The Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes faced off for the fourth time in 16 years for a spot in the national championship game. Like the previous meeting in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, this game was close until the end.
However, it was the Buckeyes who won 28-14 over the Longhorns, scoring a touchdown on an 83-yard strip-sack fumble return by Jack Sawyer (a former roommate of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers), resulting in a critical loss. It became. .
Well, before the Longhorns turn the page on the offseason. I emptied my notebook from Texas’ 28-14 loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
In games before this season, it was the Texas defense’s goal-line stands that were deadly for opponents. But this time, it was Ohio State’s goal-line stand that doomed Texas’ chance at a national championship.
Trailing by seven points with less than five minutes left, Texas had two chances to tie the score at the 1-yard line. The first play was a run held by Jerick Gibson for no gain, followed by a toss to Quintrevion Wisner, who lost 7 yards. And that’s when disaster struck, when Sawyer reached Ewers on a fourth-down pass, setting up an 83-yard fumble return touchdown.
The short yardage struggle was just a microcosm of a larger problem for Texas. For the fourth time this season, the Longhorns’ offense was held to less than 100 yards rushing. Only a week after finding a way to win in the very same predicament, they weren’t strong enough to overcome the second predicament.
Wisner finished as Texas’ leading rusher with 46 yards on 17 carries, and Jadon Blue finished second with just 16 yards on four carries.
That’s how much the game was tied at 7-7 at the half. Shortly after the Texas offense finally got going, the Longhorns’ defense was able to quickly respond to the Buckeyes’ offense thanks to an 18-yard touchdown pass from Quinn Ewers to Jadon Blue.
The response was a 75-yard screen pass from Will Howard to senior running back Trevyon Henderson.
It was no secret that Ohio State’s offense was looking to get the ball in their hands early and often. Freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith will be a key part of the offense, as shown in each of the first two playoff wins.
But despite gaining over 100 yards in the past two games, the Texas defense held him to just one catch for three yards. It was a win for the Texas defense and proof that their plan to keep everything in front of them except for screen passes was working.
This will likely be another sting for the Longhorns, as they found a way to shut down the Buckeyes’ best offensive weapon, but still lost.
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