The Cotton Bowl is by far the most anticipated game so far this season. The marquee matchup between Ohio State and Texas inside AT&T Stadium on January 10. Both Ryan Day and Steve Sarkisian are yet to win a National Championship. But the pressure weighs heavier on the Buckeyes HC, who’s been around since 2019. His 68-10 record isn’t going to save him. Only a national championship will. Right now, he’s a favorite to win with multiple weapons on the roster. However, as one former NFL player sees it, his biggest star could make or break the path to the ultimate goal.  

QB Will Howard’s performance this season was polarizing. However, the year produced one of the finest WRs in freshman Jeremiah Smith, who turned 19 last November. He is Ohio State’s treasure! But there’s a chance he could fall. In the latest YouTube episode on Until Saturday on January 9, David Ubben and Chris Vannini let their fellow host Damien Harris take the mic. After all, he’s only just retired from the NFL last year and he was also a 2X CFP National Champion RB at Alabama. The 27-year-old dropped the “moral of the story for Texas” which is to “get your hands on Jeremiah Smith early and often. Be physical with him.”

Damien Harris considered the Offensive Pass Interference (OPI) penalty from Jeremiah Smith that cost Ohio State a win in their first close 32-31 loss to Oregon. The incident happened on the Buckeyes’ final drive when a Ducks defender initiated contact with him. As he saw the football coming, the 6’3, 215-pounder easily shoved his opponent backwards which led to a 15-yard penalty despite catching that 8-yard pass by Howard. 

But we see the trick to getting Jeremiah Smith off of his game. Harris added, “If you get your hands on a guy early and often in the game, especially a guy like Jeremiah Smith who’s so big and so physical, well, he’s gonna try to bully you right back and then maybe you can get him on another OPI.” It sounds like quite a plan, right? But they haven’t met this formidable team led by a successful HC. 

However, if Jeremiah Smith gets the better of you, there is no way around it. Just look at the last game when the Ducks struggled to contain him. 187 yards and multiple touchdowns later, Dan Lanning’s team packed their bags and said goodbye to their dream of winning the natty. We also saw how Cam Skattebo overwhelmed the Longhorns’ defense in the 4th quarter of their quarterfinal matchup. The Sun Devils would have been playing the Buckeyes if not for a questionable no-call on an alleged targeting in the dying seconds of the game.

We are aware that Chip Kelly and Ryan Day would have keenly looked at the tape of that 4th quarter. It exposed the Longhorns’ vulnerability on offense, and looking at the weapons Ryan Day has, it could be a long day on the field for Steve Sarkisian.

How high can Steve Sarkisian achieve?

What are the chances that one of the players in this season’s Cotton Bowl would return years later to coach for the same bowl? It’s rare. In fact, only three people achieved this feat. It’s already safe to say Steve Sarkisian won in his first year in the SEC. He couldn’t defeat the conference powerhouse Georgia in the SEC Championship game though. But representing the conference in the CFP semifinals in their transition year is a big win. And it’s in this 89th Cotton Bowl where Sark is going to make history! 

Steve Sarkisian joins Ken Hatfield, David McWilliams, and Art Briles in this rare achievement. But the former QB topped them all as the 1997 Cotton Bowl’s Outstanding Player of the Game after leading BYU to a victory over Kansas State. Can he recreate that winning moment as a coach too? As of now, the favor is against Texas as they enter the highly-anticipated semi final game as a 5.5-point underdog. 

It remains to be seen if Ryan Day can benefit from this advantage. As far as Jeremiah Smith is concerned, Texas’ fate is going to depend on whether or not he learned from that costly mistake.