New Faces, Same High Stakes: Brady Quinn Previews Texas-Ohio State Showdown

Come Saturday morning, as college football fans across the country crawl out of bed to embark on the excitement of Week 1, millions of television sets and smartphones will be focused on the spectacle in Columbus, Ohio, where the defending national champions prepare to host Texas in a rematch of last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal. 

Ranked No. 1 in the country, the Longhorns bring with them a famous quarterback in Arch Manning, presumed by many to be the Heisman Trophy favorite. And there to rebuff them will be a collection of Buckeyes ranked No. 3 in the preseason AP Poll, eager for the chance to build their own legacy after tasting glory in January. 

To preview the game, we spoke with FOX Sports’ college football analyst Brady Quinn, who will be live on the set of “Big Noon Kickoff” at Ohio Stadium this weekend to document the action. 

Here’s a Q&A between national college football writer Michael Cohen and Quinn: 

Note: This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity. 

Cohen: What are you most interested to see from Ohio State as the Buckeyes try to defend their national title?

Quinn: “It’s hard to answer that question because this team is so different from what they were last year, you know? Last year’s Ohio State team had closer ties to the Michigan team that won it two years prior because of all the guys that decided to stay and go back and try to have a chance of winning the national championship. So you look at the fact that they’ve got a new offensive coordinator, elevating Brian Hartline to that position. Matt Patricia comes in to take over as defensive coordinator. You have a new quarterback. I think if you went through the history of college football and teams that are trying to repeat, I don’t know if there’s any that have ever gone through this significant amount of changes and been able to [do it successfully]. 

“So I think that’s the first thing that comes to mind is this team is trying to create their own legacy because no team at Ohio State has ever been able to repeat. But at the same time, they’re also an entirely different team — with the exception of two of the best players in the country in [wide receiver] Jeremiah Smith and [safety] Caleb Downs, and obviously some others as well.”

Cohen: Ohio State sent 14 players to the NFL Draft. Texas sent 12. But the big difference is what you just outlined in that Texas is not changing any of its playcallers or coordinators, whereas Ohio State certainly is. How significant is that when there’s a lot of roster turnover on both sides, but one team is also going to have a lot of operational changes as well?

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Quinn: “It’s a gigantic change. It can’t be understated. Everything from how you get the play call in and making sure the first thing that matters the most is lines of communication. That communication from the coach to the player and being able to handle that, and the timing of that, there’s some coordinators who get [play calls] in quick, there’s others that kind of like to wait and see and kind of let the clock run down. It all depends. So everyone has a different personality with how they handle that. 

“The personality of the coordinators themselves [will be different]. Offensively, you have some coordinators who look at second-and-1, depending on where they are on the field, and it changes how they’re going to call that play, you know? If it’s second-and-1 and they’re in plus-territory, they’re taking a shot. If there’s second-and-1 and they’re backed up, they’re probably not. It depends on the personality of that guy. 

“A defensive coordinator, for example, if I go hit a big 40-yard gain downfield, some coordinators like to then have this safe call that they almost kind of just line up in and play a safe coverage. It might be Cover-2 or something like that. Matt Patricia is a guy who runs a ton of man to man. I mean, he was one of the best during his years in New England, obviously, but even when he went to Detroit. Just so many different varieties of how they get to bracket coverage and man-to-man and different things, and how to disguise that. Well, how fast can he get the entire Ohio State defense up to speed with all of that, you know? You don’t have preseason games. So you hit the ground running right away with arguably the biggest matchup in college football history to start a season.”

Cohen: What are some things you’ll look for with Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin early in Saturday’s game that will tell you either yes, he’s ready for this moment, or no, he might not be quite ready for this?

Quinn: “The simplest way is two things: Is he going to take what the defense gives him? And that’s going to be demonstrated in [whether] he is forcing the football to Jeremiah Smith, especially if Texas does what they did in the semifinal game [last year], which they played a lot of cloud coverage to a side. They tried to put either a nickel or cornerback on him with a safety over the top and try to disrupt his release and try to basically take him out of the game plan. If [Sayin] tries to force balls to Jeremiah Smith or force footballs to the outside when there’s really nothing there instead of going to the middle, that’s more of the weak spot for Cover-2, which is a lot of what [defensive coordinator] Pete Kwiatkowski did in the semifinal game. That’s the first thing is just his decision-making and is he taking what the defense is giving him. 

