Just like a season ago, the Texas Longhorns had the ball inside the 10-yard line with time running out in the fourth quarter with four shots to give itself a chance to advance to a national championship game.
Just like a season, Steve Sarkisian's offense couldn't get the job done and with it was a missed shot at immortality.
Ohio State 28 Texas 14.
In a game that was always going to be decided by slim margins, red-zone failure helped define how the season will be defined. And maybe some careers.
Quinn Ewers was excellent at times in this game, especially in the second half, but he wasn't good enough when it mattered most. Neither was Sark's play-calling. It might seem like a harsh judgement, but these moments are defined by the bottom line.
Winners get to define themselves. The losers of games are left to ask all the what-ifs. What if holding had been called on the previous drive that allowed Ohio State to take the lead? What if Texas could get a single yard? What if Pete Kwiatkowski hadn't lost his freaking mind at the end of the first half? What if the two best receivers on the Texas team hadn't been injured or ineffective for almost the entire game?
Again... if you win, none of the what-ifs matters. When you lose in a game like this, you'll be haunted by them forever.
Ultimately, Ohio State was better than Texas tonight. By the slimmest of margins.
It won't feel fair for a long time, but fairness has nothing to do with how these things are decided. Big moments decide them. For the Buckeyes, it came down to Caleb Downes and Jack Sawyer being better than Ewers or anyone else on the Texas offense.
Now we have forever to marinate on that reality.
(Other thoughts on the game...)
* It felt like we went back and forth all night between seeing the best and worst of Ewers. It felt like he was seeing ghosts in the first quarter. He was awesome in the final drive of the first half. Excellent for a lot of the second half. Awesome in the drive that almost tied the game. Didn't get it done in the final drive. He finished with a 131 quarterback rating, which won't win a game like this. He's not the reason why Texas lost this game, but he's one of the reasons why Texas didn't win it.
* Colin Simmons might have been Texas' best player tonight. Either that or Kelvin Banks.
* Quinn Ewers passing by quarter...
1Q: 4 of 7 for 65 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (135.1 rating)
2Q; 6 of 13 for 68 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (115.9 rating)
3Q: 8 of 10 for 70 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (179.4 rating)
4Q: 5 of 9 for 80 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (108.0 rating)
* Will Howard passing by quarter...
1Q: 8 of 10 for 79 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (146.4 rating)
2Q; 6 of 9 for 121 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (216.3 rating)
3Q: 3 of 5 for 37 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (82.2 rating)
4Q: 7 of 9 fr 52 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (126.3 rating)
* Why did they not play Arch Manning on 1st and goal from the one-yard line after we had seen him come in for the previous most important short-yardage situation in the game?
* Ohio State's drive to take a 21-14 lead with 7:02 remaining went 13 plays, 88 yards and 7:45 off the clock. Chip Kelly took Pete Kwiatkowski's lunch money on that drive.
* Texas called a timeout before 4th and 2 in the fourth quarter because it wasn't ready on defense, only to come out of the timeout not ready for a quarterback run. I don't even know where Anthony Hill was on the play, but Morice Blackwell got washed on the play.
* This officiating crew didn't call at least a half-dozen blatant holding calls on Ohio State offensive linemen. At least.
* I'll be damned, Texas won the 3rd quarter. Thanks to @hookem062 !!!
Third quarter sleepwalk incoming
I really hope they can reverse the trend but recent history suggests otherwise. I’m pretty much expecting no halftime adjustments.
texas.forums.rivals.com
* How did Will Howard recover that fumble on the Vernon Broughton third quarter sack?
* Jaydon Blue has four touchdowns in the post-season. He's such a difference maker when he's not fumbling.
* Blue's third quarter touchdown reception was UT's first 3rd quarter touchdown since the Florida game on November 9th.
* Ewers' third down and 10 conversion in the third quarter with the flip to Tre Wisner reminded me of the VY flip to Selvin Young in the 2006 Rose Bowl. I never thought I would compare Ewers to VY, but it happened in his final Texas game.
* I thought Michael Kern was excellent tonight. Best game of the season.
* Texas was 1 of 8 on its first 8 third downs in the game. It then converted four straight in a single drive to tie the game at 14-14.
* David Gbenda made one hell of a play on that interception, but Trey Moore getting to Will Howard was an underrated critical part of that play.
* Vernon Broughton and Alfred Collins no-showed the first half.
* How on earth are you not prepared for a screen play on 1st and 10 from the 5-yard line with less than 30 seconds left in the first half? That's on Pete Kwiatkowski. That's the low moment of his Texas career. That's the worst defensive call I've seen in 30+ years of covering Texas football on a professional level.
* Todd Orlando watching that end to the second half...
* Tremendous 2-minute drive by Ewers to get Texas on the scoreboard.
* Stat of the night going into a critical moment of the game...
* Ewers putting his head down to try and get that first down on 3rd and 10 was the most gutsy play a Texas offensive player made in the first two quarters of the game.
* Ohio State's first 2 drives (18 plays) went for 107 yards. The next three drives (11 plays) went for a total of 14 yards.
* Isaiah Bond's career at Texas reminds me of Robert Ferguson's career at Texas A&M. Ferguson was a one-year star for the Aggies, but he didn't play against Texas and when he went pro, it felt like he never truly had an A&M career. Same with Bond. He'll be one of the biggest what-if questions for me with Texas football of all-time.
* Bond dropping a ball on third and 5 with 3:22 left in the second quarter was an absolutely wretched moment. Texas desperately needed to move the chains and keep the ball.
* Gunnar Helm's first passing target of the game came with 8:45 left in the second quarter...
* Texas having 2 yards rushing with 9:22 left in the second quarter was very problematic.
* That first quarter wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't far from it. Biggest play of that first quarter by a Texas player came from Alex January drawing that punch from TreVeyon Henderson.
* Come on, Cam. You literally jumped offsides when the ball wasn't even close to being snapped.
* My goodness, Ohio State looked absolutely sensational on its opening offensive drive. They made the Texas defense look incapable of stopping them.
* Will Howard had two touchdowns dropped in the first drive. He was perfect.
* Although the Longhorns didn't get points on the opening drive, the Longhorns did a good job of controlling down and distance situations. Both 3rd downs on the drive (3rd and 2 and then 3rd and 4) were very manageable down and distance situations.
* Incredible from Golden.
* I did not have Juan Davis catching the first pass of the game on my bingo card. What a senior season for him.
* I think I prefer heads vs. tails instead of the game-flip coin having both teams mascot on the coin. It's more fun when the captain has to make the choice.
* Uh... Uncle Eli... you're at the wrong sporting event tonight!
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