
It's a full Ohio State vs. Texas lookahead on this episode of Around the Shoe, as Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis are joined by two outstanding media members to dive in on the Buckeyes vs. Longhorns on Sept. 12.
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Foreign. Welcome back to around the Shoe on the Bill and Doug Show. Doug Layman Reese and Bill Landis joined each week by two outstanding media members. This week, it's all about the Ohio State Texas game, week two of the college football season. They'll play in Austin on September 12th. To do five questions, five topics about that game, we are joined by Jonah Booker. You know him as J. Book from Buck Nuts. He knows everything Ohio State and, and he knows everything going on around Ohio State. Jay Book, thanks for being back with us here on around the Shoe.
B
Thank you for having me. Excited to have this conversation about a Buckeyes in Texas.
A
Yeah, this is, this is good. We did, we, we did the little Ball State preview on the feed last week. No offense, not quite the same numbers we expect from the Ohio State Texas preview this week. Shahan J. Haraja here on around the Shoe, one of the finest national college football writers you will find. He also lives in the state of Texas. He used to work at a publication focused on Texas college football, but now he covers everybody. Shahan, you and I have talked about college football many times over the years. You're back on around the Shoe. Thanks for being here, man.
C
Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me. You know, you mentioned Ball State and I'm like, who's even the coach over there at that point? I know a little bit about everything, but man, Ball State is pretty deep in the bag.
A
Yeah, that is deep in the bag. So that is, that is the warmup for Ohio State before this Week 2 Texas game. And we will start with you, J. Book, around this conversation about the Buckeyes and the Longhorns. And I want to start like with the idea of this kind of game, this kind of national series. It has been in the news as people think about, are we expecting an expansion of the playoffs? Should games like this be played? Texas a year ago didn't make the playoff after losing to Ohio State. Do games like this serve the sport, serve the teams or not? Jay Book, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 is low, 10 is high and great. How important do you think non conference games like Ohio State Texas are to college football? One is like, who cares? We have a playoff. Don't worry about this stuff. 10 is like, man, like this is fundamental to the sport to play games like this.
B
I'm at a 10. I think it's, I think it's crucial for college football to have these type of matchups. Here you have two blue bloods, two great historic programs going at it early in the season. You Kind of get a feel for where both of these teams stand as far as how good they can actually be. For the fans, it's a home run to me, because you have a situation to where you're seeing two teams who are going to be contending for the national championship going up against each other. I mean, for Ohio State fans, you have a no offense to these programs, a Ruckers or, I'm sorry, a Marshall, a Ball State and. And a Western Michigan on your schedule. That doesn't really move the needle for Ohio State fans, but this right here, it gets your juices flowing early on in the season. It's a Litman test to see where they're where the program is at. Last year going into the season, the talk was, how good would this Ohio State defense be after losing so many pieces to the NFL draft, losing Jim Knowles, Matt Patricia's coming in for the first time. You're going against a arch Manny and the Steve Sarkisan offense. And to the surprise, Matt Patricia had that defense playing lights out from the word go now. Now you got a couple games to walk into this particular matchup here, and the same question still kind of arise for Ohio State. You got. You lost several pieces to the NFL draft. How does Matt Patricia kind of put the puzzle pieces together for this defense once again, going against potentially the. What they say is a generational quarterback in Arch Manning, Steve Sarkeeson, and the multiple weapons that he has in this arsenal. So I'm at a 10. I think it's going to be an absolutely amazing game for the college football fans in the sport overall.
A
Okay. Okay. I'm curious how many tens we get. Shahan, where are you on this?
C
Yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna go with like an 8. I think it's still huge. Huge, huge. Really, really good for college football. The only thing. And I echo everything that Jonah says. The only thing that I would kind of ding it for a little bit. Right. Is one, I think that we're starting to. And I don't know that Texas, Ohio State falls into this bucket exactly. But, like, I feel like we're trying to almost maximize how many of these games are with conference realignment right now to where we're almost cheapening some of them now. I think that the great non conference. You know, this is. This is potentially 1v2. Right. Like, this is as good as it gets from that perspective. But, like, I do think that we are in some ways trying to smash helmets together in some ways for games that maybe aren't as Good or as notable. I mean, you know, for example, last year I would get like a Florida State, Alabama that ends up not being actually a particularly good game. And so, you know, that's one piece of it. I think that also the playoff has changed the way that these games kind of matter. Now of course for Texas last year, this game does keep them out of the playoff. But in a lot of cases like these, early season games are games that get forgiven a little bit quicker than some season games, whether or not that should be the case. So I, I think that they mean less than what they might have meant 10, 15 years ago. I still think that they're great for the game and look at its core. College football is a regional sport. I love these different regions getting to fight up and battle against each other, especially early in the year when we are hungry for football.
A
Yeah, okay, Bill, where we got a 10 and an eight. Bill, where are you?
D
I'm a nine. I, I, I, I'm, I'm, yeah, I'm kind of like, I'm kind of like in between. First of all, I want to J Book was running through Ohio State's non conference schedules and opponents and he said Rutgers and he corrected himself. You were, you were right to include Rutgers on the list with Western Michigan and Marshall and any other Mac team you'd like to include on, on that list that Rutgers also does not move the needle. I think, I think Shahan's right or like, like clearly, clearly some of the stakes have been sapped out of these games because of the extent expanded playoff. I don't think they've been rendered meaningless. But they're, they're not as meaningful as, as they once were. But I still think they're incredibly important for just like kind of gaining an understanding of, of the landscape of the sport every year. Especially with the way that roster turnover. You can't always bank on, you know, programs historical successes. You need to get these teams on the field against each other outside of their conferences to, to see exactly like, you know, what are the strengths of the Big Ten in the SEC when, when it comes to the end of the year and you're trying to evaluate bodies of work and you don't have a lot of crossover to, to have a data point like Texas and Ohio State to then apply sort of across their, their various leagues. You also get like Michigan, Oklahoma. Right. Like these things help I think as you're trying to decide quality of a conference, quality of depth, quality of the middle, quality of the top, all that stuff so that you're seating properly. I realize, like, that's not, like, that's not what people are thinking about when they're watching the game on a Saturday. But I do think it matters from that perspective. And, and I've heard people say, like, you know, we don't need these games as much because we're going to get these marquee matchups once the playoff rolls around. And that's true, but you're not guaranteed to get those games on campus when they roll around. I think, I think it sees two teams like this play in their respective home stadiums. Still very much matters for college football. We're, we're, we're losing a lot sort of like of the foundation of college football and what it is, what it has been, what makes it unique. But those Saturdays and gigantic games on, on home campuses are still something, I think that, that separates the sport from everything else we do in this country, you know, major sports wise. So I would, I would hate to lose that. So I think that that lends to the importance of it too.
