AUSTIN, TX – Well, I don’t know if Texas is back, but they darn sure made a statement on Saturday night against No. 1 in one of the craziest college football games in recent memory.
Actually, this was about as ugly as it could get for the No. 4 program, at least for three quarters of this thriller.
For a year, we had been looking forward to this rematch between two of the top-spenders in college football, with Texas spending around $40 million on its roster this season.
Saturday night did not disappoint.
Led by Cam Coleman, Trey Wingo and a flurry of offensive weapons, the Longhorns looked more like a mediocre football team for three quarters. Then the Buckeyes could no longer convert, allowing Texas to take advantage of a worn-down Ohio State team.
The first offensive play of the game for turned into a fumble. From there, Ohio State toyed with the Longhorns throughout the first half. The Buckeyes led 20-3 at halftime after holding Texas to just 97 yards of offense over the first 30 minutes.
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This was the Jeremiah Smith show, with the Ohio State wide receiver making Texas secondary look inept almost every time quarterback Julian Sayin looked his way, at least until it wasnt.
For Arch Manning, there was nothing much going his way for three quarters of this Top-5 showdown, which had the Longhorns trailing 23-3.
Whether it was overthrown passes, dropped dimes or interesting play calls from the offensive staff, this one was looking like a major letdown.
At the 8:55 mark of the third quarter, Jeremiah Smith darted down the sidelines as Julian Sayin threw up a heave in front of the Texas Longhorns bench.
There was only one way this one was going to end, and it came with Smith dogging a defender in the process of bringing down the 48-yard catch.
How many NFL receivers are better than Jeremiah right now?
Maybe five?
But the star wideout couldnt do it all, and Texas relentless fourth-quarter performance will be remembered for years to come.
There have been close and thrilling games before, but this felt more like Texas finally getting a massive monkey off its back. Finally, the Longhorns had won a game with their backs against the wall.
At long last, Steve Sarkisian won a heavyweight fight at home, with so much pressure on the program to take the next step.
“What it can do is this team can understand that we can overcome adversity, and we’re going to get faced with more adversity,” Sarkisian said postgame.
“Hopefully, this serves as a lesson that we can come back from a lot.”
Who would have thought at the 6:13 mark of the third quarter that we would be discussing a Longhorns win that could propel the program moving forward?
Just like everyone else across the country
