NCAA Football
2025-01-10 - Ohio State Buckeyes at Texas Longhorns
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football PlayOff Semi Final
Friday 10th January 2025 - Scheduled 7:30pm
12:30am (British Time)
Preview
Losing to the Michigan Wolverines cost the Ohio State Buckeyes (12-2) a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game and put Head Coach Ryan Day firmly on the hot seat. Failing to beat their old rival again would have hurt the fans, but the fact the Buckeyes had lost to a Wolverines team in disarray this season really placed the pressure on the Head Coach.
Ultimately you are going to be judged by titles when you are the Head Coach of a school like Ohio State and the Buckeyes felt like an underperforming team with their 10-2 record to conclude the regular season.
Things have certainly changed in the Playoff though.
Missing out on the Big Ten Championship Game ended any chance of earning a Bye through to the Quarter Final, but the Buckeyes have been able to turn their momentum right around. Blowing out the Tennessee Volunteers at home was impressive, but there is no doubt that the best performance in the Quarter Final Round came from Ohio State who crushed the Oregon Ducks, the Number 1 Seed and Big Ten Champion.
This is going to feel like a road game for the Buckeyes, no matter how the fans are known to travel, and that is because it is being played in Dallas.
Against the Texas Longhorns (13-2).
Losing the SEC Championship Game meant the Longhorns have also been forced to win two games to earn their spot in the Semi Final of the 2024 Playoff. They were comfortable winners against ACC Champions Clemson Tigers, but Texas made really hard work of beating the Big 12 Champions Arizona State Sun Devils and it feels like the Longhorns have a lot more to prove.
Quinn Ewers will earn the start at Quarter Back, but the fans are hoping there will be a big package in place for Archie Manning, who is seen as a much more effective runner and a confident passer. There will be plenty of motivation within Ewers though and that is because he actually originally signed up to play for Ohio State before transferring to Texas.
The Longhorns may need their Quarter Back to be at his absolute best against this tough Buckeyes Defense and that is all down to the strength of the Ohio State Defensive Line. It has been so tough to run against them all season, but the Texas Offensive Line have not been playing that well down the stretch and that will offer little encouragement for them.
Making the Longhorns a little one-dimensional will be seen as a big win for the Ohio State Buckeyes and will ramp up the pressure on Quinn Ewers.
The Quarter Back is obviously going to be confident in his own ability, but Texas' Offensive Line may struggle to keep the Buckeyes out of the backfield if Ewers is stuck in third and long spots on the field. A talented Ohio State Secondary have benefited from the pressure that the pass rush have generated and they will certainly believe they can stall drives and potentially pick off an errant pass or two.
This is going to be a prove it kind of game for Quinn Ewers and he will try and boost himself through the personal motivation of playing against his old team for the first time.
Ohio State's Quarter Back is also firing himself up through personal experiences and Will Howard is well aware of the Texas Longhorns having transferred to Ohio State after several years facing Texas in the Big 12. Will Howard has never beaten Texas (0-4), but it also fair to say that the Quarter Back was not throwing to the kind of talented Receivers at Kansas State as he is with Ohio State.
Unlike the Longhorns, the Buckeyes Offensive Line may have a lot more success running the ball and that is key to helping Will Howard and the passing game to really attack the Longhorns down the field. That Offensive Line has also been pretty good when it comes to pass protection, which is all the easier if you are playing in front of the chains and giving Will Howard a clean pocket would give Ohio State a big edge.
Take nothing away from the season that Texas have put together and the level of play that the Secondary have found, but their most recent games have been more difficult when it comes to stopping the pass. Will Howard can connect with the likes of Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith against the Longhorns Secondary and they can certainly pick up from where they left off against the Oregon Ducks as a team.
Ohio State look a big more battle hardened for a Semi Final of this magnitude and the team look to have got things figured out in time for the chance to win another National Championship.
Beating the Texas Longhorns will be far from easy, especially in Dallas, but the Buckeyes might have the more balanced Offensive game-plan and the stronger play at the Line of Scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Buckeyes Secondary might be operating at a higher level than their counterparts with the Longhorns and it all may just end up leading to another big win for Ohio State to move into the National Championship Game to be played later this month.
Prediction
Lay the points with the team from the Big Ten in this College Football Playoff Semi Final.
The Pick :
Texas Longhorns 20-28 Ohio State Buckeyes
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Ohio State Buckeyes - 5.5 Points at -110 with BetOnline
