Ohio State says it wasn't 'battle tested' before. That's about to change

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  Jake TrotterSep 9, 2026, 06:30 AM ET

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  Jake Trotter is a senior writer at ESPN. Trotter covers college football. He also writes about other college sports, including men's and women's basketball. Trotter resides in the Cleveland area with his wife and three kids and is a fan of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for five years, moving back to college football in 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers before joining ESPN in 2011. He's a 2004 graduate of Washington and Lee University. You can reach out to Trotter at jake.trotter@espn.com and follow him on X at @Jake_Trotter.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State stars Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin agree on what the Buckeyes were missing entering last season's College Football Playoff.

"We [weren't] battle tested," Smith said. "We played one team and that was in late August.

"We definitely going to be battle tested this year -- and it's going to show a lot at the end of the season."

That one team was Texas, which arrived in Columbus for the opener ranked No. 1 in the preseason polls. Ohio State staved off the Longhorns in the fourth quarter to win 14-7.

The Buckeyes wouldn't play another meaningful fourth quarter until the postseason.

But there, they couldn't rally past Indiana in the Big Ten championship game or complete a comeback against Miami in a playoff quarterfinal, ending their season.

"This year we have a better schedule, a tougher schedule," Sayin said. "I think it's going to be good for us. We just didn't have that many tough games in the [regular season] -- and you need that."

Ohio State should have plenty of them this season.

The top-ranked Buckeyes face arguably the toughest schedule in the country, beginning Saturday night with a visit to Austin for a rematch against the fourth-ranked Longhorns.

"It's going to be a challenge, but that's the way you want it," coach Ryan Day said before the season. "It's going to force us to get comfortable winning games in the fourth quarter during the regular season."

Ohio State plays six teams ranked in the preseason Top 25, including four of them -- Texas, Iowa (Oct. 3), Indiana (Oct. 17) and USC (Oct. 31) -- on the road.

Oregon also travels to Columbus on Nov. 7.

Of the Buckeyes' remaining opponents, only Kent State, Maryland and Northwestern were outside the top 33 in ESPN's SP+ preseason rankings.

"That's going to help us get calloused up for when the playoffs come around," senior guard Luke Montgomery said. "Week in, week out, you've got to be on your A game. It's super exciting and I think it will help us out a lot."

After Ohio State's 56-3 win over Ball State in the opener, Day said he "designed" the program's entire offseason and preseason around winning big matchups on the road, starting with Texas. Day rested most of his starters in the second half Saturday, including Smith, who didn't play after catching eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

"Jeremiah, he understands what's coming," Day said Saturday. "He trusted what we did ... because he understands we got a monster game coming up."

Ohio State's defense dominated Texas quarterback Arch Manning in his debut as the full-time starter last season. Through three quarters, Manning completed only 9 of 15 passes for 38 yards with an interception.

"It's a rough film to watch," Manning said Monday. "I don't like watching it that much."

Manning rebounded later in the season, throwing seven touchdowns without a pick while running for four more scores as the Longhorns closed the season with double-digit victories over rivals Arkansas and Texas A&M, then Michigan in a bowl game.

This time, the game will be at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in primetime (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

During the offseason, the Longhorns loaded up, landing blue-chip wide receiver transfer Cam Coleman, who, like Smith, is projected to go high in next year's NFL draft. Coleman gives Manning an elite go-to target. Texas also returned 13 starters, including preseason All-America pass rusher Colin Simmons.

Texas is a slight favorite on DraftKings. If that line holds, according to ESPN Research, it will be only the 14th time since the FBS/FCS split in 1978 that an AP No. 1 team is an underdog in a regular-season game.

The Longhorns are 20-1 at home since the start of the 2023 season, with 17 wins coming by at least two touchdowns.

"They have really good talent across the board. It's going to be a great environment," Day said. "But this is what we're going to have to do this year when you look at our schedule. We're going to have to be able to go on the road and win games like this."

A year ago, after beating Texas, Ohio State never found itself in a game like that again.

After Texas, the Buckeyes gave up only 86 points the rest of the regular season while winning by an average of more than 31 points. Ohio State played only two more opponents ranked at the time, Illinois and Michigan.

A potential showdown against Penn State fizzled when the Nittany Lions dropped three straight before firing coach James Franklin.

Despite being undefeated and ranked No. 1, the Buckeyes entered the Big Ten title game having gone more than three months without playing a one-score game.

The Hoosiers came up with two late red zone stops, shutting out Ohio State in the second half to win the Big Ten championship and capture the top seed in the playoff.

In the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State pulled to within 17-14 against Miami early in the fourth quarter on Sayin's touchdown throw to Smith. But the Buckeyes gained only six yards the rest of the way, and the Hurricanes put away Ohio State away with a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive.

"The biggest emphasis [has been] winning the game in the fourth quarter," Smith said. "That's something Coach Day has been talking about a lot. And that's something [we're going to] have to do a lot. ... These are tough environments."

Two years ago, Ohio State entered the playoff under much different circumstances.

After surrendering 496 yards in a one-point loss at Oregon, Ohio State bounced back to lead the nation in total defense the rest of the way.

After the stunning home loss to Michigan to end the regular season, the Buckeyes roared back in the playoff, winning all four games by double digits to bring home the program's first national title since 2014.

"We know we've got a very good opponent that we're playing probably every other week," Smith said. "We got bangers every week.

"It's definitely a test for us. ... We've got to be prepared."