The Ohio State football program has two straight wins over the Texas Longhorns. One of those wins propelled them to the national championship game. Ryan Day has a national championship under his belt, so the pressure he faces is no longer ratcheted up. That's especially true after beating TTUN last year.
On the flip side, Steve Sarkisian has not won those pressure-packed games. He is facing a lot of pressure from the fanbase. They want Texas to start beating the best teams in the country. Yet, Rece Davis of ESPN isn't buying that this is a make-or-break game for Sark.
ESPN's Rece Davis doesn't think Saturday night is make-or-break for Steve Sarkisian
The Buckeyes come into this game against Texas as an underdog. Yet, Davis doesn't think this game is an indictment on Sark's future with the Longhorns.
"As for determining whether Sark is going to get them to the promised land and win a championship, I don't really think it has that much impact. As I said earlier, it's a really good evaluation to see where Texas is at in its growth, and the same for Ohio State. But as far as it being some type of evaluation or indictment of Sark because he needs a signature win...I don't really buy that because a lot of people lose to Ohio State and Georgia."
Davis is right that plenty of other teams have lost to the Buckeyes and the Bulldogs over the years. However, if Sark loses this game, that means Ohio State owns the Longhorns. They will have beaten them at home, on the road, and at a neutral location. That's utter domination.
A los at home, at night in the heat, would be an indictment on Sark. The issue is that Texas hasn't been able to find anyone better. At least the Longhorns are back in the national conversation. It took them 20 years to get back to that spot after the national title they won back in 2005.
An Ohio State win could push Ryan Day to a new level
On the other side, a win for the Ohio State Buckeyes could push Day to a new level. Day has not been an underdog very often in his career. When he has been, the record isn't that great. In the last 14 years, Ohio State has only been an underdog 13 times. They are 9-4 in those games.
Urban Meyer has the majority of those victories, however. Winning this game in a hostile environment would give Day a lot of grace. He would also be sending a message to the rest of college football that the Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in the country.
Quite frankly, a victory would give Ohio State a very good reason to be a unanimous number-one team when the polls come back next week. Of course, Day isn't worried about that. He is worried about the polls when the CFP committee puts them together. A win on Saturday helps with those polls, too.
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