
Which team gets off to the faster start could determine the Cotton Bowl.
ARLINGTON, Texas — AT&T Stadium is the site of the Cotton Bowl matchup between the No. 5 Texas Longhorns and the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
And while the Longhorns are the higher seed, the Buckeyes are favored by 5.5 points on FanDuel with kickoff approaching at 6:45 p.m. Central on ESPN. ESPN’s matchup predictor has it closer with Texas given a narrow edge at a 50.5-percent win probability.
One of the central storylines surrounds the fast starts of Ohio State in the playoff — the Buckeyes scored 21 points in the first quarter of the 42-17 first-round win over the Volunteers and on six of the seven first-half possessions of the 41-21 win over No. 1 Oregon, jumping out to a 34-0 lead before the Ducks scored on the final possession before halftime.
Texas didn’t create some separation against Clemson until the second quarter of its first-round win, but got off to a quick start in the Peach Bowl, needing less than eight minutes to go up 14-0 against Arizona State. The issue for the Horns in both games was the inability to bury their opponent.
Some pregame drama also surrounded the place-kicking game for Texas after starter Bert Auburn missed two go-ahead kicks in Atlanta, continuing a trend of recent struggles for the senior. In warmups, junior Will Stone was working with the starting deep snapper amid reports that he could attempt his first career field goal against Ohio State. A scholarship specialist, Stone has handled kickoffs for the Longhorns for the last three seasons.
In injury news for the Longhorns, junior right tackle Cam Williams is expected to return to the starting lineup after missing the Peach Bowl with a knee sprain sustained in the win over the Tigers in Austin. At wide receiver, junior Isaiah Bond is listed as the backup to freshman Ryan Wingo at the X position after failing to record a reception against the Sun Devils.