Steve Sarkisian didn’t waste much time after Texas’ 24-23 stunner over No. 1 Ohio State getting to the part of the night that mattered most to him: what the matchup means for the Longhorns going forward.
Texas walked into Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday and stared down a 20-point fourth-quarter hole, then ripped off touchdown drives of 15, 13 and 12 plays to steal the game late. Hollywood Smothers finished the rally with a 1-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left, and Julian Sayin’s final desperation heave was picked off as time expired. ESPN noted Texas is the only team in the past 15 years to close out a win with three straight scoring drives of at least 12 plays.
That kind of finish was exactly the point for Sarkisian, who used his postgame news conference to make a broader argument about why games like this matter.
"I definitely think it was helpful because we can be like some other teams, and we can play Jones Junior High tonight and win 66 to nothing. And I don't know what that does for us.
What I think it did for us tonight is we found out that we can, and we've been closing. We've been knocking on the door, and so I do think that that's helpful for us that we got an opportunity to play in a game like this before we got into conference play."
The win also landed in the middle of a longer arc between Texas and Ohio State. The Longhorns had already lost to the Buckeyes in each of the previous two meetings, including a 14-7 defeat in Columbus to open last season.
Texas finished that year 10-3 and missed the College Football Playoff. Even so, Sarkisian kept the series on the books last December, saying Texas would honor both Ohio State and Michigan over the next two years.
Arch Manning was part of the night’s emotional swing as well. He completed 23 of 37 passes for 195 yards with a touchdown and an interception, took boos from an announced crowd of 105,044 in the third quarter, then settled in and went 8 of 11 in the fourth.
A year after throwing for 170 yards in Columbus, Manning now has a comeback win of this size attached to his name. The schedule, though, is about to tighten up fast. Texas hosts UTSA on Sept. 19 before opening SEC play at Tennessee on Sept. 26, marking its first trip to Neyland Stadium.
In Other News...
Ohio State Suddenly Has A CFP Scheduling Problem Fans Will Debate
The latest reminder came from Stillwater, where Oklahoma States win over Oregon set off a celebration that included students carrying a goalpost into a campus pond. Beyond the scenes of jubilation, the result fed directly into a familiar college football argument: whether powerhouse programs should keep loading up on difficult non-conference games when every loss can carry real College Football Playoff consequences.
Ohio State followers know that debate well, because the Buckeyes have long valued the kind of early-season test that can sharpen a team and energize a schedule. But when coaches such as Brent Venables, Steve Sarkisian and Dan Lanning talk about the risks and rewards of those matchups, they are really pointing to the same uncomfortable question fans keep circling. In a playoff era that can punish even a quality loss, the margin between a statement win and a season-long regret can be awfully thin. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Day Faces Ohio State's Biggest Early Problem
A season-opening loss usually gets measured in the broad strokes, but this one left Ohio State with a much sharper lesson. After building a multi-score second-half lead against Texas, the Buckeyes let the game slip away and were left to answer for a finish that never matched the promise of the first three quarters. Ryan Day pointed to defensive issues and red zone struggles as part of the unraveling, a familiar kind of regret for a team with big expectations.
Day did not try to separate himself from the problem, saying the responsibility for the gameplan sits with him and that the Buckeyes have to improve in every phase moving forward. The early concern in Columbus is not just the loss itself, but how it happened, with Ohio State unable to close in the fourth quarter after appearing to have control. For a program built on standards, the margin for error already looks smaller than anyone wanted. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Faces Early Questions After Stunning Poll Drop
The early tone of Ohio States season changed fast in Austin, where a big lead slipped away and turned into a damaging loss for the top-ranked Buckeyes. What looked like a statement win against Texas instead became an opening-week reality check, the kind that can reshape how a team is viewed before September really gets going.
The fallout showed up in the latest Coaches Poll, with Texas climbing and Ohio State sliding five spots as other programs around the country also shuffled up and down the rankings. For the Buckeyes, the larger concern is less about the number beside their name and more about how quickly a game can tilt when an opponent finds momentum, which is exactly what Texas did in the fourth quarter behind Arch Manning. [Read more 🡒]