No. 1 Ohio State Set for Top-5 Clash at Texas

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 1 Ohio State readies for its first road test of the 2026 season, traveling to No. 5 Texas on Saturday at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with the game airing on ABC.

FIRST AND TEN

The Buckeyes are 991-337-53 all-time in program history and have the highest winning percentage in college football history (.737 pct.).
- Texas ranks seventh all-time in winning percentage with a record of 972-398-33 (.705 pct.)
Texas will be head coach Ryan Day's 32nd game against a non-Big Ten opponent in his tenure as head coach (wins vs. Oregon State and TCU as acting head coach in 2018 included).
- Day's Buckeyes are 25-6 in the previous 31 games and average 42.2 points per game.
- Included in those 24 wins are seven against teams ranked in the Top 10: vs. No. 1 Texas (2025), vs. No. 3 Clemson (2020), No. 5 Texas (2024), No. 5 Notre Dame (2022), No. 7 Notre Dame (2024), No. 9 Tennessee (2024) and No. 9 Notre Dame (2023).
Day's teams are 25-1 in the month of September and 20-1 in regular season non-conference games.

SETTING THE SCENE

The Buckeyes and Longhorns will meet for the sixth time in series history today. Ohio State holds the all-time series lead, 3-2-0.
- In all six matchups, both teams have been ranked inside the top 10. Additionally, this is the fourth time both teams are ranked in the top five.
- This marks the third consecutive year that the two programs will play with Ohio State winning in both the 2024 and 2025 seasons:
  - W, 28-14 (Jan. 10, 2025)
    - College Football Playoff Semifinal and Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas
  - W, 14-7 (Aug. 30, 2025)
    - No. 1 vs. No. 2 in Columbus, Ohio
- This is the second time the Buckeyes will travel to Austin. The Bucks won the first matchup at Texas, 24-7, in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup on Sept. 9, 2006.
  - Eventual Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith completed 17-of-26 pass for 269 yards and two touchdowns while wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez had a career-high 142 yards receiving on eight catches. Linebacker James Laurinaitis led the way defensively with 13 tackles, an interception and two forced fumbles.

OHIO STATE AS NO. 1

Ohio State opened the season as the preseason No. 1 team in the country.

After the win on Saturday, Ohio State improved to 91-13-1 all-time as the top-ranked team in the country.
- Additionally, the Buckeyes have won 25 of it's last 26 games as the No. 1 team, dating back to the 2010 season.

OHIO STATE IN TOP-5 MATCHUPS

Saturday's No. 1 vs. No. 5 matchup marks the 45th game in program history where both teams are ranked inside of the top five. Ohio State holds a record of 22-21-1 all-time:
- Home: 12–4–0
- Road: 5–6–1
- Neutral: 5–11–0
Over the last two years, Ohio State is 3-2 in those games.
When Ohio State is in a matchup where both teams are ranked, the Buckeyes hold a 162-102-10 record all-time

When Ohio State's opponent is ranked in the Top 10, the Buckeyes have a record of 96-66-8.

LOOKING BACK AT BALL STATE

Ohio State's 27 consecutive season-opening wins is the second longest win streak in D-I era (since 1973), tying Florida (1990-2016) and only trails Nebraska with 29 straight from 1986 to 2014.

After the win on Saturday, Ohio State improved to 91-13-1 all-time as the top-ranked team in the country. Additionally, the Buckeyes have won 25 of it's last 26 games as the No. 1 team, dating back to the 2010 season.

Prior to kickoff, Ohio State honored 30 members of the senior class. The fourth-year members have been a part of three College Football Playoff teams and in 2024 contributed to the Buckeyes' run to winning the CFP national championship. After Saturday's win, they have totaled 38 wins since the beginning of the 2023 season, the second-most nationally.

With Saturday's victory over Ball State, head coach Ryan Day is now tied for the fourth-most victories in school history with Urban Meyer with 83 in his time in Columbus.

