The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly From Ohio State’s Loss To Texas
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Despite holding a commanding lead in the third quarter, the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes couldn’t get the job done on the hot turf in Austin, Texas. While Ohio State got every lucky break imaginable in the first half, that luck ran out, everyone got tight, and Arch Manning diced up Matt Patricia’s defense like his uncles once did.
While there were plenty of good things to take away from this game, mostly coming from the first half, there was way more bad. Losing on the road by one point to the now-top-ranked team in the nation is not the end of the world; it was how the loss was delivered that has folks a tad concerned.
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly From Ohio State’s Loss To Texas
The Good
The strategy for Texas’ defense in the Cotton Bowl and in Week 1 of last year was to limit Smith’s impact and force the Buckeyes to win any other way. Ohio State was able to take care of business in both of those matchups thanks to defense and timely scoring. Smith was a non-factor. On Saturday, it was different. The Longhorns knew where Smith was on every play, but it wasn’t as obvious. He tore up the Texas defense in the first half to the tune of six receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. He added two more receptions for 54 yards in the third quarter before being shut down on his final four targets across the final 20 minutes of the game.
As a result, Smith is just 27 receptions, 26 yards, and eight touchdowns with 10 games to go in the regular season.
Another good thing to come from this game was the fact that the world got to see Khary Wilder and Jay Timmons. That aforementioned luck got kickstarted by a Timmons forced fumble on the first play of the game. On the stat sheet, he finished the game with six tackles, one tackle for loss, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Coming downhill from his slot corner spot, Timmons was everywhere and was a massive part of the successes of the defense.
Speaking of successes, Wilder needs more playing time. He only earned five snaps, but he was impactful each and every time. Most notably, he lined up as a nose tackle/zero technique on third and fourth down. On both plays, he blew by the center and pressured Manning. On third down, it was an errant throw. On fourth down, he was a fingernail away from bringing the quarterback down.
Wilder only getting 5 snaps is legitimately insane. All he does is flash. He had back-to-back pressures lining up as a nose tackle lol dude is a cheat code and needs more opportunities
— Last Word On Ohio State (@LastWordOSU) September 13, 2026
The Bad
Now onto the negatives, but not quite to the level of the back-breaking issues that we’ll get to. To start, let’s talk about Connor Hawkins. He was firmly in the “The Good” section for most of the game. He converted on all three of his first three field goal attempts from 26, 30, and 48 yards away. Hawkins was kept on the sidelines in the first half with a 10-0 score, which the Buckeyes were unable to convert, leading to a Texas field goal drive. That part wasn’t his fault.
Then, with 4:16 to go in the game, up 23-17, Hawkins came in to attempt a 45-yard field goal. It wasn’t a chip shot, but it wasn’t exactly a record-breaking distance either. Shades of Noah Ruggles’ kick against Georgia in the 2022 Peach Bowl; Hawkins’ kick hooked left and never looked good. The loss doesn’t fall solely on Hawkins’ shoulders, but he had a say. When you come to a Power 4 program hellbent on championship after championship, you have to be able to make those clutch kicks.
Another bad aspect of this game was the weird insistence on continuing to keep the best players on the bench. We’ve already touched on Wilder, but what about the linebackers? Payton Pierce and Christian Alliegro started and had the majority of snaps. Both had fine moments, but would Ohio State be better suited with Riley Pettijohn and TJ Alford?
Early reports say Pettijohn earned 37 snaps while Alford had 26. Pettijohn tied for the team lead with one-and-a-half tackles for loss in the game, and Alford flashes when he’s on the field.
Finally, we do have to lob a little criticism at Julian Sayin. He was solid in the first half with 12/16 passing for 192 yards and a touchdown. In the second half, he went just 5/16 for 86 yards and an interception. When targeting Smith, he completed eight of 15. When targeting any other receiver, Sayin completed two passes for 24 yards on eight targets.
One of those misses was a wide-open Devin McCuin for what should have been the game-winning touchdown. Sayin made some great throws, but finishing the game 17/32 is nothing like what we’ve grown accustomed to from the most accurate quarterback in recent memory.
The Ugly
21 unanswered points…in the fourth quarter.
There is no single person within the Ohio State program who deserves 100% of the blame; it’s spread out among every single player and coach. Even Smith, despite how great a day he had. There were a few drops where he should have fought through contact to get the first-down catch, but it hit the turf.
Players have to execute, but the coaches have to put them in the best position to do well. For example, perhaps Ryan Day, Patricia, or literally anyone should have noticed that the Buckeyes only had 10 defenders on the field for a “gotta have it” fourth-and-nine play toward the end of the third quarter. The defense allowed an easy catch across the middle for the conversion, but had they had a full 11 players, maybe Texas wouldn’t have converted, and thus wouldn’t have scored a touchdown to kickstart the comeback.
From that drive on, Ohio State allowed Texas to convert on five of seven third downs. At the same time, it allowed the Longhorns to convert on both of those fourth downs as well.
Ohio State’s motto heading into this year was “win the fourth quarter.” Well, the Buckeyes are 0-1 in the fourth quarter in competitive games.
The other ugly aspect of this game was the performance from wide receivers not named Jeremiah Smith. We touched on it above that non-Smith wide receivers only managed two catches and 24 yards on eight targets. Sure, Nate Roberts and Mason Williams were able to contribute, but do you really want blocking tight ends catching and running with the ball over McCuin, Brandon Inniss, Chris Henry Jr., Phillip Bell, or what have you? Someone has to step up. McCuin had a great game in Week 1 against Ball State, but Texas, USC, Indiana, Oregon, and Michigan are not Ball State. Of course, it is not entirely a criticism of the coaches; the players (Sayin included) have to execute.
Bonus ugly: How in the world did Legend Bey only get one offensive snap?
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