Grumpy Old Buckeye: Dissecting Ohio State’s choke job at Texas
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While this column has been an exercise in combining tongue-in-cheek commentary with analysis of the parts of Ohio State games where the Buckeyes must improve, this week’s installment is different. Your friendly, neighborhood grumpy old Buckeye enters this week’s column legitimately angry — nay, livid — after Ohio State choked away a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Time hasn’t helped. The anger simmering over watching the Buckeyes fail in every phase of the game and in every coach’s specialty area has, if anything, only gotten more intense. With that said, please understand that every effort at an objective autopsy was made in the writing of this column. Here we go.
Bringing Field Goals to a Touchdown Fight
Facing a good team on the road, it’s not reasonable to expect touchdowns all the time. The other team has excellent guys on scholarship, too. But the opportunities were there to put Texas away early. Forcing and recovering a fumble on the game’s first play, Ohio State took over for its first possession on the Longhorns’ 18-yard line. Settling for three points in that situation isn’t the same as having a 10-play drive bog down at the opposing team’s 25.
The Longhorns were on their heels after two Bo Jackson runs for 14 yards and a first down. Then Ohio State got stupid and tried to go wide, losing nine yards, which put the Buckeyes behind schedule. It was eerily reminiscent of a play Texas ran in the red zone in the College Football Playoff that led to Jack Sawyer’s eventual strip sack/scoop-and-score. That led to Connor Hawkins’ first field goal of the night and was a win for Texas. Those extra four points not scored ultimately would have come in handy.
But lest ye think I always want touchdowns (I do, but it requires actual creativity on the coaching staff’s part and/or execution on the field)…
Wait, I Thought We Agreed on Field Goals?
Leading 10-0 late in the first quarter, Ryan Day did that thing he sometimes does and decided to try manball to prove something. With the ball on the Texas 13, Day would not take another field goal, so he kept his offense on the field for fourth-and-2. Arthur Smith sent in a big package with three tight ends and one receiver, with Ja’Kobi Jackson in the backfield as the lone setback.
Despite Day’s desire to be aggressive with his decision, Smith was conservative with his play call, which Texas blew up at the point of attack. Jackson gained half a yard, and the Buckeyes turned it over on downs. Ohio State has struggled to pick up short yardage out of such personnel groupings for several years now, but this time the coaching staff was absolutely sure it would work. It did not.
Ohio State’s offense, which is chock full of weapons, could easily spread a defense out and try to pick up those inside yards or be more aggressive with the play call. Instead, Texas went the other way and kicked a field goal for a six-point swing that had a major impact at the end.
Offensive Line Bossed
It’s one thing to open up a crack for Bo Jackson to slice through and pick up decent yardage, but it’s quite another for an offensive line to consistently move people. Ohio State’s doesn’t, especially in big games. It was the case against Indiana and Miami to end 2025, and it was the case again on Saturday night. Buckeye linemen routinely get beat and end up chasing the guy they were meant to block or picking themselves up off the turf after a negative play.
Good defenses like Texas’s will make plays. It’s just part of the game. But when you can’t protect and can’t provide space for your runner for half a game, it’s an issue. The offensive line was a staple of all the great teams in OSU history, so it’s puzzling why the group up front for the past two years can’t get it done.
Ball State showed some of the issues until the two Jacksons busted a couple of long runs in the second half in Week 1. That appears in hindsight to be more of the Cardinals wearing down than the Buckeyes getting better. Great teams need great offensive line play. It wasn’t great on Saturday, with a few exceptions. This led to…
Sayin Got Happy Feet
Texas got a lot of pressure on Julian Sayin in the third quarter, and the OSU quarterback lost his mechanics, his rhythm, or both in the second half and couldn’t recover from it. The most obvious example was when he had a wide-open Devin McCuin on what would have been a likely touchdown with about eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.
There was some pressure, but not a ton, and Sayin had time to set his feet and hit his target on the run. That miss, combined with a poor decision to pass into traffic on third down, led to Hawkins’ third field goal of the night and was another four-point swing in favor of Texas.
Fickle Fumble Luck
Most of the non-Ohio State fans I follow on social media seemed to think Texas angered the football gods with a fumble on the first play and the ball in the first quarter that popped up and became an Ohio State interception. The gods, however, are cruel, and they do things like that for maximum effect later. Ohio State had multiple shots to end the game with the ball on the ground in the second half.
