Biggest Regular Season Game Of Sark ERA? / Texas Longhorns LIVE 118

Texas Longhorns LIVE 118 — “Biggest Regular Season Game of the Sark Era?” Hosts: Matthew Miller & Thomas “Tommy” Bresee Guests: Garrison Gaddy & Riley Burnett (OhioStateVOCFB) Sponsor: FanDuel Intro / framing (0:00–1:20) 118th edition of Texas Longhorns Live (VOCFB). Title question: is this the biggest regular-season game of the Steve Sarkisian era? Sixth Ohio State–Texas meeting in ~25–26 years. Garrison: college football fans should be excited just to get this game. Sark comment referenced: could draw close to 20 million viewers — “NFL-type regular-season game.” Betting line (1:21–2:14) FanDuel: Texas -1.5 (flip of last year’s Ohio State -1.5 at kick). Pearson/Tommy: pick’em on a neutral field; home in Austin justifies Texas as a slight favorite. No problem with the number. Consensus: two of the best teams in the country; either side as a pick’em is defensible. Texas offense vs Ohio State defense Ball State takeaways for OSU D (2:16–3:31) Garrison: almost nothing translates. Ball State is not Texas. Secondary barely heard from (good). Happy nothing went wrong; this is a completely different animal. Would have preferred a Texas State-type opponent. Corners / Cam Coleman & Ryan Wingo (3:32–5:55) Texas hosts ask: lock Devin Sanchez on Cam Coleman and let the rest handle Wingo, or protect Coleman first? Garrison: Sanchez will not travel. Trust Jermaine Matthews on the other side; Dominic Kelly (Georgia transfer, 6-2) as a option. Traveling one corner doesn’t neutralize Wingo. Garrison publicly walked back earlier skepticism of Wingo after last year’s 100+ yard game and a strong Texas State outing. Hands, routes, confidence all looked better. Wingo or Raheem Biles were Texas’s two best players vs Texas State in his view. Hosts: Wingo entered the year as a trusted No. 2, not a No. 1. That tape raised the bar. Emmitt Mosley vs Jay Timmons (5:56–7:34) Projected slot/nickel matchup: freshman Jay Timmons on Mosley. Garrison trusts Timmons after a clean first college game, but this is not Ball State. Depth options: Terry Moore (Duke), slide Matthews inside. Hosts later flag this as a primary key (see Keys section). OSU worry vs Texas offense / Texas worry vs OSU D (7:35–10:00) Garrison’s worry: tackling. Can’t miss Arch Manning. Can’t miss Hollywood Smothers. Cites last year’s Wingo jet sweep that only Caleb Downs’ ankle tackle saved. Riley (at Ball State in person): first-half OSU offensive line was sloppy; second half cleaned up. That first-half version in Austin would be a problem. Riley’s OSU advantage: Matt Patricia’s scheme variety — nickel looks, boundary/middle disguises. Test of how much Arch has grown vs a pro-style, film-guru DC after last year’s first start. Patricia wrinkles vs last year (10:00–11:06) Riley: feeling-out process. Could be 50/50 last year’s plan, 70%, or 10%. First drive or two will tell. Ohio State offense vs Texas defense Julian Sayin vs Texas pass rush (11:06–14:33) Both QBs making second career starts in this matchup after being eased in last year. Riley: experience is the word. Favorite Week 1 play was Sayin stepping up, finding space, scrambling for a TD — stay in structure rather than hero-ball off-platform throws. Texas covers ground and doesn’t leave many soft spots deep. Garrison: Sayin’s issue last year was seeing it late more than arm talent. Faster processing + quick release helps vs Colin Simmons (cites last-year play where Simmons was in his face and the ball still came out). Garrison likes Lance Jackson as a complementary rusher who also affects the run more than Simmons. Will Muschamp / Texas D vs Ryan Day (14:33–16:10) Garrison to Texas fans: if Muschamp plays man vs a Ryan Day offense, he’s in trouble. Must mix. Pressure is smart vs Sayin; the question is what happens when it doesn’t get home. Man coverage also invites one-on-ones with Jeremiah Smith. Suggestion: borrow from the previous DC’s plan rather than going full old-school Muschamp. Devin McEwen as WR2 (16:10–18:59) Last two Texas–OSU games, the WR2 (Carnell Tate, Emeka Egbuka) changed the game. Riley: raw talent maybe not quite Tate/Egbuka yet, but Arthur Smith is already using him in similar combo/corner concepts. Could get 4–5 impact catches. Garrison: McEwen truther since the commit. 4.3 speed, good routes. This is the