Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, center, celebrates Texas’ win over Ohio State in an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Eric Gay/AP Photo/Eric Gay
AUSTIN — Life is hard enough without spotting the No. 1 team in the nation — if not of the decade — a 10-point lead before you’ve run a half-dozen plays. It gets harder when you flounder and flail and flop over most of the next three quarters as a follow-up.
And when you’re down 20 points going into the final quarter, it requires something all but historic to dig yourself out, if not a downright miracle.
Texas might have gotten two. Maybe even three.
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Frankly, I lost count in all the commotion.
Before a fourth-quarter comeback that came within a single solitary point of matching the program’s all-time record was through, Hollywood Smothers’ leap from the 1-yard line with 25 seconds remaining Saturday gave the fourth-ranked Longhorns an improbable 24-23 come-from-behind win over Ohio State before 105,044, the third-largest crowd ever at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
Expect that number to grow exponentially in the retelling of this tale in the years to come.
Texas partisans will regale their children and grandchildren and the guy in the next seat at the bar about how the Longhorns didn’t quit after what Steve Sarkisian called an “abysmal” first half, which might have been putting it nicely.
They will forget most of what went wrong and recall instead how Arch Manning — who had more commercials than completions in the first quarter — threw for more yards in the fourth (101) than in the previous three combined (76). They will remember Texas’ defense finally shutting down the Buckeyes in the fourth quarter to give Manning his shot at redemption.
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They will tell of Sark going for it on fourth-and-9 when the game still looked out of reach, when a punt on fourth-and-9 from his own 32 might have seemed the better part of valor.
Related: National reaction to Texas’ comeback win over Ohio State: ‘Can’t ever count out a Manning’
“That’s a loser’s take,” Sark said, smiling. “Winners win, baby. They didn’t hire me to keep it close.
“They hired me to win.”
Until Saturday, Sark’s signature win had come in the 38-24 upset of No. 1-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 2023. That blowout gave the program credibility. Might have given Nick Saban ideas about retiring, come to think of it.
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When I asked Sark if Saturday was his best win at Texas, he said it “surely” was at DKR. But in his six seasons in Austin? Coaches are funny about those things. Like asking a parent which child is your favorite. He wouldn’t go there Saturday.
“We’ve had some really big moments,” he said, no doubt thinking of two semifinal appearances, “but this one is special.
“You know, when you beat the No. 1 team in the country in the fashion that we did, to come back the way that we did, to represent Longhorn nation, to represent the name on our chest, it means a lot.”
AUSTIN, TX – SEPTEMBER 12: Quarterback Arch Manning #16 of the Texas Longhorns holds up his arms to celebrate the game tying touchdown late in the college football game the Texas Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes on September 12, 2026, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, TX. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Here’s what it meant in the press box: Deadline ledes crashing and burning. Ledes waxing none-too-poetically about how Texas just can’t beat the likes of Ohio State and Georgia. Updates of how Sark would be 0-6 against Kirby Smart and Ryan Day. Storylines detailing how Jeremiah Smith, who caught 164 yards worth of Julian Sayin’s 278 yards passing, was simply too good for Texas and its new/old defensive coordinator, Will Muschamp.
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Muschamp tried giving his corners help in covering Smith, but, in doing so, they couldn’t stop the Buckeyes’ running game. Or make Sayin uncomfortable. So Muschamp made a hard decision. They would cover Smith one-on-one, surely something no NFL team will attempt after Smith goes high in the first round next April.
Crazy thing is, it worked. Bo Mascoe, a senior cornerback, simply got in Smith’s back pocket. Maybe his head, too. Smith all but disappeared in a fourth quarter that belonged to the hosts.
Manning led Texas on three methodical drives covering nearly 15 minutes of the third and fourth quarters. Completed 11 of his last 15 passes. The first drive ended on a 3-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo; the last two on 1-yard runs by Smothers, who finished with 74 yards on 21 carries.
Remember the old saw about Texas not being able to belly up to the goal line against Ohio State?
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Texas, which was 1-for-4 on red zone trips in its last two games against Ohio State, went 4-for-4 at DKR.
All of this after Texas’ first two possessions ended with a fumble on the game’s first play, giving Ohio State the ball in the red zone, and an interception by the Buckeyes’ Jaylen McClain, who, until the ball popped out of Cam Coleman’s hands, looked to be beaten for a 40-yard gain. Besides the “interception,” there was also a dropped pass by Wingo in the end zone.
But, in his coming-of-age game at last, Manning rose above all the noise. The adversity he’s faced since becoming the most over-hyped player in Texas history served him well, his coach said. The legacy didn’t let it get to him Saturday, anyway.
“I always knew we were gonna be in it at the end,” Manning said. “It was a weird start. We didn’t play well at all.
“But I did not want to come in here and have y’all tell me we’re bad. I could not let that happen.”
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As a result, nearly matched the program record for fourth-quarter comebacks, a 38-35 win over Oklahoma State in 2007. Texas also earned its sixth win ever over a No. 1 team and its first since beating Oklahoma at the State Fair in 2008. The time before that? A memorable Rose Bowl.
Sark cautioned the media not to make too much of this particular chapter of history. Still got a long way to go, he said. No doubt. Just the same, the Longhorns came a long way Saturday. More than just the 20 points.