The first was a muffed punt by Texas late in the third quarter that fell deep in Longhorn territory. Ryan Niblett muffed the punt, and the Buckeyes had a great shot at it, but it hit off the gunner, and Kade Phillips fell on it for Texas. If Ohio State recovers that, the game is likely over.
Even later in the third quarter, Payton Pierce forced Emmett Mosley to fumble at the OSU16, but Cam Coleman of Texas was the first one to get onto it, as it somehow eluded Earl Little, Jr.
Finally, late in the final Texas drive, Jason Moore forced a fumble by Hollywood Smothers near the goal line that Raleek Brown fell on to keep the Longhorns’ hopes alive. Smothers scored the winning touchdown on the next play.
What Even Is Pass Interference?
What’s good for the goose is not always good for the gander. Devin Sanchez was called for a Downy-soft pass interference penalty when compared to a couple of plays later in the game, both involving Jeremiah Smith. On one of them, just before the missed late field goal, Smith was being shoved out of play the entire way down the field, including when the ball was in the air.
On the second, even later, he was being roughed up coming out of his break on an in route that would have produced a first down. One of the few actual laughs I got in the second half was watching the Spanish broadcast, because while showing the replay of Sanchez giving a token tug to the top of the receiver’s jersey with two fingers, the announcer exclaimed, “¿COMO?” I had the same thought, but in English and with an expletive attached to it. Call both, or call neither. I don’t care either way, but if you’re going to differentiate, call the ones that are more egregious, please. This is a society, and we must have some rules.
Where Did the D Go?
Ohio State players said they didn’t wear down in the second half on Saturday, and they may be right. The defense had issues, and it wasn’t just one thing. On one play, the line would lose contain on Arch Manning, allowing him to pick up yards on the scramble. On another, a missed assignment or poor coverage allowed a completion. On still other plays, chances to make tackles were missed.
But the biggest problem was two fourth-down conversions that Matt Patricia’s defense could not stop to kill the game off. The first was a fourth-and-9 late in the third quarter that may have been worth a replay to check the spot.
But the bottom line is that Ohio State lost coverage after flushing Manning (again, allowing him to escape contain) and the Texas quarterback getting away with that cardinal sin of throwing late across the middle, back across his body. Later, Texas converted a fourth-and-6. Matt Patricia’s defense isn’t supposed to fail on multiple critical plays. It did.
It’s 2026, and OSU Kickers Still Crumble Under Pressure
Has Ohio State had a money kicker since Mike Nugent? If so, I can’t remember them, and that’s probably telling me the answer. In the year of our Lord, 2026, why can’t a school with the resources Ohio State has find a kicker who doesn’t melt under the bright lights? Brody Boehm, the kid from Ball State last week, could transfer in and instantly be the best guy in the position group. Ball effing State!
Maybe it’s just the collective beatdown all of Buckeye Nation has taken from Ohio State kickers over the years, creating a field of trepidation so powerful that it makes its way onto the field and into the kicker’s head. With a big game on the line, you want someone you know is going to make it, the way 95% of NFL kickers seem to be automatic inside of 60 yards these days (and mostly automatic outside 60!). These humans exist on the planet.
Please, Ohio State, find one of them. It looked like maybe Hawkins could be that guy after hitting his first three on Saturday, and maybe he still will be, but you can’t shank a 45-yarder as he did with a good snap and hold. It wasn’t even close and was bad from the start. Hawkins missed the left upright by more than five yards. That left Texas with a chance, and Texas took that chance.
Day loves to talk about all phases of the game, but this program has shown repeatedly that it is deeply unserious about recruiting and coaching up special teams and has been for a long time.
Those weren’t the only things that bothered me on Saturday, but that’s plenty. I’m all worked up again just from typing this out and need to go take a long walk to regain my chill. What stuck out to you?
Great teams don’t blow 20-point fourth-quarter leads regardless of home or away or the quality of opponent. That is my way of saying that this doesn’t look like a great Ohio State team. That doesn’t mean it can’t become one by the end of the season, but I’m already on record as predicting multiple losses in 2026, and this is one of the games I thought would be a loss, but I had no idea it would be a win that turned into a loss in the dumbest possible ways.
The coaching staff has to be better. Julian Sayin and the offensive line have to be better. The defense has to put four quarters together. If I’m handing out Buckeye leaves, Jeremiah Smith gets one, and maybe one or two defenders, and that’s it.
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