Matt Patricia couldn’t help but make an honest admission about college football after Ohio State beat Texas

107,524 was the official attendance at Ohio Stadium for the Week 1 showdown between the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes and No. 1 Texas Longhorns.

Ohio State protected home field in Columbus with a 14-7 win over Texas and Arch Manning. New defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s unit delivered in a big way for the Buckeyes, serving as the catalyst for the victory.

After the game, Patricia admitted the biggest difference-maker: the fans.

“You don’t get that kind of noise in an NFL game, so I’m super appreciative of that,” Patricia said.

When Ryan Day opened his press conference following the win, he echoed the same message, crediting the fans for their impact.

“What an unbelievable atmosphere, from driving in this morning from my house, [to] seeing everybody at [College] GameDay, Big Noon Kickoff, seeing people around the stadium, tailgating, and then the atmosphere in the stadium when we came out for warmups. I mean, there weren’t very many empty seats,” Day said. “And for a noon kickoff to have that many people in the stadium was amazing. For an atmosphere like that in Week 1, to bring everybody together was great for our team, and I think it made a huge difference in the fourth quarter.”

Ohio State held Texas to 335 total yards, though a large chunk of that came on the Longhorns’ final couple of drives when they were forced to open things up. Manning attempted 30 passes but managed just 170 yards and threw one interception to Jermaine Mathews Jr. The Buckeyes will take that defensive performance any time, but especially against a high-powered team like Texas.