Breaking down Texas’ stunning 20-point comeback win vs. Ohio State

How did that happen?

That’s the question on everyone’s mind after watching No. 4 Texas erase a 20-point deficit against No. 1 Ohio State in the fourth quarter. After looking dead in the water for three quarters, the Longhorns pulled out an improbable 24-23 victory.

So, did Ohio State choke? Or did Texas simply will its way back into the game?

It was a little bit of both. The Buckeyes failed to ice the game because their offense looked anemic after taking a 23-3 lead. The Longhorns defense certainly deserves some credit there, but Ohio State looked out of sync in the final 30 minutes.

On the other side, the first half went as poorly as it could have for Arch Manning and the Texas offense. Faced with that adversity and a three-score hole, Manning and the Horns’ offensive weapons stepped up and made key plays with the game on the line.

Let’s dive into exactly how Texas managed to pull off the fourth-largest comeback in team history.

Ohio State’s anemic run game

There will be some criticism of Arthur Smith’s conservative play-calling in the second half, and that is fair to a degree, but the bigger issue was Ohio State’s inability to run the ball throughout the game.

The Buckeyes ran the ball 31 times for 94 yards, and the lack of a ground game came back to bite them in a number of ways. The first is that it cost Ohio State points on at least two occasions.

13:29 — 1Q: Nine-yard loss put Ohio State behind the chains at the Texas 4-yard line.
13:23 — 2Q: One-yard gain on fourth-and-2 at the Texas 13-yard line.

Ohio State could’ve survived coming up short in those situations if it had drained more clock after taking a 20-point lead. Instead, the Buckeyes used up just 2:35 in their two drives immediately succeeding Connor Hawkins’ field goal with 8:09 left in the third quarter.

In that span, Ohio State rushed three times for seven yards.

The Longhorns’ front seven clogged up running lanes all night. The Buckeyes’ longest run of the game was 11 yards from Bo Jackson, and no other player had a run of more than eight yards. It’s tough to ice away a game when your only hope of moving the chains is the dropback passing game.

Sayin’s struggles

In the first half, Julian Sayin looked like a legitimate Heisman contender. He completed 75% of his passes for 192 yards and a touchdown.

After halftime, a completely different player was wearing the No. 10 jersey for the Buckeyes. In the final two quarters, Sayin completed 6 of 16 attempts for 86 yards, which also played a big role in Ohio State’s brief drives as Texas was rallying.

Early in the fourth quarter, Sayin targeted Jeremiah Smith on third down, and the two couldn’t connect. Sayin put the ball behind Smith, who tried to reach back for the catch, but the pass bounced off his hands and hit the turf.

It’s probably fair to expect a receiver of Smith’s caliber to make that catch, but it wasn’t great ball placement, and it’s hard to pin this loss on the player who posted 164 receiving yards and a score.

It’s not like Ohio State just tried to run the ball into the teeth of the Texas defense throughout the second half. Sayin attempted as many passes as he did in the first half. He just misfired on too many.

Manning’s mental toughness

The first half from Arch Manning looked like a repeat of last year’s performance against Ohio State. He completed 7 of 14 passing attempts for 60 yards and an interception, which was the result of a freak play.

In Manning’s defense, he wasn’t getting much help. Cam Coleman failed to haul in a deep ball, and it wound up in the hands of an Ohio State defensive back. Ryan Wingo dropped a routine pass in the end zone.

Despite his struggles — and miscues by his receivers — Manning didn’t lose confidence in the second half. He went 16 for 23 with 135 yards and a touchdown. Many of those completions came in clutch situations to keep drives alive. One of his biggest throws of the night was a fourth-down conversion to Emaree Winston in the third quarter.

Last season, Manning couldn’t shake off mistakes and mount a big drive when the Horns needed one against the Buckeyes. This time, Manning overcame that adversity and became the hero.

College kickers

How many times do college kickers factor into wild comebacks — for better or worse?

In this instance, Ohio State finally got something going on offense and moved the ball into Hawkins’ range with 4:16 left in the fourth quarter. After nailing a 48-yard attempt earlier in the game, Hawkins lined up for a 45-yard attempt and hooked it left.

This loss certainly doesn’t fall solely on Hawkins’ shoulders. In fact, he probably deserves a much smaller slice of the blame pie than the rest of his team. After all, Hawkins came through when the Buckeyes offense stalled out on a few more occasions.

But if that late field goal attempt sails through the uprights, are we talking about an Ohio State collapse right now? Probably not.