AUSTIN, Texas – If your eyes remain glazed over and you need a drool cup after witnessing what went down in the 100-degree heat of Texas Stadium, well, you’re not alone.
All across Columbus … Ohio … America … and in places that don’t know a football from a foosball, mouths remain agape and heads are still shaking in disbelief after No. 1 Ohio State lost a game it had no business losing. When you hold a 20-point lead after three quarters, and when your opponent can’t get out of its own way for most of the night, you’re supposed to seal the deal.
Instead, the Buckeyes sealed their fate, losing 24-23 to No. 3 Texas after leading 23-3 with 14:20 to play. It is the largest blown fourth-quarter lead in program history – and second-largest blown lead ever,
behind a 21-point meltdown against Nebraska in 2011 – and it will sting for decades. Plural.
What happened? Sports, that’s what. At least that’s the big-picture explanation. Things that aren’t supposed to happen somehow do. Or things that are supposed to happen don’t. Or both scenarios play out, as was the case for Ohio State in sold-out and steamy Texas Memorial Stadium.
The Steelers’ Immaculate Reception wasn’t supposed to happen. But did. Mike Tyson was supposed to knock out Buster Douglas. But didn’t. Michigan beat Western Michigan. But not really.
Ohio State offense takes fourth quarter off, defense fails to get stops
Small picture? Ohio State’s offense went cold while its defense melted in a slurry of vanilla scheming that failed to get enough pressure and contain on Texas quarterback Arch Manning, who for three quarters looked like a Heisman Trophy wannabe until he suddenly emerged as the front-runner by throwing for 83 of his 196 yards in the fourth quarter.
Who said it?
“We really played well for three quarters and didn’t play well enough in the fourth quarter. That’s the bottom line.”
If you answered Ryan Day, you win an all-expenses-paid trip to the hottest place on earth, which on Sept. 13 was inside Memorial Stadium, but as of Sept. 14 would be seething Buckeye Nation, burning with anger after watching the OSU implosion.
Day’s explanation won’t win any awards for “most detailed synopsis,” but after a loss like this, even Shakespeare would be at a loss for words.
It is hours after OSU’s reversal of fortune, and I still can’t believe what I saw, which is saying something because I’ve seen a lot. I watched Tiger Woods’ Nike golf ball dip into the cup at the 2005 Masters, rubbed my eyes when the Cleveland Browns lost a game because linebacker Dwayne Rudd tossed his helmet. Sat dumbfounded when LeBron James blocked Andre Iguodala’s layup in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
And now this.
Did it really happen?
Julian Sayin is pretty sure it did.
“This one hurt, especially because we didn’t execute at the end of the game,” said Sayin, who looked like Aaron Rodgers for 2½ quarters and more like Mister Rogers over the final 15 minutes.
He was 12-of-16 passing for 192 yards and a touchdown before halftime but only 5 of 16 for 86 yards in the second half, including 2 of 6 for 29 yards in the fourth quarter.
OSU's stunning loss was a failure by everyone
But Sayin was not responsible for losing the game any more than Jeremiah Smith, who had eight catches for 164 yards and a touchdown, but none in the fourth quarter. Sayin, Smith, name your favorite OSU player. Or any OSU player. No one came up big when the lead was getting small. Is that a leadership issue? Did pressure get to them? Did the coaching get too conservative?
“It’s not just one thing. It’s a list of all of those things,” Day said of a subpar pass rush, too many 3-and-outs and a missed 45-yard field goal attempt that would have given OSU a 26-17 lead with 4:16 remaining.
Death by a 1,000 paper cuts comes to mind, but that’s letting Ohio State off the hook. To Day’s “bottom line” explanation I will add that it’s not how you start but how you finish.
Ohio State did not finish, and now it will be interesting to see how the Buckeyes navigate the remainder of the regular season. I always thought Texas would be a linchpin game, because the loser would still face a daunting schedule. In the case of the Buckeyes, that looks like challenging games at Indiana, USC and home against Oregon, which lost Saturday but still has talent – if it can put things together.
In that way, losing to Texas was not just painful but impractical. Ohio State can’t afford to lose two more games. How well will they rebound after such an excruciating loss?
As for Ohio State fans, it still can’t seem real what happened in the Texas heat. The game was over. Until it wasn’t.
Sports columnist Rob Oller can be reached at roller@dispatch.com and on X.com at @rollerCD.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's epic collapse and how a 20-point lead vanished in Texas
