<\/p>\n
Texas players celebrate their win over Ohio State in an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
Eric Gay\/AP Photo\/Eric Gay<\/p>\n
Texas running back Hollywood Smothers, top center, dives for the winning touchdown against Ohio State during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
Eric Gay\/AP Photo\/Eric Gay<\/p>\n
Texas quarterback Arch Manning (16) throws against Ohio State during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
Eric Gay\/AP Photo\/Eric Gay<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Eric Gay\/AP Photo\/Eric Gay<\/p>\n
Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (10) throws against Texas during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
Eric Gay\/AP Photo\/Eric Gay<\/p>\n
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) \u2014 Arch Manning and No. 4 Texas stole a 24-23 victory from No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday night, rallying from a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to win it on Hollywood Smothers\u2019 1-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Longhorns’ 20-point comeback in the fourth quarter is the largest fourth-quarter rally to win against an AP No. 1 team, according to Sportradar.<\/p>\n
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The Buckeyes had appeared in complete control after a dominant three quarters and led 23-3.<\/p>\n
But Texas (2-0) rallied behind Manning, whose touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo early in the fourth started the comeback. Smothers scored on a 1-yard run with 7:14 to play before Ohio State (1-1) drove for what could have been a clinching field goal.<\/p>\n
Connor Hawkins, who had earlier made three field goals, missed from 45 yards, setting up Texas\u2019 winning drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that happened, I knew it was our time,\u201d Manning said. \u201cI\u2019m really proud of the way we responded. We could have let that thing go. It\u2019s a testament to our coaches and our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The gritty win could also give Texas a claim at No. 1.<\/p>\n
The victory is arguably the biggest regular-season win in six seasons for coach Steve Sarkisian, and certainly for Manning, who had struggled to live up to Heisman Trophy expectations early in his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more proud of our team with the heart, the desire and the fight,\u201d Sarkisian said.<\/p>\n
Manning\u2019s legs and passing earned several first downs as the Longhorns steadily clawed back and beat the Buckeyes for the first time in three tries over the past three seasons. Manning finished with 196 yards passing and complete 11 of his final 15 passes.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe just had to get something going, I always knew we were going to be in it in the end,” Manning said. \u201cI’m so glad we won.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Buckeyes lost a game they had controlled.<\/p>\n
Julian Sayin passed for 278 yards and Jeremiah Smith caught eight passes for 164 yards and a touchdown. But the offense produced just a single field goal after halftime, and Sayin\u2019s desperation pass on the final play was intercepted before Texas players rushed on the field to celebrate the comeback.<\/p>\n
The takeaway<\/p>\n
Ohio State: Smith was having the kind of game the Buckeyes’ All-American had missed in his two previous matchups with the Longhorns. But key passes his way were covered or misfired late as the Longhorns contained him in the second half.<\/p>\n
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Texas: The Longhorns were nearly buried by early dropped passes, missed throws and turnovers in what looked like a primetime flop. Wingo’s fourth-quarter touchdown catch made up for a wide open drop in a frustrating first half for the Longhorns.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Ohio State hosts Kent State on Sept. 19.<\/p>\n
Texas hosts UTSA on Sept. 19.<\/p>\n
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Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP\u2019s full college football coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas players celebrate their win over Ohio State in an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[150837,17384,9453,23681,59373,202,89694,59370,59371,196,42838,42094,390,942,20718,3231,27,29,28,150836],"class_list":["post-434457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-connor-hawkins","tag-jeremiah-smith","tag-julian-sayin","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-product-30091-ap-ohio-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30109-ap-texas-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-32556-ap-online-college-game-stories","tag-product-32562-ap-online-other-sports-news","tag-product-40806-ap-ohio-sports-only","tag-product-40815-ap-texas-sports-only","tag-ryan-wingo","tag-steve-sarkisian","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-ohio-state-football-score"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}