Ohio State Implodes In Loss to Texas
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It was the marquee matchup of the week. Zoom out, and the showdown between number-one Ohio State and number-four Texas was the most-anticipated matchup of the first month of the season, at least.
After the first half, it looked like Ohio State was about to skunk the Longhorns on their own turf. It was all Buckeyes through 30 minutes thanks to timely turnovers, methodical offense, and a suffocating defense. Then, Texas came storming back. After holding a 23-3 lead in the second half, Ohio State completely imploded on both sides of the ball.
It wasn’t a banner day statistically for the Longhorns, but they did what they had to do to win.
At the end of it all, the Buckeyes fell at Texas, 24-23, marking the largest comeback in Steve Sarkisian’s coaching career and the largest blown lead in Ryan Day’s.
Ohio State Implodes In Loss to Texas
The Best Possible Start
In these pivotal matchups, teams are on edge. Each and every play weighs more and more as the time ticks off. As a result, getting a great start gives you the advantage to try to put a team away as soon as you can.
That’s what happened for Ohio State.
Texas received the opening kick, so all eyes were on Matt Patricia’s defense. On the first play of the game, Jay Timmons, in his second-ever game at the collegiate level, came up big. Texas began the game with a bubble to Hollywood Smothers, and Timmons came downhill, laid a hit, punched out the ball, and recovered it for the first turnover of the game. While the Buckeyes couldn’t punch it into the end zone on that first drive, Connor Hawkins converted on his first-ever field goal attempt with the Buckeyes.
Then, on the fourth play of the next Texas drive, Arch Manning lobbed up a beautiful ball for a wide-open Cam Coleman. Then, Coleman hit the turf, causing the ball to bounce directly into Jaylen McClain‘s waiting hands for the interception. That drive was paid off with a touchdown.
To make matters worse for Texas, the next drive was a three-and-out.
Through three drives for both teams, Ohio State was outgaining Texas, 132-5, and led the ballgame 10-0 (Ohio State turned the ball over on downs in the red zone on the third drive).
Jeremiah Smith Record Watch
Jeremiah Smith entered this game just 35 receptions, 190 yards, and seven touchdowns away from owning the Ohio State triple crown of career records. With eight receptions, 164 yards, and one touchdown, he came so, so close. Now, with 10 games remaining on the regular season slate, Smith needs just 27 receptions, 26 yards, and eight touchdowns.
Smith wasted no time to make an impact on this game. His first reception of the game was a 19-yard gainer in the first to set up the Buckeyes for their first touchdown drive of the game. He made three more receptions in the first before taking over the second quarter. He made one of the most athletic, acrobatic catches of his career (and that’s saying something) on a 43-yard reception. After getting the ball back with little time, Julian Sayin found Smith in the end zone on a perfect seam route for the best receiver in football’s first-ever touchdown against Texas.
Want a wild stat? In games Smith went over 140 yards, Ohio State is 3-3.
Gotta Play Two Halves
The Ohio State defense was going to have to step up in a massive way. Manning, Coleman, and Ryan Wingo are dangerous and can score early and often. However, that trio did neither.
In the first half, the defense was everywhere. Timmons showed why coaches were so high on him. The defensive line was swarming in the run game while keeping Manning out of sorts. Texas had one drive in which it was able to do anything, and that was a 16-play, 69-yard field goal drive to get the Longhorns on the board. Then, as the offense only managed to get a field goal itself, the defense stepped up and got a turnover on downs to set up that quick Smith touchdown to go up 20-3 at half.
Then, the offense sputtered a bit. After a second-half-opening drive that lasted 3:05, the offense only managed 4:26 over its next three drives. As a result, a defense that was looking good was on its heels and gassed.
There were a few flashes of greatness; Devin Sanchez made up for a questionable defensive pass interference with a massive open-field tackle to force a punt. Plus, Khary Wilder had back-to-back plays with pressures from the nose tackle spot. He’s going to be a good one.
The problem is that there are 60 minutes in a game. Texas came storming back and scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to dispatch the Buckeyes.
Problems Solved?
When you look at the final stats, Ohio State didn’t exactly light the world on fire on the ground. However, Bo Jackson did a fine job running between the tackles in this one.
In total, he finished with 74 yards on 19 rushes, which doesn’t seem like a lot. However, that includes five runs of at least eight rushes…but also one run that resulted in an 11-yard loss. He and the offensive line were bodying the Longhorns in the trenches early, but when it all became predictable, it came crashing down.
In addition, there is a well-documented issue with Ohio State’s special teams. Ohio State went from having a bad special teams coordinator to having no special teams coordinator to poaching a special teams coordinator from within the Big Ten. One of the concerns was field goal kicking. Over the last handful of years, you had to hope a game would not come down to the foot of a kicker. With Connor Hawkins, it looked like things were looking up. The Baylor transfer converted on each of his first three kicks from 26, 30, and 48 yards. Then, with a chance to put the game away, he hooked a 45-yard attempt wide left from the left hash.
Ultimately, were the problems solved? No, not yet.
The Last Word
All in all, it was a classic game. It had everything you wanted from a top-five matchup. Ohio State had plenty of opportunities to win this one, reminiscent of the loss at Oregon in 2024, another one-point loss on the road.
Texas’s second-half adjustments and execution were the difference. Once again, Ohio State took its foot off the gas, stopped doing what was working, and tried to bully its way to victory. You can do that against the MAC and the lower half of the Big Ten; you can’t do that against teams with pulses, unfortunately.
It was a legendary game from Smith. Sayin had a great first half and was left out to dry in the second. Ultimately, the offense didn’t give the defense an opportunity to finish the job by keeping it on the field.
A little vulnerability, but as my late step-father would often say, it’s good the Buckeyes got this loss out of their system now so they know what they need to work on as the season gets going. It’s better to be 11-1 and know what to fix than be 12-0 and never be tested.
On to Kent State.
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