Texas football (13-2, 7-1 SEC) and head coach Steve Sarkisian are in the College Football Playoff semifinals for the second straight postseason, a year after UT fell short of the Washington Huskies in the Sugar Bowl.
Emeka Egbuka one of the Ohio State star players Texas football offered in high school recruitments
Next week, the Longhorns will battle the Ohio State Buckeyes (12-2, 7-2 Big Ten) and head coach Ryan Day in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, TX, at AT&T Stadium.
Led by star freshman Jeremiah Smith and a very talented receiving corps that has at least four NFL guys, Ohio State is a marquee blue-blood opponent for the Longhorns in the CFP semis. The Buckeyes boast other key starters on both sides of the ball who the Longhorns are familiar with from recent history.
Multiple Ohio State players were recruited and offered by the Longhorns as high school prospects in the past four or five years. Texas has also faced a handful of Ohio State key players on the two-deep who transferred to join Day and the Buckeyes in the past couple of years, namely starting quarterback Will Howard.
Here are three Ohio State stars that the Longhorns recruited and offered out of high school.
Emeka Egbuka, WR
Ohio State probably has the best receiving corps in college football this season. Led by Smith and senior slot receiver Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State's wideouts threaten opposing defenses at every level of the field on offense.
Egbuka, a former five-star recruit from Steilacoom (WA) High School on the West Coast, was one of the top prospects in the nation in the 2021 class. He ranked as the No. 1 wide receiver recruit in the nation in the 2021 class in the 247Sports Composite.
Texas and former head coach Tom Herman offered Egbuka pretty early on in his recruitment.
It wasn't just Herman and the Longhorns that showed interest in Egbuka during his high school recruitment. Sarkisian was the primary recruiter for the Alabma Crimson Tide on the trail pursuing Egbuka when he was the offensive coordinator under legendary head coach Nick Saban.
Alabama was one of the schools that finished just behind Ohio State when Egbuka committed to the Buckeyes in the 2021 class.
Sarkisian complimented the dynamic receiver duo headlining for the Buckeyes, including Smith and Egbuka.
"They're both big, physical players. They have length. They have speed. They have playmaking ability on the ball. They have big catch radiuses. They've got the scheme to go with it, with Coach Kelly and Coach Day, and they've got a quarterback who delivers you the ball."Steve Sarkisian on Egbuka and Smith
Egbuka is currently under 150 receiving yards away from becoming Ohio State's all-time leader in receiving yards.