Ohio State coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes should have let Texas score late in their 24-23 loss on Sept. 12.
Day acknowledged three days later that he had second thoughts about the decision to attempt
a goal-line stand.
“It didn't work, so the answer is yes,” Day said. “If we win the game, then it would have been the right decision.”
The Longhorns were on the cusp of reaching the end zone with over a minute left when the Buckeyes sought to hold them at the goal line.
The Buckeyes would twice stuff Texas at their 1-yard line before running back Hollywood Smothers leapt over the pile on third down for the game-winning touchdown, completing the Longhorns’ 21-point comeback over the fourth quarter.
While the Buckeyes had made goal-line stands to preserve previous wins over Texas, including two years ago in the College Football Playoff semifinals, the gamble on Sept. 12 was costly because it wiped nearly a minute off the game clock.
Ohio State regained possession with 25 seconds left and little chance to put itself in field-goal range for a potential game-winning kick.
“In the moment, you got to make a hard decision,” Day said, “and I decided to try to hold the line. There's a lot that comes with that, just saying, ‘Hey, let him score right there.’ As the head coach of your team, I decided to make that call, and ultimately, you'd love to have seen what it would have looked like if they would have scored. But that was the decision we made.”
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State coach Ryan Day has second thoughts on trying for a goal-line stop against Texas
