Kenyatta Jackson injury update: Ohio State EDGE leaves game vs. Texas, heads to tent

Ohio State EDGE Kenyatta Jackson left Saturday’s game against Texas in the third quarter with an injury. He walked off the field and headed to the injury tent.

Jackson got caught on the bottom of the pile deep in the red zone as the Longhorns marched down the field and received treatment on the field. He headed to the injury tent once he got to the sideline after walking off under his own power.

Jackson emerged as a key contributor on Ohio State’s national championship team a year ago. He appeared in 15 games, totaling 16 tackles – including three for loss and 1.5 sacks. He could be in line to take a leap for the Buckeyes’ pass-rush this year following some high-profile departures, including J.T. Tuimioloau.

As he looked ahead to his role this season, Jackson said he’s keeping things in perspective with a potentially larger role waiting for him. His focus remains on getting better and getting ready for the week ahead.

“Potentially I’m a starter, hopefully, but I don’t think about that, man,” Jackson said Thursday. “I just come in every day, just bust my butt every single day, just trying to get 1-percent better each and every day, preparing for the opponent that we have coming up.”

Kenyatta Jackson later returned to the sideline, though he didn’t have his helmet with him. At the time of his departure, he had three tackles as the Ohio State defense locked in to start Saturday’s high-profile affair.

Ohio State and Texas’ season opener was billed as potentially one of the biggest games of the year, drawing plenty of attention in the lead-up to kickoff. It marks the start of a new era for both teams. Arch Manning is now the Longhorns’ full-time starter and Julian Sayin won the Buckeyes’ quarterback competition, meaning Saturday marked his first career start.

Through the first half, though, both quarterbacks struggled. Afterward, FOX analyst Urban Meyer had questions for both Steve Sarkisian and Ryan Day. He wondered why the two teams opted to be so aggressive on fourth down rather than putting their young QBs in better field position.

“I want to talk about what could’ve been,” Meyer said on the FOX halftime show. “There were a couple coaching decisions early in this game. When you have an elite defense – I’ve been fortunate to have some great defenses, young quarterback – play field position. There were four fourth downs in the first half, three of them I was like, ‘What are we doing?’ … I get it. I get why you’re aggressive and all that.

“But you know what? Early in the season, this kind of elite defense with a young quarterback, let them go come out. That’s when young quarterbacks make mistakes.”