A
Jay Book, is that part of your 10, the campus idea of this that we're get when Ohio State fans get to go to Austin, that when Ohio State and Bama play in the next two years, you're going to have Buckeye fans in Tuscaloosa, you're going to have Alabama fans in Columbus, like Bill is saying, and again with an expanded playoff, we might have more campus games, but still, right. We were in this neutral game, this neutral site era of games for a while there. It feels like maybe we've moved away from that to the campus games. Is that part of your 10?
B
It's definitely part of my 10. In fact, just talking to a friend who I like to travel to Ohio State games with, we were just talking this weekend about, hey, we have to make the trip down to Tuscaloosa when Ohio State plays Alabama now that they're keeping that game on the schedule. And so this is very similar Ohio State playing at Texas. You're going to have a lot of Ohio State fans who has an opportunity to go to Austin and see an amazing football game. You think about when Jim Trestle was there with Troy Smith in Ohio State, that matchup versus Vince Young. It was an absolutely cinematic classic when those teams met on the field and you could potentially have one of those type of games again. When you look at this particular game, we may look back in several months and say, do we have another Miami versus Notre Dame situation? Because when you look at Ohio State schedule, you look at Texas schedule, very, two very difficult schedules. Could it come down to who gets in the playoff by who wins this game? Who has the, the head, the head to head matchup here similar to Notre Dame, Miami. You obviously took Miami because they, they beat Notre Dame in that head to head matchup. But this game right here may have playoff ramifications, even though we're looking at it as, oh, this is a great preseason game before these teams get into their regular season conference schedule.
A
Shahan, when we think about these games, for instance, Texas has this Ohio State series. They have Michigan in 27, which is the second game that they played Michigan in 2024. Then Texas has Notre Dame on the schedule in 28 and 29. Ohio State is following this with Obama series and then they kind of have a weird year and then they have Georgia in 30 and 31. Do you think we'll keep doing this? Like, do you think like I know we saw like that Florida State, Georgia game got canceled, right? Oklahoma State, Bama got canceled. But like these biggest big ones, do you think we'll still keep seeing them?
C
I think so. I mean there's a couple of pieces of this, right? One is, you know, generally speaking teams aren't getting punished per se by the playoff for doing this, you know, even though Tex got left out last year. I think another thing too is like right now we are trying to, to generate revenue in a lot of ways that we can. And this is one of the ways that, you know, you need to have games like this so that your season ticket holders are happy. Like that was a huge part of this last round of conference realignment was people kind of getting sick of the same old teams coming to town and not getting new helmets. I do think that that's part of the equation. Now look, there's also the other piece of it too, right? Like you mentioned, there are some games that have nil tie ins and stuff like that moving in. That's going to probably be a dynamic that we see as well. But I don't think they're going to impact these top of the top games necessarily as much like my alma mater Baylor, right. They're playing a game against Auburn. That game was moved from Auburn to Atlanta, which I don't love, but like it was because Auburn got some nil out of doing that game. So it's going to be a balance. But especially for this top of the top, it is worth way more to Texas to have Ohio State come to town than to get, you know, $2 million in nil or whatever. From AT&T Stadium.
D
Okay.
A
I do think I'm at a 10. And it's, and it's two things that I think potentially matter. One is I don't like and I don't think the sport likes when we have a good team that doesn't play anybody early and you don't know how good they are. And I think about 2023, Michigan in 2023, their non conference games were East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green. And Georgia in 2023, their non conference Games were UT Martin, Ball State and UAB. And they were like the top two teams in the country end in November. And we had no idea how good Michigan and Georgia actually were. And we kept having this conversation. It's like, well, I don't know, is Michigan for real? And then it turns out Michigan wins the national championship. It's like, is Georgia for real? And Georgia takes one loss and doesn't make the playoff. But like, I do, I think to establish something, to establish sort of talking points for the season, you got to get a vibe on the best teams in September. And then the other thing, Bill, that like, I like the playoff and the idea of like, you're going to get a bunch of these games in the playoff, right? You're going to create cool new matchups. But for the people who are worried about the regular season losing meaning if you don't play some of these in September, you are really feeding into like, I don't even know if I have to watch college football until the playoff starts, especially if 24 teams are getting in because like, well, I don't know. So you have to give some weight early to counterbalance this gigantic weight at the end. And I like the weight at the end, but you can't live your life on UT Martin in September. Then as a result, right? Like, you've got to have some of this stuff early on to give balance to the schedule. Bill.
D
Yeah, I think that's right. I just, like, you know, I don't know the college football does itself any kind of service if it, if it's putting teams in a position to, to avoid games like this regularly, right? Like, I don't think Ohio State needs to play a team the caliber of Texas every year and vice versa. But you, you should want games like this on the calendar in September, I think, for the good of the sport, right? Like it's the second most popular sport in the country behind the NFL. And it's not going to, it's not going to take over the NFL, nor do I necessarily think it's in danger of like seeding ground to anything else. But I think holding that spot is important and you want to give even casual fans or, you know, less than die hard college football fans a reason to be fired up early in the season. And these are the kind of games that do that for you.
A
Okay, question number two. Shahan, we'll start with you. This quarterback matchup for Texas, Ohio State in week two, we have Arch Manning, a fourth year player for Texas, Julian saying, a third year player for Ohio State. They were the number one ranked quarterbacks in their respective recruiting classes. They faced off in this game to open the season a year ago. Like, is, can this be like a quarterback rivalry? Like is this saying versus Manning the rematch? Like, is this, like, can that be a thing? Maybe not just in this game, but they're like, maybe they see each other in the playoff, maybe they see each other in the NFL. Can we make Manning saying a quarterback rivalry, yes or no?
C
I mean, both quarterbacks have to play a lot better than they did last year, to be frank, right? Like last year, last year there was, there was this hyped matchup of saying versus Manning and saying honestly played all right. Manning was frankly kind of terrible in that game. And like it was a defensive battle. It was, it was a matchup between Texas's great defenders and Ohio State's great defenders. And it turns out, you know, in the end, both these defenses ended up being really good, especially Ohio State was some of the guys that they had coming out. But like, if the game is defined like that, then no, this isn't going to be that kind of matchup. Now Manning, for obvious reasons is going to be like, you know, the thing that people talk about heading into this game, right? Like right now he's number two in Heisman odds. He's the face of Texas. Texas frankly built their entire off season around him because they know that this is the last opportunity they're ever going to have. But like again, last year we see with Ohio State and Julian Sains a first time starter at the time, like Ohio State played very conservatively to not let enforce Julian say in to make mistakes, right? And that can't be the case if this is going to be, like you said, a quarterback match of a quarterback battle sort of battle that everybody's talking about. And look, these are two high profile kids. Obviously the Manning name carries a lot of weight and Julian Sain was a Heisman finalist last year, right? But we need this to be a battle, right? I mean, it doesn't have to be full. Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes. 700 yards each battle by any means. But you want these two players to least have a chance to decide the game as we head down the stretch. Last year, that was just, frankly, not the case.
