OTF Premium Snap Judgments: Gritty comeback lifts No. 4 Texas to last-second win over No. 1 Ohio State, 24-23

[Jeff Howe]

It didn’t matter if it was by one point or 100.

It doesn’t matter that it took a horrendous, miserable first half to set up the program’s biggest comeback win since 2007.

It doesn’t matter that Texas still has to navigate a brutal SEC schedule before thinking about returning to the College Football Playoff.

The Longhorns needed Saturday’s 24-23 win over No. 1 Ohio State in the worst way.

To get the scarlet-and-gray monkey off their back

For Steve Sarkisian, who’s won four of his last five games against top-10 opponents, to change the narrative about him in big games.

For Arch Manning, who’s yet to lose a start at home, to prove that he’s not the same quarterback who looked miles away from being a franchise player in Columbus last season.

For Texas to prove that it's ready to kick in the door to national championship contender status after knocking on it in 2023 and 2024.

The Longhorns overcame a 23-3 third-quarter deficit to win, scoring the game’s last 21 points. After stumbling, fumbling and falling over itself in the first half, Texas flipped the script in the second half, outgaining Ohio State by 107 yards (239-132), winning the battle on the ground (103-46) and executing critical situations at an elite level (5-for-9 on third down, 2-for-2 on fourth down and 3-for-3 in the red zone with three touchdowns).

Sarkisian and the Longhorns have a lot to fix. That work can start on Sunday.

Playing the Buckeyes close wasn’t going to be good enough. Texas made the plays it needed to make to position itself for an epic comeback.

And now that it’s done, the Longhorns cleared a huge hurdle toward grabbing the next rung in college football’s hierarchy.

***

Kade Phillips and Cam Coleman deserve huge kudos for the comeback.

Phillips recovered a punt that bounced off Ryan Niblett’s face mask in the third quarter. With a 23-3 lead, an Ohio State recovery deep in would’ve paved the way for a Buckeye rout.

On the offense’s ensuing possession, Coleman pounced on an Emmett Mosley V fumble, which would’ve wiped out a third-and-9 conversion in the Ohio State red zone.

The comeback wouldn’t have been possible without those two plays. The mistakes Texas made time and again in the first half gave way to timely clutch moments down the stretch.

***

Colin Simmons made two game-changing plays in the second half that won’t show up in the box score.

On third-and-4 from the Longhorns’ 27-yard line, Simmons pressured Julian Sayin, rushing a throw down the sideline intended for Jeremiah Smith (a well-defended play by Bo Mascoe) that fell incomplete.

The next snap was Connor Hawkins’ 45-yard field goal that went wide left.

On Ohio State’s last drive, Simmons forced a holding call (Austin Siereveld was in the game at right tackle after Phillip Daniels left earlier with an apparent injury), which put the Buckeyes 85 yards from the end zone with 17 seconds on the clock and no timeouts.

***

The Texas offensive line came up big in the second half. Kyle Flood’s group reestablished the line of scrimmage in critical situations; two of the first downs the Longhorns gained on their game-winning drive were on the ground, which doesn’t include Hollywood Smothers going over the top for the winning score with 25 seconds left in regulation.

***

Will Muschamp’s defense was up against in the first half. The offense’s inability to put together drives led to awful field position; 31 of Ohio State’s 37 first-half snaps (83.8 percent) were in Texas territory.

With the Longhorns getting their act together on offense, the Buckeyes only ran 10 of their 26 second-half snaps (38.5 percent) on Texas’ side of the field. Texas winning the play differential in the second half played a big role in the Longhorns limiting Ohio State to 5.1 yards per play (6.5 in the first half) and a 1-for-6 mark on third down (5-for-8 in the first half).

***

The All-22 film of Manning’s night will be picked apart in the coming week.

Manning's first two and a half quarters were a worst-case scenario for any quarterback in a big game. When he wasn’t missing reads or open windows, Manning’s receivers let him down.

With a comfortable lead, Matt Patricia dropped defenders into coverage to deny him deep shots. Thankfully, things changed on the Longhorns’ last three possessions and by the time he ripped a second-and-7 completion to Mosley for 19 yards down the Ohio State 1-yard line with 1:19 to play, he was locked in and dealing.

Manning went 8-for-11 for 67 yards and a touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter (a 3-yard toss to Ryan Wingo). Manning's second half (16-for-23 for 136 yards) was much better than his first two quarters (7-for-14 for 60 yards and an interception).

