Former Super Bowl winning NFL coach tells Pat McAfee that Ohio State DC Matt Patricia ‘totally bamboozled’ Texas’ Arch Manning
Patricia had an impressive coaching debut with the Buckeyes.
The Ohio State Buckeyes were slight underdogs at home, according to some sportsbooks, when they kicked off against the Texas Longhorns. As we all know, the end result was a 14-7 win for the Buckeyes. Ohio State delivered a terrific defensive performance against Arch Manning and the Longhorns, holding them to just one late touchdown.
Going into the game, there was plenty of hype around Manning, who entered as the Heisman favorite. One game won’t erase that, but there’s no denying the Buckeyes hit him with a dose of reality in his first road start of the season. Plenty of reactions have already circulated, but one former NFL coach may have made the sharpest point.
Bruce Arians tells it like it is about what Ohio State did to Arch Manning
“I look at the Ohio State [and] Texas game and I see Matt Patricia just totally bamboozled one of the best young quarterbacks to ever come in the game,” Arians said on The Pat McAfee Show. “You got two seconds to figure out where this ball is going. Alright, if you’re seeing this and they’re playing that, if you don’t see it in the first three seconds of your drop, you’re going to throw it to the wrong guy.”
Arians has seen plenty of football throughout his long career in both college and the NFL. He went on to explain how Patricia and the defense consistently disguised coverages, keeping Manning from reading the alignment. There was pressure on Patricia to maintain Ohio State’s reputation as an elite defense, and early signs are that he’s doing just that.
Holding Texas to seven points shows this defense is capable of shutting down just about any offense it faces. Of course, Texas will be a much better team as the season progresses, and a Week 1 game isn’t always the best measuring stick in college football. At every other level of the sport, teams have scrimmages and preseason games before the real thing—college football does not.
The Buckeyes limited Texas to 335 total yards. Manning attempted 30 passes but finished with just 170 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. His lone turnover came when Jermaine Mathews Jr. jumped in front of a pass intended for Texas wideout Ryan Wingo. Despite managing just over 200 yards of offense, Ohio State still felt in control for most of the game—a testament to its defense.
Next up for the Buckeyes are Grambling State and then a matchup with the Ohio Bobcats. Don’t be surprised if Ohio State pitches a shutout—their defense has that kind of potential.