“And then the last thing is how he handles pressure, you know? If I’m Pete Kwiatkowski, he’s not a huge pressure guy, but one of the things that I thought was unique that they did versus [former Ohio State quarterback] Will Howard, who had seen a ton of football, is they really mixed up the different ways they got to Cover-2. They’d show like a three-deep shell, and then they’d move into what basically became like a Tampa-2. They’d move some different guys out at the snap of the football to get to Cover-2. Or [Ohio State] would motion and shift, and [Texas] would run a guy across [the formation], which usually is a man-to-man indicator, and they’d play Cover-2 out of it. So there’s different things they did from a coverage standpoint to confuse him.

“It’s Julian Sayin’s first start. If I’m Pete Kwiatkowski, I’m probably going to be more aggressive than I was versus Will Howard, especially because Will Howard was a little bit more of a runner, you know? Sayin is capable, but he’s a smaller guy and I’m sure he’s going to want to spin the football around and stay in that pocket, as opposed to getting out and trying to get those tough yards downfield.”

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Cohen: Can you describe the amount of development that would be different from a quarterback who sat and waited one year, like Sayin did, and a quarterback who sat and waited for two years, like Arch Manning at Texas?

Quinn: “You want to build off those experiences. And when you’re a guy who has played as much as Arch has, even though it’s only been a couple starts, you can go back to even the Colorado State game. He gets in, Texas is beating them pretty bad, they’re driving down the field. He runs up in the pocket, kind of breaks out to his right and kind of flips it out to the running back for a touchdown. That sort of play, that’s huge to build this foundation of confidence like, ‘Hey, I can do this.’ Because this is a different level. You can do it all you want in practice, but until you actually do it in a live-game scenario, that’s what brings confidence to a young man. That’s invaluable experience to Arch Manning and kind of building him as he’s come along. It doesn’t feel like much, because it hasn’t been that many starts and it’s not that many more snaps, but in regards to how it prepares him for this game, in my mind it’s really big.”

Cohen: Both offensive lines are going to have several new starters. From the vantage point of a quarterback, what is it like watching an offensive line try to work out the kinks in real time when it’s their first start together?

Quinn: “Some people say it’s four or five new starters for Ohio State, but it’s really not. They’re going to the transfer portal for the right tackle, but the other four guys have started games and played significant snaps last year. I think it’s not as big [for the Buckeyes] as it is for Texas, where the Longhorns have one starter back and the rest is going to be a lot less experienced guys. I think Texas has their work cut out for them more. But one of the reasons why you typically see lower-scoring games, especially between really good teams to start seasons, is because there’s so much communication — both verbal and non-verbal — that goes on between those five guys up front. And again, there’s no preseason. Yes, you do live reps [in practice], but not like it is in a game. All of that is a really big piece regarding if these quarterbacks are going to be protected, how effective they’ll be able to run the football, etcetera. 

“And then obviously, for Texas, more so than Ohio State, is how they handle the noise, you know? That communication piece is huge for all these new starters they’re going to have. Going up against a talented [defensive] front and going up against 100,000-plus fans screaming their heads off to start a season, understanding the ramifications of this game.”

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Cohen: Is there a player or two who might not get mentioned in the first five or six names that an average fan would think about, but that you find particularly interesting in how this matchup might unfold?

Quinn: “I would say it’s more about positions, you know, because I anticipate Pete Kwiatkowski trying to take away Jeremiah Smith again and forcing Julian Sayin to win with [fellow wide receivers] Carnell Tate or Brandon Inniss. So I think that Max Klare, the Purdue transfer tight end, is a guy that is going to play a really important role. He’s a heck of a player. That’s the reason he’s at Ohio State. But him as a pass catcher in that middle of the field, he’s going to be huge, in my opinion. 

“As far as Texas goes, it’s their D-tackles. You lost a couple starters there. But for the most part, the linebacking corps, the secondary, there’s a lot of guys back for Texas, so that’s their strength. And it’s whether or not they’re going to be able to stop those in between-the-tackle runs against Ohio State. I would say how Texas holds up on the interior of the defensive line is critical.”

Cohen: The last question is the obvious one. How do you see this game shaking out?

Quinn: “I can’t answer this because we’ve got to save it for the show. I’ll say this: I think it’s going to be a defensive battle. I think all the conversation has been about the quarterbacks and the skill players, as always. And yes, there will be a handful of plays that will determine the outcome, because I think it will be tight. But this will be more of a defensive battle than anything else. 

“I’ll be curious to see all the first-game things that you’re looking for: ball security, pre-snap penalties, missed assignments, is the coverage tight, is everyone on-point. Those are the things that, obviously, you’re hoping that both teams play a clean game so we can just see some good football.”

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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