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E
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A
man, because, like, remember right then when Baker and Mahomes played in the NFL, everybody was talking about that game. I'm just envisioning, like, five years from now, Manning and Saying facing off in the NFL and people being like, man, remember in 2026 when Arch threw for 133 yards and Julian saying threw for 181 in a 1714? I was like, okay, yeah, it's not that I would take Mahomes versus May Field. I'm not sure we're gonna. We're gonna get it. Bill. Quarterback rivalry, yes or no?
D
Yeah, I think I'd say no for a lot of the same reasons that Shahan just said. Like, if. If last year's game had been a showcase, not even, you know, I don't know that Julian or Arch had to necessarily dominate last year's game. But, like, show. Show you something in last year's game, at the very least, to suggest that they were sort of on this path to perhaps racing to be like, the top quarterback in the sport or something like that. But, like, that never really materialize. So I. I think it's interesting. I wouldn't qualify it as a rivalry. I. I wouldn't say that. It is near the top of the list of, like, most interesting person versus person dynamics in this game. Like, I'm far more interested in Arch getting another run at Matt Patricia's defense. Or if it's like Arch Slash Sark versus Matt Patricia and Julian Saying and Arthur Smith against Will Muschamp. Calling a college defense for the first time in a few years like that, that is far more compelling to me than Arch versus Versus Saying. I just. I guess it's you. I don't view Julian, like, as the engine of Ohio State. And maybe that'll change at some point over the course of the season. I think you probably could view Arch that way. At the very least, like, ours probably needs to be that for Texas to do what it wants to do this year. But since Julian's like, not even the most famous guy on his team, Jeremiah Smith is like, I don't know that this game can be defined by the quarterback matchup necessarily.
A
So like, I, I like, once upon a time, I felt like, you know, especially around Ohio State, we were like the Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence quarterback rivalry, right? They were. They were from the same area in high school and they were like the number one and two recruits. And then Clemson and Ohio State did play each other twice in the playoff, right? And it was like, man, Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, we're going to be doing this for 20 years. My God, these guys are going to define the sport, define each other. And it's like, nope, nope, not at all. Not. Not at all. Like, I'm not. Do quarterback rivalries exist? Like, I want everything to be. I'm like, this is the next Peyton Manning versus Tom Brady. This is it.
C
Homes versus Allen. Like, they definitely exist.
A
Okay.
C
It's just. It takes multiple go rounds.
D
Yeah.
A
It didn't start when Texas Tech played North Dakota State in college football, like, six years before they made the NFL. Like, I. Yeah, like, maybe they sneak up on you more than like, it's the number one recruit and the number one recruit they played in college and this is gonna happen. So I'm probably a no. But Jay Book, I don't know. Could it be?
B
Could it be I'm a no? I'm a no in this. I feel like. I feel like Julian saying is chasing something as far as within himself. Because if you kind of poll Ohio State fans, they were so giddy about Julian Sam being a Heisman finalist. And then after the Indiana game and the Miami game, I feel like a lot of people within Ohio State community has kind of cooled on him. And you listen to coach Dave speak and some of the things that they said was he needs to pick up those hitting yards with his legs. He needs to get a little bit stronger. A lot of things in talking to off season about what Julian saying needs to do to get better. So for him, I don't think he's viewing it as a situation where, oh, boy, I need to outplay Arch Manning because this is going to be a national showcase game. I feel like he is Chasing something within himself. Now, as a competitor, he's obviously going to want to outshine him, but I think the way that the season ended last year with those last two games, he probably is going to use that as far as motivation more so than, hey, I need to outplay Arch Manning at his house.
A
Shahan, from a national perspective, is there any comparison between Arch Manning and Julian saying? And like, the way people in the sport talk about these guys right now, like, does Julian saying have a national Persona? He was a Heisman finalist, but, like, is he on the, the tip of people's tongues as they think about the 2026 college football season?
C
Not really, no. I, I mean, I think that that's the short answer, right? I, I mean, for one, like, I will say, I, I was a little surprised that saying was the Heisman finalist. Right? Like, it's not that he didn't deserve it, but I think that he was a very distant fourth and there were a couple of guys who I probably would have preferred get to New York over him. With that said, right? Like, I think that Manning, of course, in itself that's, you know, that carries a certain amount. I think that Dante Moore, you know, turning down the draft coming back, I think that a lot of people get to know quarterbacks more through the potential draft process than necessarily just what they do in college. And saying was not part of that conversation because obviously he couldn't have declared last year. So, I mean, I think that he's considered a very good quarterback. I think that a lot of people also, like you said, primarily saw him in those last two games. Those were the most watched games. And actually, let's throw the Tex game in there too. Right? Those three games were probably the three more underwhelming games of this season. Season. And they're the ones that people ended up watching. So I think he's regarded as a very good quarterback. I think he's actually a little undervalued right now, maybe nationally. But no, I mean, he is not seen as one of the elites, even though I think that as the season goes along, he'll develop into a likely top five pick.
D
Okay, can I, can I pull, can I pull the room before we move on to the next one? Just first, first blush, what gets you more fired up? Julian saying against Arch Manning this year or Tavian Sinclair vs Keelan Russell next year?
B
I think, I think it's going to be the next year's quarterbacks. That, that one's going to be absolutely thriller.
C
I'm going with this year's one because I mean look, I think that everybody's super excited about the guy who hasn't played as yet. Right? Like that's always the thing. Everybody even two years ago decided, oh, Will Howard, but just wait. Julian Saenz waiting in the wings. Right. Everybody sounds great until they take the field. And I do think that with these two guys, these are again top five picks in the 2027 NFL Draft. Maybe those guys next year have a chance to be. I'm really excited about Keelan Russell. We'll obviously see what Tavian St. Clair can be. But like this is, this is a known. We just kind of have to see it come to fruition.
