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Instant reaction: Texas drops another one to Ohio State in 14-7 loss

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook08/30/25josephcook89
Steve Sarkisian
Steve Sarkisian (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

The No. 1 Texas Longhorns could not march into Columbus and leave with a victory, falling 14-7 to the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes. Here are a few instant reactions.

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***In 1995, BYU had a young quarterback named Steve Sarkisian. He made his first career collegiate start against Air Force, a team that went 8-4 the year before and came in with lofty expectations in the WAC. BYU lost that game 38-12. Sarkisian’s two touchdown passes were for one yard and five yards, respectively. He had two interceptions and probably did more to facilitate a Cougar loss than a BYU win. He went 7-3 the rest of the way, leading the WAC in completion percentage and passing yardage. That first start was a major moment for Sarkisian. His response to it helped make him into a top collegiate quarterback and an All-American the next year. But before that career took off, there were some major stumbles out of the gate. Arch Manning had his stumbles out of the gate today, even with his late touchdown pass to Parker Livingstone. The offensive malaise that put just seven points on the scoreboard is not 100 percent attributable to him. Sarkisian, the coach this time, didn’t do his quarterback many favors with his play-calling.

***Also, it’s worth pointing out that Ohio State is really freakin’ good and played a fantastic defensive game. Davidson Igbinosun played a fantastic game, stifling the Longhorns’ second-to-last attempt at scoring. Arvell Reese was all over the field. Matt Patricia, who would have thought, called a dang good defense. But the better quarterback today was in scarlet and red in Julian Sayin. How does Manning respond? Sarkisian responded from his problematic debut to turn into a BYU great. The story is just starting for Manning, and he’ll have a big part in writing what happens next. But he can’t let what is probably the worst performance of his amateur football career bleed into next week. Texas has high aspirations and today’s loss doesn’t exterminate them. Manning has to make sure he does what’s needed to keep those aspirations alive.

***The Texas defense is for real. Jeremiah Smith wasn’t the player that did all the damage. In fact, it was really just one play that did all the damage. And sometimes defenses have bad plays, as you’ll read in a second, but there were a lot more good plays than bad ones. When you go 3-for-4 defending the tight goal line, you’re still on the hook if that one gets through. That’s how Ohio State scored first. Texas’ defense should hold their head high after this game. The Texas defensive tackles? They’re the real deal yet again. Michael Taaffe? He’s also the real deal. The Texas defense may once again be the backbone of this team as Manning and the offense figures everything out.

***Ohio State opened the fourth quarter with a play where you just have to tip your cap. Jaylon Guilbeau was beat by Carnell Tate, but Guilbeau got back in position to make a play. Tate simply made a better one at the catch point. The entire Ohio State wide receiver corps did what it needed to do, but nobody had a standout game.

***Penalties weren’t numerous for Texas, but they were costly and put the Buckeyes in position to score multiple times. The ability to perform in environments like Ohio Stadium will be needed over the course of the season. The Swamp is loud. It’s loud between the hedges. It’s even loud in Mississippi State. The ability to win and perform in loud environments with poise is a necessity. Texas didn’t do everything right pre-snap today.

***Overall, we learned Texas is good. We learned Ohio State is a notch better. Both of these teams are going to be College Football Playoff contenders. Both teams are super talented. The loss is painful, but the loss is not season ending as it may have been in years past. It’ll hurt. There’s a lot of room to grow, but that’s why you play these types of games.

***The red zone remains a problem for Texas. Credit to Steve Sarkisian for trying something a little new, but it was poorly executed. A three-and-out from Ohio State gave Texas an opportunity to start the second half with a score. Texas ran well and mixed things up in order to get to the Ohio State one. But when you run something like the tush push, surprise is essential. Texas telegraphed the play and while Arch Manning tried to find the gap to sneak into the end zone, he was kept out.

***Texas almost netted two points out of the ordeal, but a holding in the end zone was offset with a hands to the face penalty. Instead of two points and the ball, Texas simply forced another punt. And they could do nothing with it after an Arch Manning interception.

***There wasn’t that much to like on offense for Texas in the entire first half. The Longhorns logged 79 total yards. The Texas defense did its job, only allowing 103 yards. But the player of the half for Texas was punter Jack Bouwmeester. He is a true weapon.

***Texas’ end of half offense left a lot to be desired, and that may be generous. The Longhorns’ best chance game when Ohio State shanked a punt 30 yards and gave Steve Sarkisian and his offense the ball at the -47. The three ensuing plays? Incompletion intended for Parker Livingstone, two-yard rush by CJ Baxter, short dump-down pass to CJ Baxter. Sark was presented with a 4th and 2 and elected to punt instead. Protecting his defense was likely a consideration, but the lack of aggressiveness squandered a decent scoring opportunity in Buckeye territory.

***Penalties, penalties, penalties. The Buckeyes were given a red zone opportunity thanks to a face mask on Colin Simmons and a holding on Malik Muhammad. Teams that are that good don’t need extra opportunities, but the Buckeyes got theirs. Texas looked to make a goal line stand in another important game, but CJ Donaldson opened the scoring with a one-yard rush.

***Ohio State tried to pick on Graceson Littleton a couple of times to start the second quarter and he responded by making two fantastic plays against Smith and Brandon Innis. One of them was undone, unfortunately, by a personal foul on Colin Simmons, but the play showed Ohio State that the Longhorn freshman was ready for the moment.

***Neither offense was clicking to start the game. Texas posted 3.3 yards per play in the first quarter while Ohio State was sitting at 3.8. The Buckeye average was buoyed by a couple of nice passes to Jeremiah Smith and Max Klare, but other than that there wasn’t much to gain on the Texas defense. The best evidence of both offenses being a little out of sync? Smith dropped multiple passes and Klare missed an opportunity to convert a fourth down due to a drop. Texas had its issues too on money downs, starting 0-for-4 on third down and 1-for-2 on fourth down. The punters stole the show early, that is to say. Jack Bouwmeester did his job, as did Ohio State’s Joe McGuire.

***Liona Lefau was doing some special stuff for the Longhorn defense in the first quarter. He was consistently around the football and his effort on this play was notable. But make sure you see Maraad Watson not letting any blocker get to the second level at nose tackle. All in all, Lefau notched five tackles in the opening 15 minutes.

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