Skip to main content
Texas

CONTEXT: A cat-and-mouse breakdown between Steve Sarkisian and Matt Patricia

Eric Nahlinby: Eric Nahlin2 hours ago
Steve Sarkisian
Steve Sarkisian (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Inside Texas website and YouTube contributor Texas Homer exhaustively broke down the Texas vs Ohio State game with some help from the All-22 camera angle. Below are two of his key observations after constructing a spreadsheet detailing each passing play from Texas. His compiled notes covered many different facets of each play. Here’s an example of how he categorized his info collecting.

As we like to say on IT, context is key.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns coverage!]

Here’s a macro look at his observations.

Patricia’s Scheme and Its Effects

Homer writes:

Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia utilized modern NFL concepts: the Penny front, showing five-man pressures and then bailing, and finding unique ways to cover the middle of the field in Cover 3 and Tampa 2. He also used the “coffeehouse stunt.” However, he wasn’t some disguising wizard—coverage was disguised only 27% of the time. Much of it was faux aggression that predictably ended in basic Cover 3 (with some variations).

Steve Sarkisian had trouble early on getting crossers going because the middle of the field was occupied, and it rattled Arch Manning, who didn’t have answers at first. In the second half, though, Sark adjusted, using concepts to attack single-high looks—quick throws to the flats and sit-down curls against Cover 3, and Mesh against man. Ohio State ran some form of Cover 3 (3 Match, Cloud 3, or Tampa 2—technically a Cover 3 variation) on 59% of passing snaps.

Patricia liked to play with the line. He sent or bluffed pressure 49% of time (44% Bluff/56% Real Pressure). To have pressure half the time and not show anything the other half is tough for QBs. Of the pressure half was real and half was bluff too. Tricky to tell. Still it would likely result in Cover 3 for a bluff, and man for the true pressure. 

Where Was the Motion? (Presnap Movement)

Again, Homer:

The announcers talked about this but misled fans. Sark actually ran motion or a shift on 76% of passing snaps. It just wasn’t the big, across-the-formation motions that catch the eye. Instead, there were tons of quick, same-side motions and shifts.

The perception from fans is understandable, though—the game plan didn’t feel explosive, fun, or creative, which is at the heart of their frustration. Texas struggled early to adjust but found answers in the second half. If Arch had simply completed the routine throws Sark schemed up for him, this game could have looked very different.

For more discussion of Homer’s spreadsheet, move ahead to the 4:00 minute mark of this video. Please like and describe.

Join Inside Texas for Market-Leading Texas Longhorns Football coverage!

InsideTexas.com provides just what passionate Texas fans expect: Market-leading coverage of Longhorns athletics and recruiting.

Join the best Texas fan community and receive all the benefits that come with it:

  • Elite team and recruiting coverage of the program you love
  • Immediate access to any Longhorns break news
  • Exclusive insider practice reports and year-round team info as well as board Q&A’s with IT staff
  • High level discourse with the most passionate and informed Longhorns fans across multiple board forums.
  • Market leading team analysis for those who are looking to increase their understanding of Steve Sarkisian and Pete Kwiatkowski’s preferred concepts
  • So much more!

SIGN UP and ensure no Longhorns information gets by you: Join Inside Texas community today!

Talk about this story and many more with fellow Longhorn diehards on the Members Only forum.

You may also like

Arch Manning
Inside Texas

A Field With A Ball

RT Young•07/31/25

I wrote this article last summer, but with fall camp underway and college football just 30 days from kickoff, it felt fitting to run it back. A lot...