Ohio State walked into Texas with all the early answers and still managed to leave with the wrong final one.
For three quarters, the Buckeyes looked like the team that had taken control of the game. They led 20-3 at halftime, pushed it to 23-3 early in the second half, and had every reason to believe the night was moving in their direction. But the finish turned into a collapse that swallowed everything that came before it.
The numbers tell the story in pieces. Ohio State ran for 94 yards, well above what it managed in the previous two games against Texas.
The Buckeyes threw for 278 yards, finished with 372 total yards, and reached Texas territory again and again. Nearly 75% of their offensive snaps came in Longhorn territory, eight of their 11 possessions crossed midfield into Texas territory, and they got inside the Texas 30-yard line seven times.
That should have produced far more than 23 points.
Instead, the offense vanished when the game tightened.
Ohio State managed only 129 yards in the second half and just 49 in the fourth quarter. Over its last three games against Texas, the Buckeyes have scored only 17 points on offense.
The recent pattern has been even uglier: in their last three Power Four games, Ohio State has been held without a touchdown in three of six halves. They had a field goal in the second half against Texas, were shut out in the second half against Indiana, and were scoreless in the first half against Miami.
Julian Sayin was part of the unraveling after halftime. His rhythm slipped, including a miss to a wide-open Devin McCune.
Ohio State did little to settle him down. On another snap, Sayin missed Brandon Inniss on a seam route and instead forced the ball toward Jeremiah Smith, who was essentially quadruple-covered.
That sequence ended with a field goal and a 23-3 margin, but the offense never recovered from there.
What followed was a stretch of empty possessions that buried the Buckeyes. They went six yards in three plays and punted.
Then one yard in three plays and punted again. Later, after Sayin found his tight end and Ohio State finally seemed to move the ball a bit, the drive fell apart in familiar fashion.
With 1st and 10 at the Texas 33, Bo Jackson ran up the middle for seven yards. Then came the call that has been giving this offense problems all season: the toss to the halfback running outside to the boundary.
Ohio State had already seen that play lose nine yards earlier in the game, and it lost another yard here, turning 2nd and 3 into 3rd and 4. On third down, the Buckeyes went back to Jeremiah Smith near the goal line, but Sayin missed again.
The new kicker was sent out for a high-pressure field goal and got the same result the offense had been producing.
The ending only made the collapse harder to digest. Texas mounted a third straight punishing drive against a defense that was running on fumes, got the ball to the Ohio State one-yard line with 1:23 left and one timeout remaining, and forced the Buckeyes to live with the result.
Texas scored, and Ohio State was left with just 0:25 to work with. The biggest fourth-quarter blown lead in school history was complete.
It was a historic loss in more ways than one. Since 2003, No. 1-ranked teams had been 223-0 when leading by 17 or more points.
Ohio State is now the 1 in 223-1. When leading by 17 or more at halftime, Ohio State had been 309-0.
Now it is the 1 in 309-1. And when entering the fourth quarter with a lead of 20 or more, Ohio State had been 365-0.
This was not the first time the Buckeyes have let a big game slip late. They did it against Clemson in the CFP in 2019, blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead against Georgia in the CFP in 2022, and lost another 20-point lead against Texas in the final quarter here. Ohio State is 0-3 in those games.
The kicking issues have shown up in those tight moments too. Ohio State is 0-4 in those four games.
In the end, the failure sits where these failures always sit: at the top of the program. Until that changes, losses like this are going to keep attaching themselves to Ohio State whether the Buckeyes want that identity or not.
In Other News...
Ohio State Has A Ryan Day Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Ohio States late-game issues have started to feel less like bad luck and more like a pattern. In recent games, the Buckeyes have watched big fourth-quarter leads shrink, and the common thread has been a defense that looks worn down when the pressure rises. The Texas game is part of that conversation, but it is not the only one, and the larger concern is how often Ohio State has needed to hold on instead of close out.
Ryan Days staff is now staring at the kind of problem that becomes impossible to dismiss when it keeps resurfacing in the same phase of the game. The defense has struggled to adjust when opponents keep pushing, and the coaching decisions around those moments are drawing more scrutiny because the Buckeyes have not been able to finish the way a top program is expected to finish. Texas, by contrast, has shown a steadier offensive base from season to season, which only sharpens the spotlight on Ohio States inability to protect its leads when it matters most. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Day Just Put Ohio State's Punt Decisions On Notice
Ohio States special teams discussion got louder after the Buckeyes punted on a fourth-and-4 from Texas 39-yard line in the loss to the Longhorns, a call Ryan Day said he stood behind. Day also pointed to punter Joe McGuires ability as part of the equation, even as the possession became an easy talking point because it came with field position that invited second-guessing.
Days bigger message was less about one snap than about what comes next if the execution does not sharpen up. The Buckeyes brought in Robby Discher as special teams coordinator this offseason with an eye toward getting more out of the unit, and decisions like this one could keep drawing attention if those improvements do not show up quickly in high-leverage spots. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Suddenly Has Plenty To Watch In This Weeks Playoff Race
A chaotic college football weekend left plenty for Buckeyes fans to monitor, and Ohio States own path is suddenly more complicated after the setback in Austin. The broader playoff picture is already being shaped by heavyweight matchups in the Big 12, SEC and ACC, while coaching changes and rivalry games across the country add another layer to a race that is barely settled in September.
For Ohio State, the timing is as important as the result. The Buckeyes still have a chance to steady things, but the margin for error is thinner now, and every result around them matters more than it did a week ago. Before Big Ten play fully takes over, there is at least one chance to reset, regroup and see how the rest of the playoff contenders handle the same kind of pressure. [Read more 🡒]