Rival Head Coach Advocates For Ohio State Following Buckeyes’ Loss
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Steve Sarkisian hopes Ohio State does not get punished for a narrow road loss to his Texas Longhorns.
A rival head coach of the Ohio State football team wants to see the Buckeyes get rewarded, not punished, for their narrow 24-23 loss to Texas on the road this past weekend.
In one of the marquee games of the early weeks of the college football season, Ohio State was left on the losing end of a difficult defeat to the Longhorns after Arch Manning directed a late scoring drive in the fourth quarter.
Ohio State controlled much of the contest before Manning and Texas surged late.
Related: Week 3 College Football Power Rankings: Texas, Michigan Rise
Steve Sarkisian, the head coach of the Longhorns, hopes that voters do not punish the Buckeyes for taking the game and coming up just short.
“I hope Ohio State does not get punished for that game Saturday night,” Sarkisian said during his Monday press conference (thanks to ESPN for the quotes). “They played a heck of a game. I mean, it’s 24-23, they lose to us scoring with 25 seconds to go in the game.
“I hope if they end up being a 9-3 team, the committee can appreciate the fact that they came to Austin, Texas, in September when it was 100 degrees and played us in that environment and played a heck of a game.”
Steve Sarkisian Taking Same Approach He Tried Last Year With His Texas Team
Sarkisian used the same analogy for his own team last year after Texas fell to Ohio State early in the season, 14-7.
“I don’t think we got rewarded for going to Columbus (Ohio) last year in Week 1,” Sarkisian said. “Hopefully, this year they reward Ohio State for coming and playing in this game with us.”
The comments are two-fold, as the higher up the Buckeyes finish equals a better win for Texas in the long run.
Ohio State, who fell to sixth in the latest rankings, welcomes in Kent State this Saturday. That is followed by four consecutive Big Ten games over four weeks, culminating with a trip to defending national champion Indiana on Saturday, October 17.
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