Manning's two most important completions came on fourth down: a fourth-and-6 scramble that resulted in a 9-yard completion to Emaree Winston en route to the first touchdown of the game and a 12-yard strike to Mosley on fourth-and-6 to keep a 13-play, 72-yard touchdown drive alive.

Even though Smothers (21 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns) and Raleek Brown (54 yards on 10 carries) helped the offense grind out long drives in the second half, Manning wasn’t a bus driver on Saturday. In program history, only Colt McCoy (2006 over Texas Tech and 2007 over Oklahoma State) and Vince Young (2004 over Oklahoma State) quarterbacked Texas to bigger comeback wins than the one Manning engineered over the Buckeyes.

It wasn’t always pretty, but Manning executed when it was do-or-die down the stretch, which is what the great ones do.

***

It’s going to take a minute to process everything that happened on Saturday.

What felt like another chapter in the ongoing saga of the Longhorns failing to deliver when sharing the stage with Ohio State instead became an epic comeback, capping an unforgettable week on the Forty Acres. Instead of another version of Texas’ previous losses to the Buckeyes or Georgia, the Longhorns went back into their bag from last year’s comeback win over Texas A&M.

Down at halftime after a mostly listless first half against a top-five opponent, Texas dug deep and gutted out a victory the hard way.

Thankfully, that’s the performance the Longhorns replicated.

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[Jeff Howe]

Not as snappy as I wanted to get them out. I've got more to add.

Still trying to digest what I watched.

What a night.

[Kevin]

What. A win 

[4thandFive]

HookEm. This was insane.

[JMarquette]

I will tell my children about this game

[Horn365]

Thank you Jeremiah Smith for the horns down lol

[hookemrj13]

Smothers pick up block on the 4th & 6 play was MASSIVE 

[Shmatt]

I’m too drunk to process what just happened 

[Jeff Howe]

Added this bit on Arch Manning's night:

The All-22 film of Manning’s night will be picked apart in the coming week.

Manning's first two and a half quarters were a worst-case scenario for any quarterback in a big game. When he wasn’t missing reads or open windows, Manning’s receivers let him down.

With a comfortable lead, Matt Patricia dropped defenders into coverage to deny him deep shots. Thankfully, things changed on the Longhorns’ last three possessions and by the time he ripped a second-and-7 completion to Mosley for 19 yards down the Ohio State 1-yard line with 1:19 to play, he was locked in and dealing.

Manning went 8-for-11 for 67 yards and a touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter (a 3-yard toss to Ryan Wingo). Manning's second half (16-for-23 for 136 yards) was much better than his first two quarters (7-for-14 for 60 yards and an interception).

Manning's two most important completions came on fourth down: a fourth-and-6 scramble that resulted in a 9-yard completion to Emaree Winston en route to the first touchdown of the game and a 12-yard strike to Mosley on fourth-and-6 to keep a 13-play, 72-yard touchdown drive alive.

Even though Smothers (21 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns) and Raleek Brown (54 yards on 10 carries) helped the offense grind out long drives in the second half, Manning wasn’t a bus driver on Saturday. In program history, only Colt McCoy (2006 over Texas Tech and 2007 over Oklahoma State) and Vince Young (2004 over Oklahoma State) quarterbacked Texas to bigger comeback wins than the one Manning engineered over the Buckeyes.

It wasn’t always pretty, but Manning executed when it was do-or-die down the stretch, which is what the great ones do.

[BurntOrangeMD]

 

[BurntOrangeMD]

[Neil Leininger]

The difference for Texas in this game. 

1. 2 penalties for 12 yards.
2. 100% RZ execution, with 1 FG after a dropped TD and 3 TDs.

Two things that have dogged Sarkisian's teams in big games.

[BurntOrangeMD]

TRUE GRIT!!!  "Arch Hero Mode" ...and a Special Thank you to the entire Texas Longhorn Coaching Staff and Football Team!  Hook'em!  🤘 🤠  🇨🇱 

[Jeff Howe]

Added this at the end:

It’s going to take a minute to process everything that happened on Saturday.

What felt like another chapter in the ongoing saga of the Longhorns failing to deliver when sharing the stage with Ohio State instead became an epic comeback, capping an unforgettable week on the Forty Acres. Instead of another version of Texas’ previous losses to the Buckeyes or Georgia, the Longhorns went back into their bag from last year’s comeback win over Texas A&M.