A
Yeah, right. So Keelan Russell and and Tavian Sinclair, two of the top three quarterbacks in their recruiting classes. Ohio State, Alabama, next year you would expect they might be the starting quarterbacks. I will say the idea of for the opener last year, it's Brian Hartline as the offensive coordinator, first time play caller. It's Julian Saen's first career start. They said after the game, as you were saying, guys like right. They're trying to protect Julian saying, not put the game on him. Arthur Smith former NFL HEAD COACH it's his second year as a starter. I think they got it like they put it on Julian like this. You gotta make the road. You got to so you have a chance. I do think for people who to your point, Shahan maybe know Julian saying most through sort of underwhelming games at the end of the year or his first start when they kind of were had him in bubble wrap. And if it's like go do this, maybe it is one of those of like oh dang, this guy is. This guy has a little bit. So I'm curious to see how much Ohio State and Ryan Day and Arthur Smith choose to put on Julian sand in this game. How much they unleash with Julian sand in this game both I think to win it, but also to pressure test him to see what it's going to be like then when Ohio State plays Oregon and Indiana and USC later in the year when they're probably going to need Julian saying to let it rip. Which leads us, Bill, to sort of this conversation with the third question on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 is like, yep, they're both in. One is like, nope, they're not both making it. How confident are you that both Ohio State and Texas will wind up in this 12 team playoff this year regardless of the outcome in this game?
D
I'm at an 8.7 okay. I don't. I don't know that you can make these sort of like 100 assumptions. Right. Like, we're talking about a Texas team that was supposed to be very good last year, but then lost three games and didn't make it, and an Ohio State team that has a heck of a schedule it has to navigate. So, like, I, you know, do I think they'll both more than likely be there? Sure. But I don't. I don't think it's a slam dunk. It is interesting to me. I, I just had never taken, like, inventory of this. Maybe this is. Has been a constant discussion point down. Down in Texas. So Texas, the last three years, has lost eight games, and five of them are to Georgia and Ohio State, which I, I did not realize was the case for that program. And, And Sark. So, like, Texas doesn't play Georgia, at least in the regular season. So maybe. And they don't really have, like, anything in the way of a goofy loss aside from the Florida loss last year. So even though Texas schedule is difficult, I think you'd be reasonably, reasonably confident that they'll navigate it well enough to get in. And, and you're probably a little less certain about Ohio State just given, you know, these, These kind of the road trips that's facing with. With Indiana and Texas and USC and Oregon coming in, and then Michigan's sort of its own thing, and there's like, a tricky one to Iowa there. So there's just a lot of potential speed bumps. I don't think Ohio State's like, staring down 8 and 4, but 9 and 3 is on the table, and 9 and 3 is not a guarantee. Maybe if it was to be a guarantee for anybody still, it would be Ohio State. So I think. I think we'll see them there. It'd be actually really cool to kind of see them play again. It's a nice little kind of rivalry that's. I don't know the rivalry is the right word, but there's a familiarity between these two programs with the amount that they played over the last couple of years. That. That is fun. And I like when these sort of things kind of pop up the way that they have with the regular season series just kind of coinciding with. With. With playoff matchup. So, yeah, I think they'll both get there, but I'm not. I'm not a 10. I'm a comfortable 8.7. Okay.
A
I'm a 10 because I was 10 last year and I was wrong, but I'll be a 10. Again, I don't know, like, of course they're both gonna make the playoff. Like a year ago into this game it was like, this is an exciting game and this is part of what some of the people who don't like the expanded playoff like, don't like about it. Oh, last year I thought Ohio state, Texas, like 1 versus 2 or 1 versus 3, like what an exciting opener. But win or lose, they're both going to make the playoff. And so like, if that makes you like feel like the game is lessened, I was like, well, both, see you later. And then, you know, like Texas for playing Ohio State should have been at the top of the list of 10 and two teams, right? If they don't have the, the goofy Florida loss, then it's like playing Ohio State and losing is like a feather in your cap kind of because like, you know, you get bonus points for that kind of strength of schedule. So I just assume it's going to happen again and I guess I'll be proven wrong for the millionth time. Right. Like in my career that like, I'll say something that turns out to not be true, but I'm just operating under this assumption. And again, like, I don't know if that's good or bad, but I just think like, yeah, we'll have a decent chance of seeing these teams again like play each other in January. So, so Jay Book, are you. How, what do you think the chances are? Yeah, Texas and Ohio State both in the 12 team playoff.
B
I'm, I'm probably about a six. And the reason I say, yeah, the reason I say that is the schedule. When you, when you look at both teams schedule, very, very difficult. That run that Texas has, it's going to be very challenging because after that Ohio State game they got UTSA and then they have a four schedule run of Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, Ole Miss in the season, at lsu, at Texas A M. And that's why I mentioned earlier, you look at this matchup, this could, could determine who gets in. If both teams have a trip up or two within their own conference, will it come down to head to head between Ohio State and Texas for one of those teams to get into the playoff. Now if, if Texas, if they're able to navigate that schedule, you're probably looking at them being in the SEC championship. If not, they could be a bubble team. That's hoping that, hey, we need that Ohio State win to really solidify our position to get into the playoffs. We all know Ohio State schedule is very brutal this year. If they were to trip up against Texas. Boy, they, they are really kind of putting themselves behind the eight ball with that schedule in the Big Ten that they have facing coming up. So I'm, I'm at a six. I just think the schedule for both teams kind of presents several landmines to where for both of them to get in, they needed. They need a lot of things to happen in their favor.
A
And I will say, like Jay Book, if you're at a six, that increases the stakes of this game in a huge way, right? Like the winner's in great shape, but all of a sudden the loser is maybe at a wiggle room. Shahan, where are you?
C
Yeah, I'm like a 9.9. Like these teams not only I think are good enough to get in the playoff. They should get into the playoff. They better be in some ways in the playoff. I mean, the 12 team playoff exists so that teams like this get in, right? Like, that's why it exists. And I think, you know, look on the side of Ohio State. Like, I think that their, their path is a little rockier, right? But like, I don't know, man, like USC is going to be much improved. They shouldn't be of the class where you're competing with Ohio State. Not, not yet. Right. I think Indian Atlanta to me is a team that's going to take a huge step backwards in, in this year under Kurt Signetti. I think that they just lost a lot of the core of that team. Michigan always is what it is. Oregon I think is a very, very difficult game. But like, this shouldn't be a huge conversation to me for Ohio State. Like, again, I think it's probably a 10 and 2. I think that you're still in very good shape at that point for Texas. If Texas misses the playoff this year, like, I might have to jump on the Firestar bandwagon. Like, like I might have to get on the. We are wasting everybody's time. You wasted two. The most famous player that will exist in college football for the next decade. You brought in, you know, x amount of dollars in the transfer portal. Like, you better make the College Football Playoff if you miss it for a second straight year with the amount of money that's been invested in this program, like we are talking disaster zone all of a sudden. And just to be frank, I don't think that's going to happen.
