"It's a heck of an opponent": Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has high praise for Buckeyes

COLUMBUS — Ohio State just beat No. 1 Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl out in Southern California to win in the quarterfinal of the College Football Playoff two days ago. But the Buckeyes are already on to their next test, a semifinal against the Texas Longhorns.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian met with the media Friday to preview the matchup against Ohio State after the Longhorns slid by Arizona State in their quarterfinal win.

Here’s what Sark said about the Buckeyes:

Opening statement

“It’s a heck of an opponent in Ohio State. The job that Coach [Ryan] Day has done with that team, their staff, they’re playing really good football right now. We know it’s going to be a heck of a challenge but looking forward to opportunity.”

On the fast starts from Ohio State in the CFP games…

“I think it’s a credit to their coaching staff, first of all. Game planning, putting together a nice plan on offense, defense, and special teams, and instilling that with the players, and the players playing with confidence. I think that’s one thing that jumps out when you watch it is how confidently they’re playing. They’re definitely calling it aggressively, but the execution is at a really high level. So that’s what jumps out at us.”

On the need for Texas to make Ohio State quarterback Will Howard uncomfortable…

“Well, I think we’ve got to be really good at the line of scrimmage against the run and the pass. Ohio State is similar to us in that way. When they have balance, they’re very difficult. And so, got to be good against the run. We’ve got to try to affect him in the pocket, and we need to disrupt timing in the back end. We need to disguise our coverage as well. We need to be sticky in coverage. We need to get hands on footballs. We need to make throwing lanes difficult. We need to get our hands up at the line of scrimmage. So there’s a lot of factors to that. Not an easy task, I’ll say that, but one that I think is going to be necessary if we want to be successful.”

On Quinn Ewers’ history with the Buckeyes…

“Well, like anything, when he went to Ohio State early on, he should have still been a senior in high school. And when we got him back, he was still, in our eyes, a freshman at that time. And so there’s been a lot of development, I would say physical development, but I would also say probably mental and emotional development. To watch him grow into the leader that he’s grown into for us, his ability to have the poise and composure he has, not only on the field, but off the field. To look into the face of adversity and come out on the other side of it time and time again, whether it be injuries, whatever that looks like. To be at his best when his best was needed, similar to the Peach Bowl there at the end of the game and in overtime. So, I think that’s all from a seismic shift from maturity standpoint, like I said, physically and mentally.”

On Will Howard’s skillset…

“I would say the first thing is he’s a much better athlete than people probably give him credit for. He snapped off about a 70-yard touchdown run against us a few years ago, so he has good speed. He’s got great poise and composure in the pocket. You can tell he’s very bright. The system they ran at Kansas State put a lot on the quarterback, and knowing Coach [Chip] Kelly and Coach [Ryan] Day and what they do. So him managing offenses that way. He’s got intention. He’s got athletic ability. And then his ability to throw a catchable ball. I’ve seen that now for a few years. He throws passes where they need to be thrown, and guys make plays for him. And his poise and composure in critical moments is something that has been very impressive as well.”

On what makes Caleb Downs special…

“Caleb’s a fantastic football player. Obviously, we played against him last year, his freshman year at Alabama, and made some impactful plays in that game. You can sense and feel his football IQ, his awareness, but yet the athletic ability to cover ground to make plays; but then the physical ability to get people on the ground, to take on blocks. So he’s a complete player. He’s an all-around player. And again, we’ve got to look at the scheme first when we start building the call sheet, and Coach [Jim] Knowles is a fantastic defensive coach. Been doing it a long time. Very good at developing plans that put his best players in position to have success, Caleb being one of those.”

On the Ohio State wide receivers…

“They’re both big, physical players. They have length. They have speed. They have playmaking ability on the ball. They have really big catch radiuses. They’ve got the scheme to go with it, with Coach [Charles] Kelly and Coach [Ryan] Day, and they’ve got a quarterback who delivers on the ball. So, you add all that up, these guys are impactful players that are real issues, and we’re going to have a hard time guarding them.

“… I just hope we’re good enough to guard them. These guys are really good players. We’ll find out.”

On the atmosphere for the Cotton Bowl…

“I think of this as more of a great opportunity to play in the Cotton Bowl and the Semifinals of the College Football Playoff against an unbelievable opponent in Ohio State. They’ve got a great fan base. They’re going to travel. I’ve played against them in the Rose Bowl and different opportunities. So, their fans travel really, really well. And so the challenge for us is to stay composed in that arena. The challenge for our fans is to show up, buy tickets, and support us so that we can make it as tough an environment as we can. Because like I said, we’re going to need all those factors in this game. This is the best team in college football, and we’re going to have to make sure that we put our best forward to give ourselves a chance to win the game.”

On the Buckeyes defensive line…

“They’re ferocious up front. Got a great pass rush. Big on the inside. Big edge players that are very talented. I think getting ahead 34-0 in the second quarter was helpful. Oregon got a little limited where they had to just start passing the ball, and that’s generally when a lot of sacks occur. It’s when people have to just really throw it to get back into the game, and quarterbacks can hold the ball, and so on and so forth. And D-linemen can start pinning their ears back and going because there’s not the threat of the run. So I think, inevitably, that’s where that balance comes in that we talked about of why it’s important that we continue to lean into the run game and find balance there to try to neutralize those guys up front because it’s a ferocious pass rush, for sure.”