Ryan Day names Texas star as 'game-wrecker' ahead of upcoming clash

The opening week of college football is highlighted by No. 1 Texas's battle with No. 3 Ohio State, and Ohio State coach Ryan Day expressed some concern about a Texas defender's ability to crash the party. While Ohio State's offense promises to be potent, it was Texas defensive end Colin Simmons who Day spoke about on Thursday morning on his radio show.

He's a guy that you'd better know where he is. He's a game-wrecker. He's fast and athletic off the edge. He's got great explosiveness. And he'll be a year older now, so what you see on film, it's gonna be moving faster and more powerful than it was last year.Ryan Day

Colin Simmons' skills

247sports had ranked Simmons as a five-star recruit in the 2024 recruiting class and the No. 28 player (and No. 4 edge rusher) in the nation. Fulfilling that promise, Simmons had a massive 2024 campaign for the Longhorns as a true freshman.

The 6'3", 240-pound Simmons finished his season with 48 tackles, including 14 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Simmons recorded six of his nine sacks in conference play, with another coming in the CFP against Arizona State. Simmons also recorded his first career interception in the CFP win over Clemson and was credited with a pair of pass break ups in Texas's 28-14 loss to Ohio State.

Texas's defense has steadily improved under Steve Sarkisian. The Longhorns allowed just 15.3 points per game last season and picked up 46 sacks, second best in the SEC behind only Ole Miss. Simmons led the team in sacks, but four Texas players picked up at least 5.5 sacks.

Ohio State's Offense

Ohio State not only put up 35.7 points per game last season, but the Buckeyes did a nice job cutting off opposing pass rushers. Ohio State allowed just 16 sacks in 16 games played. Ohio State returns three starters from last season's offensive line. Penn State was the only team that sacked OSU's QB more than twice all season, picking up three sacks in OSU's 20-13 win over the Nittany Lions.

Ohio State will be breaking in new QB Julian Sayin and replacing the majority of last season's starting defense. The Buckeyes still find themselves as a narrow favorite, with recent point spreads indicating OSU as around a 1.5 point favorite. The only game in the last two seasons in which OSU wasn't a favorite was the 2023 regular season finale against Michigan.

Still, Day's comments expose a high degree of respect from the Buckeye boss for Texas-- and particularly for Colin Simmons.