A
Okay, that's like we, we, we need to discuss this a little bit more because I know like Bill I think is very interested sort of like in heat that is and isn't on Sark. Right. And we do have a certain question at the end of this, so. So we will, we will double back on that, but. Oh, okay. Man, I do like this game. I'm excited for this game, man.
C
We're talking about, let's play it now, let's play it now, let's not wait.
A
Let's go. Question number four will start with me. Who is the most important non quarterback in this game? And I'll try to slightly off the board a little bit. Devin Sanchez as a sophomore corner for Ohio State. He's a Houston kid, so it's going back to the state of Texas for him to play here.
C
He's.
A
I don't know how much he'll wind up matchup on, on Cam Coleman, but maybe a decent amount in this game. A lot of people around Ohio State are thinking maybe he's in position to make a real leap to be among the best corners in college football this year. But when you think about Arch Manning, Cam Coleman, Sark, that, the potential, that Texas passing attack and then can Devin Sanchez throw a monkey wrench into that, I think he has a chance to sort of announce himself on the national scene after playing some but, you know, a lot. But not being a starter last year and to do it in the state of Texas would be pretty cool. Jay Book, who's your guy? That's like, okay, it's not saying it's not Arch, but he really matters to this game.
B
I'm actually going the opposite side of you. I'm going Jermaine Matthews, because I'm, I'm banking that Devin Sanchez will be that number one corner, a lockdown corner who's going to be able to potentially eliminate whoever he's going against. Now Texas, they're bringing two outstanding wide receivers to the table in Cam Coleman, Ryan Wingo. When you think about Jermaine Matthews, you can make an argument that he probably had his best game of the year versus Texas last year. And at that time you were thinking like, yeah, you're thinking like, man, he's, he's arrived. He's arrived. And then he kind of tailed off towards the end of the season. So Ohio State, they're going to need Jermaine Matthews to kind of bounce back. He even said it himself, one of the reasons why he came back was because he was not happy with his play. Towards the end of the season, everybody remembers what happened versus Indiana in critical, gotta have it moments. They kind of targeted Jermaine Matthews. So when you have Devin Sanchez and you're banking that he's going to be the coming out party cornerback. That's CB1 on this team. They're going to need Jermaine Matthews to step up big time. If you're going to kind of slow down this Sark passing attack with Wingo and, and Cam here.
A
Okay, that's a good one. Shahan, who's your guy in this game?
B
Non.
A
Qb.
C
Yeah, I, I'm gonna throw a shout to, to Colin Simmons. I think he's going to be really big in this game, you know, because I think that Texas has a lot of rebuilding to do on the defensive side of the ball. But I'm going to point to Jelani McDonald at free safety. He's a player that is one of the only returners in the Texas secondary. Actually, if you're looking at where Ohio State can make hay in this game, this is a very young Texas secondary and that's one reason that I, that I throw a shot to Colin Simmons. I think he's going to have to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback. Right. If this is a game where Ohio State's offensive line, which is, you know, very experienced, is able to really stand up, this could be a long day for Texas defense. And there's been all this talk about, you know, Will must champ coming back in and you know, wanting to get corners to be pressing and getting back in guys face. Well, the thing is if you press and you know, you don't win that matchup, like there's guys downfield, why not? Right? And so I think that Jelani McDonald is going to be huge in this game. Again, one of the only real contributors back in the secondary. They've got young corners. They brought in a transfer in Bo Masco who is expected to be a big time player for them. But that really is probably the weakest link of this Texas team and they need Jelani McDonald to be a consistent presence for them to help clean up some mistakes.
A
Interesting. Good names. Landis, what's yours?
D
I have a pick, but I want to.
A
Doug, you.
D
You saying Devin Sanchez made me want to quickly look up all of the guys on Ohio State's roster who are from Texas. There are eight of them and honestly, like any of the eight could matter, it's Devin Sanchez. In the receiver room, it's Devin McEwen, Kyle Parker and Brock Boyd. Legend Bay Riley Pett, John Payton, Pierce and Connor Hawkins. Oh, you're going, you're going.
C
Y' all stole my Baylor Bear. Y'.
A
All.
C
Come on, come on.
D
So, yeah, Bag on his head. Yeah. It's crazy how he went in the portal and immediately to come into the Ohio State.
C
So weird. So weird.
D
My, my answer to this question is not really a specific person. It is like any non Jeremiah Smith pass catcher for Ohio State.
A
Interesting.
D
In the two games, the last two games against Texas, Jeremiah has played, he's been targeted 13 times. He has seven catches for 46 yards and no touchdowns. The two important passing plays in both games were a 70 yard screen pass to Travion Henderson in the playoff and a 40 yard touchdown to Carnell Tate last year. And there will be space and opportunity, I'm assuming, for anybody who's not Jeremiah to make a splash play like that. But I don't know if you can look at Ohio State's roster and pinpoint exactly who that is right now, because there's not a Carnell Tate and there's not a Trayvon Henderson. There might be down the road, sure. But we don't, we don't know for sure who that is, who it might be just yet. So I think whoever that sort of like secondary offensive X factor for Ohio State might be is, is the most important person in this game.
A
Yeah. And as we saw last year, they brought in Max Claire and they threw him a pass on fourth down and he dropped it to start the game. And it was like, it's not him. Okay, this is, so this is, this is our, our final question. And it's back to Jay Book. To start this off. It's a little Sark centric. And I do, there's one thing I want to bring up in particular as a comparison between the two head coaches here. But when Steve Sarkeesian, the Texas head coach, J. Book, when he thinks of Ryan Day, right. I'm going up against this guy again. I've lost him a couple times. Like, what is the word or phrase that should be in Sark's head when he thinks about Ryan Day?
B
I would say irritating because you, you, when you look at, when you look at these two coaches before Ryan Day won the national championship, they were kind of like right there, like two coaches, very good rosters, blue blood programs, but they can't quite just get over the hump just yet. Ryan Day, he's kind of got that monkey off his back with the national championship and a recent win against Michigan. And head to head, those. Ryan Day has had the upper hand, especially in the playoffs. So if you're, if you're stark right now, you're like, I gotta beat this guy. I got to beat this guy. And he has to beat Brian Day to really get to that next phase that he wants to, which is win the sec, get into the playoffs and a national championship coach. And I think that Ryan Day is kind of taking a step forward from Sark, especially with the national championship under his resume. So the word that I will use is irritating because Sark is probably thinking, we have to beat Ohio State. They've beaten us the last two times we've went head to head and we need to get that monkey off our back.
