the starting secondary. The secondary as a whole made 39 of the 74 total tackles (some of those include special teams tackles). As a comparison, Ohio State's secondary made 28 of their 62 tackles.

The tackles by the secondary are mentioned because it could mean any one of three things: 1) the Texas secondary plays run support pretty well; 2) they like to peek in the backfield; and 3) the linebackers weren't getting to the ball.

If running backs Antonio Pittman and Chris Wells are routinely getting into the secondary, Texas will be the team feeling the heat. And if they are peeking in the backfield, they may bite on the play action. And if they're peeking, they're done.

With Texas' top corner Tarell Brown being suspended for this game, it remains to be seen what the plan now becomes. The Buckeyes will surely exploit the situation, but only as it applies to the gameplan.

All of this sounds ideal, but there's still the matter of execution. Nobody understands that more than the Ohio State offensive line. You can have all of the schemes and plans and scripts, but if they can't put a running game together, the play action isn't effective. If the play action isn't effective, the likelihood for big plays goes down.

Still, even if things break down up front, there's a certain equalizer wearing a number 10 jersey. Troy Smith has that innate ability to create something out of nothing. He is the human Big Bang theory.

But it's just a theory.

The Buckeye special teams had some ups and downs last week. They were 0-2 in field goals, missing a 45 and a 51-yard attempt. Expect the kicking rotation to stop and for Aaron Pettrey to get all of the kicks this week. The Buckeyes will need to be very careful when punting to Aaron Ross, because he can go end to end on anybody.

It will be interesting to see how Texas chooses to kick off. However they choose to do it, the Buckeyes should wind up with a tremendous advantage in starting field position.

How It'll End Up

Texas will come out throwing short early, moving the ball between the thirties. Buckeye fans will continue pacing. When the Buckeyes go to nickel to counter the passing, the Longhorns will try to run. Of course they won't know that nickelback Anderson Russell is just as good as a linebacker in run support.

Texas will open with a field goal.

Troy Smith will march the Buckeyes down the field, but for some reason the drive will stall.

Texas kicks another field goal.

The Buckeyes will take a second quarter drive down the field on the ground and set the tone for the rest of the game.

The Longhorns will counter, and hit some big plays. Jamaal Charles and Billy Pittman will each reach the end zone, but they will be the only Longhorns to do so on the night.

The Buckeyes will be able to move the ball up the middle of the field with Antonio Pittman and Chris Wells, and to the outside with Troy Smith.

Ohio State will be +1 in turnovers thanks to an Antonio Smith interception.

Ted Ginn makes last season's game a distant memory.

And Troy Smith continues to give all of the credit to his guys.

Ohio State 28 - Texas 23