Ohio State/Texas 2006 Rematch

It took late game heroics by Vince Young to lift last year’s National Champs past Ohio State in the Horse Shoe last season. Although Texas has home field on their side in 2006, Ohio State and their high-powered offense led by quarterback Troy Smith will be out for revenge.

How does the Texas defense stack up against Ohio State’s prolific offense? My guess is not very good. Troy Smith’s ability to run the football as well as pass it will leave Texas at his mercy. When you throw Ted Ginn into the mix running through Texas’ thin secondary, things really start to look bad for the Longhorns.

Texas should also find some success on the offensive side of the football , however, as Ohio State’s defense which features 9 new starters still needs time to get acclimated to big time division 1-A football. Ohio State gave up 343 yards to Northern Illinois last week and 171 to running back Garrett Wolfe. Expecufabetดีมั้ย t Mack Brown to pound Texas’ front 7 with run and after run and mix in some easy passes for QB Colt McCoy to build his confidence and to get him in rhythm.

With both offenses seemingly having the advantage over the others defense, where does the advantage lie? The advantage lies with the better offense-Ohio State’s. Texas is going to be better than what many expected after last season, but Colt McCoy is a huge drop off at QB. He doesn’t have the ability to make the clutch plays that Vince Young made and that you’ll see Troy Smith make in this one. Ohio State may be inexperienced on the defensive side of the ball, but they know they’ll be able to key on Texas’s run. But know that the Buckeyes aren’t going to roll into Texas and steamroll the Longhorns. Mack Brown has his teams better prepared than any other program in the country. Texas will be disciplined and fired up to play, but Ohio State will prevail for the same reason Texas prevailed last year; they have more talent.

I’m expecting a close back and forth game with Ohio State managing some quick scores and Texas being able to drive the football. But my small lean goes with the Buckeyes getting points so we’ll take the points in college football’s first huge game of the season.