Ohio State’s defense held Texas quarterback Arch Manning in check and the No. 3 Buckeyes pulled off a 14-7 victory over the top-ranked Longhorns at Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday in the season opener for both teams.
CJ Donaldson scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and the Buckeyes took advantage of a Manning interception to go ahead 14-0 with 13:08 left in the game when quarterback Julian Sayin connected with Carnell Tate for a 40-yard touchdown.
Manning finally got untracked and threw a 32-yard TD to Parker Livingstone with 3:28 remaining.
With a chance to pull off a late rally, Manning took the Longhorns to the 47 in the final two minutes, but they turned the ball over on downs with 1:27 remaining to end the threat.
Manning, the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning, made his third career start, while the Buckeyes’ Sayin was making his first.
Sayin was 13 of 20 for 126 yards and a TD. Manning was 17 of 30 for 170 yards with a TD and an interception.
The first half belonged to the defenses.
Each team turned the ball over on downs on their first possession of the game and the breakthrough score by Donaldson for the Buckeyes was helped by two defensive penalties on the 80-yard scoring drive. Donaldson’s scoring run from 1 yard out came on fourth down.
A facemask penalty on third down gave the Buckeyes a first down at the 29 and two players later a hold in the secondary put the ball on the 18. The Buckeyes ran six straight times from there.
Ohio State outgained the Longhorns 103 yards to 79 in the first half with Sayin going 6 of 11 for 53 yards. Manning was 5 of 10 for 26 yards before halftime.
Texas drove 70 yards to the Ohio State 1 on its first series of the third quarter but Manning was stopped for no gain on a fourth-down QB sneak to turn over the ball on downs.
After the Buckeyes’ second score, Texas again breached the red zone but on fourth-and-3 from the 9, Manning threw incomplete to Livingstone in the end zone with 7:56 to play.
Ohio State star receiver Jeremiah Smith made six catches for 43 yards with a long of 16.
