Saturday's game between the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes isn't going to decide the National Champion in January. But it will provide important bragging rights, strength of schedule arguments, and a massive non-conference win for one of the two powerhouse programs.
As the defending national champs, the Buckeyes have an inside track to a back-to-back. Arguably the best defense in the country, the best wide receiver in the country in Jeremiah Smith, and the country's best defensive player in Caleb Downs. But the Longhorns can counter with an elite defense of their own, one of the most hyped collegiate quarterback prospects ever in Arch Manning, and an expensive roster with five-star prospects up and down the field.
Some analytical rankings have the Buckeyes as the best team in the country, but voters have generally sided with Texas. Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer wasn't quite ready to decide which one he favors yet, but he's confident one of these two teams will end up on top in January.
On The Joel Klatt Show, Meyer said Ohio State will have to overcome the year-to-year differences inherent in sports.
"Everybody changes," Meyer said "Everybody wants to point the finger at the players. I didn’t. The administration is different. Your fans are different. Your donors are different. Your coaching staff is different. Everybody walks around like something's changed. We're a blue-collar team. We're blue-collar people. We work our ass off, and now we have the answers.
"I used to say that all the time, ‘I get it now, so we have all the answers because we want it.’ Do you realize we're now going to be the target of every team in the country? I would always try to push it down, and it’s hard to do because everybody changes."
"Every coach's dream is to coach a hungry, pissed-off team. Every coach's nightmare is to coach a satisfied team. It's awful," Meyer said. "I would do whatever I had to do to try to piss that team off, whether it be making up articles or whatever, just to, because the way the mind works. Comfort is not a good word in the world of athletics. Comfort, I hear that and I cringe because comfort is not good. Pissed off is really good, especially in the sport of football. So I saw a pissed off team [in Alabama]."
Then when asked by the Fox Sports crew who he thinks will win it all, Meyer said the winner of OSU-Texas.
With Ohio State up 7-0 at halftime, completely stifling the Longhorns offense, holding Manning to just 5-10 passing for 25 yards and five rushing attempts for 13 yards, seems like Urban might have picked his old team to win.
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