Down at halftime after a mostly listless first half against a top-five opponent, Texas dug deep and gutted out a victory the hard way.

Thankfully, that’s the performance the Longhorns replicated.

[watty7796]

Was thos a better win for Texas or a worse loss for OSU...

With todays scores did the B10 loose a little luster?  Oregon and OSU loosing?

[watty7796]

28 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

Added this at the end:

It’s going to take a minute to process everything that happened on Saturday.

What felt like another chapter in the ongoing saga of the Longhorns failing to deliver when sharing the stage with Ohio State instead became an epic comeback, capping an unforgettable week on the Forty Acres. Instead of another version of Texas’ previous losses to the Buckeyes or Georgia, the Longhorns went back into their bag from last year’s comeback win over Texas A&M.

Down at halftime after a mostly listless first half against a top-five opponent, Texas dug deep and gutted out a victory the hard way.

Thankfully, that’s the performance the Longhorns replicated.

Was starting to wonder if Arch was the leader Texas needed...he answered loud and clear the 2nd half

[AusMOJO]

5 minutes ago, watty7796 said:

Was thos a better win for Texas or a worse loss for OSU...

With todays scores did the B10 loose a little luster?  Oregon and OSU loosing?

I think both can be true. That it was a good win for Texas while being a bad loss for OSU. Because their fans are probably wondering how they blew a 20 point lead going into the 4th qtr. 

[pghorn]

Torre Becton deserves a lot of credit for that 4th quarter performance.

[mmdaytontexas]

@Jeff Howe

Jeff, I watched one of the football talking heads on You-Tube who I take it works for the NFL evaluating talent. He was praising Arch and showing all his uber pro throws that he said not all pro QBs can make. Then he says the only negative I see is how many big plays he leaves on the field and he showed multiple film clips from game one that shows Arch starring at open receivers and not throwing to them. Arch was doing it again in this game. Why do you think he's not seeing these open receivers? Is this something that is just Arch, or can he improve on this like he's done other things in his game?

[Califashorn75]

It's funny to watch Buckeye podcasts post game. They are in shock. 

[Cnutt4ever]

I just kept remembering quandre diggs commenting about it’s hard winning when the defense is on the field all game. I felt like it was going in that direction. 

[AusMOJO]

So I'm looking at the stat line and Julian Sayin was 17/32 278 1 TD/1 INT. That's an unusually low completion % for him isn't it? He's usually way more accurate than that. Also considering most of his yards came via J.Smith making freak plays (I believe it was 164 yards on 8 receptions, with 16 targets). They had 94 rushing yards total. 

Defense got a few sacks, I think both teams had 2 a piece. We had 2 TO's they had 1. But we had 4 fumbles with t hankfully only 1 being a TO. 

Ohio State was 6-14 on 3rd down and Texas 9-16. On 4th OSU was 0-1 and we were 2-3. 3 Punts for both teams.

I'll definitely do a rewatch of the game myself but it definitely looked and felt worse in the moment with how things were for 3 quarters. Seems like those early mishaps really put a dampener on the team. Some other missed plays and leaving probably another 14 points out there. 

I'm a little worried about our DL, thought we might see them do some different things this week but we didn't really. Would also like to see Simmons be a bit more disruptive. Not only is he being paid the big bucks he's supposed to be one of, if not our best player. Same with Biles. 

Thought the DB's were a little shaky early on but as the game wore on they got a handle on things and put the clamps on OSU. That's probably the best WR room they're going to face all year and I think outside of Smith's 1st half they did a good job. Seems like they're still getting a handle on the press man stuff, they look a bit stiff at times trying to execute it but I like what I'm seeing from it so far.

Would like to see more disruption and havoc plays moving forward but I'm assuming this is just a by product of new things on D and trying to figure out what works (on Muschamps side). 

Anyway, I won't ramble on too much. Very emotional game and lots of good banter in the game thread. Either way, several hours later I'm still extremely happy we pulled that off. Just need to clean things up and the boys will be rolling into SEC play. Tennessee looks like it will be a tough game from the little I've watched. But first gotta worry about those road runners, who i think beat Texas State?

[Robbin Antono]

It is not the prettiest win, but I gotta give it to the Oline, they are definitely better than last year. I think this unit will continue to get better throughout the season and they will be ready for the playoffs …. Hookem … 🤘🏼

[alrightalrightalright]

Hungover. No voice. Texas Fight!! You gotta see Sark prove it?? Wake up! Hook ‘Em!!!

[alrightalrightalright]