A
Yeah, that's, that's interesting. I'm curious what your thing is, Shahan, because, like, the idea of like, is Texas feeling, you know, again, it's a long season, you can stub your toe a couple times and still get in the playoff. But the idea is Texas thinking that, yeah, like, like we need to beat these guys. So what's your phrase or word, John?
C
Yeah, I went to a little bit of a different direction with this and this gets into the, the, you know, what does the word should mean? Right. He should look to Ryan Day as a model. You know, Ryan Day was promoted to head coach in 2019, right? I believe it was. Stark was hired at Texas in 2021. Ryan Day was what, in his fifth season, I believe, when he won the national championship. Sark now six. Yeah. And I think that Shark is also in his sixth season now. Counting's hard. So when I look at Ryan Day and the season that they got over the top, it was the moment that Ryan Day realized they didn't actually bring me here to call cool ball plays. And Steve Sarkeesian has never accepted that. Right. Ryan Day brings in chip Kelly in 2024, allows him to integrate what he does into the offense. You know, 2025 is a little bit more back and forth, obviously with the first year offense coordinator, but he takes a big swing and brings in a former NFL head coach to run the offense in 2026. Somebody who brings in something different than what Ryan Day brings to the table. And that's something that we've just never seen from Steve Sarkiche. We've never seen him. I, I, you know, I don't want to, you know, besmirch him too much, but like, we haven't seen the humility of him to say, what can I bring in that can help me be better as a head coach, who is somebody that I can bring in and trust. And when I look at, at Ohio State, I mean, again, they have two former NFL head coaches as coordinators because that is the power of Ohio State. Well, that should be the power of Texas, too. Right. And they did it in one sense by bringing Will Muschamp, and we'll kind of see how that ends up working out. I do at least credit them for saying, you know what, we should go out guns blazing. But there isn't that level of reflection on offense the way that there has been on defense, and I think that that's holding them back the other way that Stark should view Ryan Day as a model. Because let's be clear too, the roster Ryan Day took over was very different than the one that Sar took over. So it's not that the timing has to be identical, but I think that there also needs to be a message that he sends seeing of patience that Ryan Day did the same thing over and over again and it was the right thing every single time. And sometimes it didn't work and eventually it did work. And that's true of Texas, too. Right. I don't necessarily think that they need to do a whole ton crazy differently or, you know, make drastic changes or anything. They just need to tweak what they do a little bit and keep doing what they do well. But you mention it, eight losses in the past, what is it, two years or three years?
B
Three years.
C
Last three years. Five of them are to Ohio State and Georgia. When Texas has played teams that are equivalent talent to them, they have not looked good. When they've been able to out talent teams, no problem. Right. When they're able to just run the ball down teams throats and out talent teams, they've run away with it. Well, this is the moment where I think that Steve Sarkeesian needs to look at how Ryan Dave rebuilt his program and use it as a model to say, how do I get my program over the top? The same way it very.
A
How much of a conversation is there around the Texas program when. In regards to circ giving up play calling? Is this something that, that.
C
Yeah, it's a big part of the conversation. It came up a lot, obviously, through the first half of last season when the offense really looked terrible. You know, people. People are kind of starting to understand his strengths and weaknesses. Right. And I mean, like Steve Sarkeesian draws up some incredible plays. He does a great job of setting things up for later to build shot plays and stuff. He also is like. It has been a consistent issue that he is a very bad red zone play caller, as people might remember from that Ohio State game back in 2024. Right. And that's been a constant theme for Texas that, that they've struggled in the red zone. So, no, it's been a conversation. A lot of people want him to hire an offensive coordinator. He's defended it and said, I was hired to this job because I can call plays well. And to me, that's just a fundamental misunderstanding of why he was hired to the job.
B
Job.
A
Interesting. All right, Bill, what do you think here?
D
Yeah, my answer is like, basically identical to Shahan's. My word was blueprint. I really do think Ryan Day kind of showed, showed Sark the way. Now, I don't know. I'm sure someday we might see an offensive play caller head coach win a national title again. Like, I don't. I know it's not happened in a long time, but. But I also don't want to pretend like it's an impossibility, but I do think with everything that's changing in college football, it just adds a whole lot to your plate that maybe you shouldn't be willingly taking on. And I think Ryan Day arrived at that point too slowly, I think. But, but he arrived there and then it, it was a fundamental change, I think, in, in the way that the Ohio State program is run in the trajectory that it was put on. So I was looking. Ryan Day hired his former college offensive coordinator to call place for him when he finally decided to give it up. Steve Sarkeesian's former offensive coordinator in college was norm Chow. He's 80 years old, but I think he can do it. Bring Norm Chow to Austin and help Sark give up play calling and then
C
his son can go play for him. It'll be great. That's right.
A
That's. That's all for you. Sehan, you want to drop that on CBS Sports this week? Why, Norm,
C
we can go. Anyone from that Lavelle, Edwards Street. We don't have to go into your house.
A
Oh, I love the idea of it. I mean, mine's a, a similar thing here. Like, really, like if, if he can do it, I can do it, right? That, that, that, that. Ryan Day. So, so Kirby Smart, like in a different way, but a similar way. Kirby Smart won his first national title at Georgia in year six. Ryan Day won his first national title at Georgia at Ohio State in year six. Sark is in year six at Texas. And when we, you know, covering Ohio State, you're watching Ryan Day coming close, not quite getting there. And you could look at Kirby Smart and it's like, man, this guy back to back national titles at Georgia is maybe viewed as the best head coach in the sport. But like, it wasn't instantaneous like it did, right? They had some close calls. They got there, they got to a national championship game, but they lost. But like keep to what you were saying, like, keep doing what you're doing, right, and you'll probably get there. And then, you know, there were still bumps for Ryan Day, but then when they had to seize the moment in that four game playoff run in 2024, they did like, it's, is it too much to say, like this is it? Because listen, I know, I know Texas has more quarterbacks stacked up, right? They're not going away. But when you have like year two of Arch as a starter, when you bring in Cam Coleman, when you are projected to have what, four picks maybe in the top half of the first round this coming year, like, is there going to be a better chance for Texas to win the national title than this year? Shahan? Which when you looked at 2024 Ohio State, it was like, well, all these guys that they have back, when's it, when's Ohio State going to have a better chance? Not that they'll vanish if they don't do it, but also like it's, it's not now or never, but it's like now or this is as good as it gets. Is that where Texas is this year, Shahan?