Junior quarterback Julian Sayin finished the game going 21-of-25 passing for 320 yards and three touchdown passes.
- This marked his seventh 300-plus yard passing game in his career which is tied for fifth-most in program history.
- Additionally, Sayin moved into 15th in program history with 4,014 passing yards, passing Kyle McCord (2021-23) and Will Howard (2024) on Saturday.
- With his three touchdown passes, Sayin now has 36 touchdowns in his career. One more would tie Sayin for 10th most in program history.
- Sayin is the most accurate quarterback in program history with a career completion percentage of 76.4 pct. which also would be an NCAA record (min. 875 attempts).
Junior wide receiver Jeremiah Smith had eight catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns all in the first half. His 151 yards are the second-most in a half in his career (Oregon - 2024). It marked his 12th 100-plus yard receiving game of his career, third-most in program history
- Since entering college football in 2024, Jeremiah Smith leads all players in receptions (171), receiving yards (2,709) and receiving TDs (29)
- Smith goes into Saturday needing 35 receptions, 190 yards and seven touchdowns to break all three Ohio State receiving records:
  - He has 171 receptions and needs 35 to break Emeka Egbuka's mark of 205:

Rank	Player	Career Receptions
1.	Emeka Egbuka (2021-24)	205
2.	K.J. Hill (2016-19)	201
3.	David Boston (1996-98)	191
4.	Chris Olave (2018-21)	176
5.	Jeremiah Smith (2024-Pres.)	171
6.	Cris Carter (1984-86)	168
7.	Michael Jenkins (1999-03)	165
8.	Marvin Harrison Jr. (2021-23)	155
9.	Gary Williams (1979-82)	154
10.	Corey Brown (2010-13)	145

He has 2,709 receiving yards and needs 190 to break Michael Jenkins' record of 2,898:

Rank	Player	Career Receiving Yards
1.	Michael Jenkins (2000-03)	2,898 yards
2.	Emeka Egbuka (2021-24)	2,868 yards
3.	David Boston (1996-98)	2,855 yards
4.	Gary Williams (1979-82)	2,792 yards
5.	Cris Carter (1984-86)	2,725 yards
6.	Chris Olave (2018-21)	2,711 yards
7.	Jeremiah Smith (2024-Pres.)	2,709 yards
8.	Marvin Harrison Jr. (2021-23)	2,613 yards
9.	Devin Smith (2011-14)	2,503 yards
10.	K.J. Hill (2016-19)	2,332 yards

He has 29 TD receptions and needs seven to break Chris Olave's standard of 35:

Rank	Player	Career Receiving TDs
1.	Chris Olave (2018-21)	35 TDs
2.	David Boston (1996-98)	34 TDs
3.	Marvin Harrison Jr. (2021-23)	31 TDs
4.	Devin Smith (2011-14)	30 TDs
5.	Jeremiah Smith (2024-Pres.)	29 TDs
6.	Cris Carter (1984-86)	27 TDs
7.	Santonio Holmes (2003-05)	25 TDs
T8.	Emeka Egbuka (2021-24)	24 TDs
T8.	Brian Robiskie (2005-08)	24 TDs
10.	Garrett Wilson (2019-21)	23 TDs

ABOUT TEXAS

Texas is coming off a 10-3 season that included a 41-27 victory over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.

The Longhorns were ranked as the No. 4 team in the preseason coaches poll, receiving two first-place votes. In the AP Poll, Texas was the No. 5 rated team.

In the Horns season opener, Texas defeated Texas State, 59-7. This was their 39th consecutive non-conference win against teams from Texas, dating back to 1968.
- Texas totaled 516 yards of offense with 360 passing yards and 156 rushing yards.
  - Quarterback Arch Manning threw for 305 yards and a career-high four touchdown passes.
  - Wide receiver Ryan Wingo was the Longhorns leading receiver with seven receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown.
  - The Texas defense forced three turnovers with an interception and a pair of fumble recoveries.
- Texas improved to 21-1 in its last 22 games at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.
  - Texas is 20-1 at home since the start of the 2023 season with 17 wins coming by 14 or more points.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian is in his sixth season at the Longhorn head coach, holding a record of 49-20 overall.
- In his time in Austin, Texas has made a pair of College Football Playoff appearances in 2023 and 2024, reaching the semifinals both times.
- The Longhorns have won double-digit games in three-straight seasons, marking the first time they have done so since recording nine-straight from 2001-09.

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Sept. 5                      Ball State                                   W, 56-3
Sept. 12                    at Texas                                     7:30 p.m.
Sept. 19                    Kent State                                 12:00 p.m.
Sept. 26                    Illinois                                        TBA
Oct. 3                        at Iowa                                       TBA
Oct. 10                      Maryland                                   TBA
Oct. 17                      at Indiana                                  TBA
Oct. 31                      at USC                                        TBA
Nov. 7                       Oregon                                       TBA
Nov. 14                    Northwestern                           TBA
Nov. 21                    at Nebraska                              TBA
Nov. 28                    Michigan                                   12:00 p.m.

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