Desmond Howard: Texas and Ohio State did not play like top five teams

A lot of people were disappointed in the play from Texas on Saturday in its season opening loss to Ohio State. But ESPN analyst Desmond Howard believes the Buckeyes were just as underwhelming.

The Michigan alum came in with a hot take on ESPN’s pregame show before Monday night’s contest between North Carolina and TCU. Howard argued that neither Texas nor Ohio State lived up to their preseason hype in that much-anticipated matchup that the Buckeyes won 14-7.

“I’m not a big fan of preseason rankings. To me, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on,” Howard began. “You look at Ohio State-Texas game, No. 1 vs. No. 3. Neither team played like a top five team in my opinion. I thought both teams played OK. Obviously, Arch Manning was the big story coming into the game. He was an even bigger story coming out of the game because of the hype. Julian Sayin, he played OK. Well enough to win.”

Manning was one of the most talked about quarterbacks in the country this offseason as the former five-star recruit got ready to take over as the full-time starter. However, he struggled to get things moving for the Longhorns offense, which did not score its first touchdown until the fourth quarter.

Even though Ohio State won, it also left a lot to be desired from its first-year starting quarterback in Sayin. He threw for only 126 yards and the offense totaled only 203 and converted just 25% of its third down attempts.

Ohio State is coming off of a national championship and Texas entered as the No. 1 team in the country. But it’s clear in Howard’s estimation that both teams were perhaps a bit overvalued. He argued that it says a lot about preseason rankings in general.

“When you see these teams play, now you get a good feel for what they’re about, who they are, if they have an identity or no,” Howard said. “Then I think after three or four weeks, then maybe you want to start ranking these teams. But these preseason rankings are not worth the paper they’re written on.”

Both Texas and Ohio State will have an opportunity to bounce back in Week 2 as they take on weaker opponents. The Buckeyes take on Grambling State while the Longhorns face San Jose State, and perhaps both teams can get more of a chance to settle in more.