C
100. And the way that they spent in the portal kind of proofs that, right? Like, I mean they bring in Relique Brown and Hollywood Smothers, both potentially seven figure running backs, right? Huge, huge, huge prospects. Cam Coleman coming over from Auburn, we know that he openly, you know, involved himself in a bidding war for his services, right? You have Colin Simmons back. He might, I mean, again, like there's a lot of programs that won't have a player as good as Colin Simmons for the next decade. He's back as a third year player. You have both your tackles back, Trevor Goosby and Brandon Baker. Like you have so much. And while like you said there, there's definitely a chance that the next guy who comes in, you know, Diabell is the next guy at quarterback at Texas, most likely there's a chance that he's better in Arch, absolutely. But like we've mentioned it over and over again, the thing about Arch is, yes, obviously he's very talented, but his name draws people there, right? Like, does Cam Coleman want to come to Texas for Diabell? Maybe. But like, we know that he wanted to come play with Arch Manning. We know that Arch Manning brings eyeballs, brings attention, brings teammates. Look at the recruiting classes that came the year or two after Archmanning got there. So, yes, they'll have other opportunities to win the national title. But Texas is treating this as a chips all in season for a reason. And I don't want to, I don't want to unfairly, you know, make the comparison to, you know, James Franklin with Drew Aller coming back because I don't think that, that, you know, I don't think the situation is that dire also. But like, it does remind me a lot of that 2024 Ohio State team where you're just like, you know, I know that you had the conversation, right. The idea of title or bust, like, this is as close as Texas is going to get to a title or bust roster probably for the next five years, let's say, under Chief Circassian.
F
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A
J Book like, it's kind of interesting to think of Ryan Day as something, someone for other coaches to maybe look at or try to learn from. Right? That again, Ryan, Ryan Day didn't do it instantaneously. He did sort of adjust. Right. He brought in an offensive coordinator. He learned from past mistakes. In a lot of ways. He kept doing what he was doing. But, like, do you think Ryan Day should be someone that other coaches like Steve Sarkeesian or others Jay Book can look at, say, okay, like, this guy kind of figured it out?
B
Absolutely. I think Ryan Day has really kind of set the, set the tone and the tempo for a lot of these younger coaches who are trying to get that first national championship under their belt. And it took a lot of failure. I mean, a lot of people, Ohio State fans say this is not a, a job that you kind of learn as you go. And we saw a lot of the ups and downs with Ryan Day, and he's learned from his mistakes. And I'm, I'm curious to see if Texas doesn't get to that mountaintop. Will Steve Sarkeesian be humble enough to kind of do what Ryan Day did, which is, hey, maybe I do need to take a step back, be more of a CEO of the program, bring a certified play caller in because It's Texas. You can, you can go and dip into the national football rankings and bring in a high profile offensive coordinator if they really want to. So it's, it's one of those years as, as the, everyone has mentioned, he has to get it done. Steve Sarkeesian, or if not, will the patience run thin? Will. Will he officially be on the hot seat? Everyone will say yes. And at that point, will he humble himself to say, you know what? I'm going to do what Ryan Day did and bring somebody in to run my offense.
D
Okay. There is one part, like this is Steve Sarkeeson's third head coaching job.
A
It is.
D
He's been a head coach for a decade, right. So, like, I think what we're saying about him learning from Ryan Day is true, but it's also like, kind of damning like Ryan Day was learning on the job at Ohio State. Sark has done this before and for a long time and for twice as long as Ryan Day. He shouldn't have to learn from Ryan Day. He should just know how to run Texas and go, listen, listen.
C
If we, if people always learned at the pace that we would like them to, the world would be a lot simpler of a place. But, you know, and I will say, too, right, it's, it's interesting because you talk about, I mean, obviously, you know, with Stark's first two head coaching jobs, some of the things happen the way that they have.
D
Sure.
C
And you know, all that sort of stuff. Right. I think that what's interesting now is like, first of all, this is a very different landscape and different job in modern college football than it was 10 years ago. Right. And I think that look like there are two parts of this. One is like Texas also rapidly improved because they invested an amount of money that almost nobody else was matching. They have consistently been among the top, if not the top spender in all of college football. Also, I think that coaches deserve a little bit of credit for creating that resource. Right. For getting everybody in alignment on the same page, getting all the boosters to row in the same direction. Like that stuff does matter too. The question is, right, because I hear this all the time with, you know, obviously I'm very close with Text Tech's program. Right. And like people say it all the time with like Tex Tech, like, oh, well, you know, they just bought a roster and the coaching staff is superfluous. It's like, okay, well, like, this is the moment where you kind of figure out, like, which side of this is Texas on under Sark, Right. Are they Great roster builders who only do an okay job coaching football, or are they the whole package? The way that Kirby Smart at Georgia, the way that Ryan Day has been for the most part at Ohio State, Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, etc, Etc. This is kind of the season where you have no excuses but to figure it out.
A
Okay, interesting. I know Landis, you've been kind of interested. Like, is. Is. Is there some heat on Sark or not? Is this satiating you to hear what these guys are saying?
D
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is. And I just, like, I was talking to a friend of the program, Ari Wasserman, about it a couple weeks ago.
B
Not.
D
Not on the show. I just texted him after the draft. I said, like, hey, Sarka has 29 draft picks in three years and like, doesn't have a trophy. Does anybody care about that? And he was like, no. I was like, oh, well, that's different than Ohio State because if that happened here,
C
I would disagree with Ari. Honestly, like, I. I just think that, you know, again, like, the SEC is the sec. It's hard. Like, it is hard, but like, I would. Again, you know, I want to be clear. Again, not, not saying that he's James Franklin for a number of reasons. Right. But like, when you have these all in teams, the pressure can build pretty darn quickly. Right. Like, we saw this too, with Brian Kelly bringing back Garrett Nussmeier for his senior season. And even though they're just kind of not good enough and not like terrible, that was enough. People were done with it. Right. And I think that Stark has more credibility because of what Texas went through in the 2010s, potentially more than anything else. But, like, this can escalate pretty quickly. And I think that people do feel like, you know what, like this is the year that it has happened. Last year we can say, oh, you know, the playoff committee screwed us all, whatever, whatever, like we were good by the end of the year. But like, this is the year that it has to come through and if it doesn't, I think that that's going to add a lot more pressure to its place.
B
Real quick, do you think having Arch Manning as his quarterback adds a little bit of layer of that pressure? Because you're talking about, everybody is saying this is going to be the number one pick. A lot of people throwing around generational quarterback. And we saw Arch last year, had his ups, had his downs as he progressed throughout the season. If he is not playing at that all world, he's clear cut, number one quarterback in the draft. Do you think the Pressure kind of gets to Texas as they go throughout the season.
