\u201cEvery week we play teams with players from from the state of Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve Sarkisian\u2019s Thursday comment about the inevitability of facing off against players from the Lone Star State competing for other programs is certainly a truism. After all, the state of Texas averages well over 300 players per year signing with FBS programs around the country, consistently the highest number of any state in the country.<\/p>\n
Even an FCS powerhouse like the Montana Grizzlies have double-digit Texas players on their roster, some from high school recruiting and a handful more out of the portal.<\/p>\n
But when the No. 4 Texas Longhorns face off against the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday in Austin in one of the most highly-anticipated non-conference matchups of the 2026 season, those players will look almost entirely different \u2014 they were elite recruits, not the type of lower-tier or mid-tier prospects who make up the rosters of the Texas State Bobcats and UTSA Roadrunners, the other two non-conference opponents for the Longhorns this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cOhio State\u2019s recruiting the really good ones, and so Ryan [Day]\u2018s done a really good job of getting players from the state, and they\u2019ve gone on to produce and play at a high level,\u201d Sarkisian said.<\/p>\n
The relevant recent history extends back to the Urban Meyer era, when the former Ohio State head coach took advantage of the struggles in Austin to win the high-profile recruiting battles<\/a> for Texas prospects like running back JK Dobbins, linebacker Baron Browning, and cornerback Jeffrey Okudah in the 2017 recruiting class.<\/p>\n Since Day took over as the full-time head coach after the 2018 season, the two programs have continued to engage in high-profile recruiting battles as Texas suffered a big loss like missing on Lake Travis wide receiver Garrett Wilson \u2014 who at least grew up in the Columbus area \u2014 and losses that seemed bigger at the time, like the Buckeyes flipping Missouri wide receiver product Mookie Cooper or landing wide receiver Caleb Burton out of Austin.<\/p>\n One massive missed evaluation still lingers over the shared recruiting history of the two programs, too \u2014 former head coach Tom Herman and his staff never even offered wide receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba out of Rockwall, even though he finished the cycle as a consensus five-star prospect. Once intent on playing at either Oklahoma or Texas<\/a>, neither school showed enough interest as Ohio State recruited him hard.<\/p>\n Even a high-profile flip from the Buckeyes to the Longhorns failed to pay off much for Texas. Consensus top-100 prospect Terrance Brooks, a cornerback from Little Elm, switched his pledge from Ohio State to Texas on Early Signing Day in 2021. Although Brooks did start 16 games over two seasons in Austin, recording three interceptions in 2023, he transferred to Illinois in 2024 with his starting job in jeopardy, got buried on the depth chart in Champaign, and left the team before the bowl game without returning to the Illini.<\/p>\n Even as Sarkisian resurrected the Texas program after its decade in the college football wilderness, Ohio State has continued to win its share of recruiting battles, especially in the state.<\/p>\n The most high-impact recent win for the Buckeyes came in a recruitment the Longhorns had trouble countering when Galena Park North Shore product Devin Sanchez, the No. 1 cornerback in the 2025 class, decided early on that he wanted to leave the state, negating the impact of a late push from the Horns before the early signing period.<\/p>\n After earning one start last year, Sanchez is on track to become a star for Ohio State as he moves into a full-time starting role.<\/p>\n The linebacker position in Columbus features three head-to-head recruiting wins in 2024 signee Payton Pierce, 2025 signee Riley Pettijohn, and 2026 portal addition Christian Alliegro.<\/p>\n A Lucas Lovejoy product, Pierce was similar to Sanchez in showing little interest in the Longhorns despite receiving an offer from Texas early in the process. Florida State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Tennessee were all able to secure visits from Pierce, who gave a spring commitment to Ohio State shortly after an unofficial visit and took his single official visit to Columbus before signing with the Buckeyes as the nation\u2019s No. 15 linebacker.<\/p>\n Pierce\u2019s contributions steadily increased from his freshman to his sophomore season when he recorded 43 tackles, an interception, a force fumble, and a fumble recovery while starting three games. This year, he\u2019ll start at middle linebacker on Saturday in his return to the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n An elite athlete at the position who ran a 10.77 100-meter dash at McKinney, Pettijohn was a bigger miss for Texas \u2014 he was ranked more highly than Pierce as the No. 2 linebacker in the 2025 class and showed more interest in the Longhorns, taking one of his four summer official visits to Austin before committing to the Buckeyes in early July.<\/p>\n After playing sparingly as a true freshman, Pettijohn will factor into the linebacker rotation this season, providing a glimpse of the impact that he can make by leading Ohio State with six tackles in the season opener. The 6\u20192, 235-pounder could play a diverse role<\/a> against the Longhorns as a potential spy on Texas quarterback Arch Manning or as a situational edge rusher.<\/p>\n Ohio State also won a head-to-head battle during the portal window last January when Wisconsin transfer Christian Alliegro, the No. 3 transfer linebacker, committed to the Buckeyes over the Longhorns. The starter over Pettijohn at the weak-side position, Alliegro brings veteran leadership and playmaking ability with a tackle for loss in the season opener.<\/p>\n Columbus-area native Rasheem Biles has already softened the blow of missing on Alliegro after forcing two turnovers against Texas State<\/a> and providing one of the better offseason sound bites from a Texas player during preseason camp when he revealed why he didn\u2019t consider Ohio State after leaving Pitt.<\/p>\n