C
I mean, There have been three sort of perfect rated quarterbacks in the 247 Composite over the years. All three of them went to Texas. Vince Young, Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning. Vince Young won a national championship. Quinn Ewers, you know, had some injury issues, but like they won a Big 12 title. If Arch Manning leaves as, you know, one of the highest touted of the group and doesn't have anything, and especially, you know, like we talked about, if he misses the playoffs two years in a row like that, that is pretty damning, right? Because I mentioned it earlier. It's not just the talent that Art brings to the table, which I think is very talented, but it's also the allure and the draw of Arch Manning, the way that you're able to build a roster around him because he's archmanic, right? And like we see versions of this in college basketball as well, right? Where like Zion comes and everybody wants to come with him. Right. Like there's versions of this, but like, this is the most extreme version that we've ever seen in college football. One of the most that we'll see for a long time. Most likely in college football, maybe until Peyton's kid grows up too. But like this has been.
D
You mean until RJ Day at Northwestern?
C
Yeah, everybody flocks to Northwestern, as everybody knows. But no, I mean, it's like this is a level of attention that's different. And yeah, it's kind of funny because they came into college football around a similar time. It's like, like, you know, there are football players that are famous and there are celebrities, right? And like Deion Sanders came into college football and was like, oh, that little thing that Alabama and Ohio State are doing. Like, no, I'm a celebrity, right? Like, everybody knows who I am. And Arch Manning is a celebrity, not a famous football player. He's the biggest celebrity, you know, Shador kind of thrown into that for, for similar reasons. But like, that we've probably seen since Johnny Manziel. And if you don't capitalize on the celebrity aspect of it with your on field roster, like you are going to have other good quarterbacks come through. You're never going to have this attention again.
A
So, like, I think we agreed that big Julian Sands, not at the same status level of Arch Manning, but I
C
will say that's fair to say.
A
He grew a mustache at the beginning of spring football and we compared him to Timothy Chalamet on this show. So I'm Just saying. And then he shaved it. So anyway, Jonah Booker and Shahanji Hiraja, thank you so much for your time and expertise. Great conversation here. Jay Book, the great contributor to Buck Nuts. Where can the folks find you? Where can they keep up with what you're doing?
B
Yes, you can follow me on X at JBOOK_37 and Fridays on Buck Nuts. Myself and Dave Biddle, we usually do our Friday show and over on the buckness message board.
A
There you go. Jay Book knows, has his. Has his fingers on everything and knows what's up with Ohio State football. Shahanji Haraja, one of the best in the business. Where can the folks find you and find your work?
C
Yeah, you can find all my work over@cbssports.com you can follow me on all social media platforms at. Shahanjay Raja, Pretty easy handle to gut, thankfully. And make sure to keep an eye out for the college football insiders which should be coming back this fall.
A
Very cool. Great show. And Bill Landis, we have a sub stack billanddugosu.substack.com and we're doing Ohio State Texas stuff all week.
D
We are doing it all week. Gonna re watch the game, get some thoughts from that. Put those up on the sub stack. I actually think there's something too with this list of players from from Texas who are on Ohio State's roster. So I think I might find myself writing about that as well. Also jealous of Shahan because there's another Bill Landis out there who has at Bill Landis on Twitter and I cannot get it. So I gotta put 25 at the
A
end of my Twitter handle. Oh, sorry, man. All right, gentlemen, thank you so much for for joining us here. Thanks to you guys for watching and listening here on around the Shoe. We like to start our week with it every week, even through the off season. So we'll see you the rest of the summer. Doing around the Shoe for now for Jonah Booker, for Shahanji Hiraja, for Bill Landis. I'm Doug Les Maurice and that was around the shoe on the Bill and Doug Show.
C
Ra.
Podcast: The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk
Episode Date: May 12, 2026
Guests: Jonah Booker (“J Book”, BuckNuts), Shahan Jeyarajah (CBS Sports), Doug Lesmerises (host), Bill Landis (host)
Theme: Previewing and dissecting the pivotal Week 2 clash between defending champ Ohio State and Texas—focusing on the significance of heavyweight non-conference games, the Arch Manning vs. Julian Sayin quarterback storyline, playoff implications, high-stakes coaching perspectives, and players to watch.
This episode of “Around the Shoe” dives deep into the red-hot anticipation surrounding the Ohio State vs. Texas matchup in Austin. Hosts Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis are joined by CFB analysts Jonah "J Book" Booker and Shahan Jeyarajah for a five-question, roundtable-driven preview. The conversation spans topics such as the health and future of major non-conference showdowns, the reality vs. hype of quarterback "rivalries," playoff forecasts, critical non-QB contributors, and the increasing scrutiny of Texas coach Steve Sarkisian through the lens of Ryan Day’s trajectory.
Timestamps:
Consensus:
Notable Quotes:
Timestamps:
Analysis:
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Takeaways:
Notable Quotes:
Timestamps:
Players to Watch:
Notable Quotes:
Timestamps:
Analysis:
Notable Quotes:
On value of big games:
"You can't live your life on UT Martin in September." —Doug [12:18]
On coaching evolution:
"Ryan Day has really kind of set the tone and the tempo for a lot of these younger coaches who are trying to get that first national championship under their belt. And it took a lot of failure." —J Book [49:46]
On the unique pressure of Arch Manning:
"Arch Manning is a celebrity, not a famous football player...if you don't capitalize on the celebrity aspect of it with your on-field roster, you are going to have other good quarterbacks come through, you’re never going to have this attention again." —Shahan [56:20]
The conversation is lively, opinionated, and analytical—mixing fan excitement (“Let’s play it now!” [32:11]), humor (“It’s not now or never, but it’s now or this is as good as it gets.” [45:12]), and tough scrutiny (on coaching, expectations, and what makes a “must-win” season for both bluebloods).
| Topic | J Book | Shahan | Doug | Bill | |-------|--------|--------|------|------| | Non-conf. Game Importance | 10/10 | 8/10 | 10/10 | 9/10 | | QB Rivalry? | No | No | No | No | | Both Teams Make Playoff? | 6/10 | 9.9/10 | 10/10 | 8.7/10 | | Most Important Non-QB | Jermaine Matthews (CB) | Jelani McDonald (S), Colin Simmons (DE) | Devin Sanchez (CB) | Secondary WR/TE | | Head Coach Pressure | Sark must learn from Day | Sark should model Day | It’s “now or this is as good as it gets” | Day as blueprint for Sark |
This episode offers a candid, in-depth look at what could be the most consequential early-season matchup in college football. The panel explains why games like Ohio State–Texas carry weight beyond rankings, how playoff expansion is reshaping the stakes, which players and coaches are in the spotlight, and why—for Texas, Sark, and Arch Manning—2026 is no ordinary year.