New Texas law no longer requires vehicle safety inspections
To avoid a bad trip, be prepared before trying LSD
DC College Football Playoff Edition
Jordyn Fields blazes trail as a Black woman on Texas football staff
The history of Texas in the National Championship
Jan. 1, 2024 and Jan. 10, 2025. Two days, over a year apart, yet both left the Texas Longhorns stuck in the same place.
A team rattled by a close loss in last season’s College Football Playoff semifinals felt deja vu on Friday night as the Ohio State Buckeyes claimed a 28-14 victory and ended the hopes of a national title for Texas at the Cotton Bowl.
“It’s the life of a competitor, and it sucks being on this side of things,” starting junior quarterback Quinn Ewers said. “Back-to-back years (with) pretty much the entire game decided on one play. It’s hard (seeing) all the work we put in, being in the final four back-to-back years and coming up short two years — it’s tough.”
Despite coming in as the underdog for the first time all season, Texas quickly matched their energy, but gave up a critical scoring opportunity late in the fourth quarter that would ultimately become the team’s demise.
As Ewers, who started his collegiate career in Ohio, lingered on a 4th-and-goal with two minutes left in the game, the chance to tie things up for a third time fumbled out of his hands and into those of Ohio State senior defensive end Jack Sawyer on a sack.
Ewers’ former roommate hauled it 83 yards all the way to the house to solidify the Buckeyes’ victory over the Longhorns.
“The last thing you think is this sack, and this is gonna bounce right to the guy that’s gonna run for a touchdown. It was unfortunate that that was the circumstance because it was a really nice drive by the offense to get all the way down there,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “First the goal on the one, and we don’t score. Quite frankly, (we) probably don’t deserve to win that way.”
Texas started the game by giving up its third opening-drive touchdown of the season to the Buckeyes, who found the end zone in just 10 plays, capped off by a nine-yard rush from junior running back Quinshon Judkins.
That efficiency from Ohio State sparked a sense of urgency within the Longhorns secondary. Texas went from allowing 43 rushing yards in the first quarter to -7 in the second quarter, leaving the Buckeyes shut out from the red zone for the rest of the half.
With less than two minutes left in the second quarter, Ewers sailed an 18-yard pass straight to junior running back Jaydon Blue for Texas’ first touchdown to up the stakes.
However, the celebration that roared from the burnt orange half of the stadium would be short-lived. Thirty seconds on the clock was all the Buckeyes needed to answer right back, as senior running back TreVeyon Henderson ran 75 yards for a touchdown to put Ohio State up 14-7 at halftime.
Rather than succumbing to the second-half scaries, Texas returned with confidence and gave its best third-quarter performance of the year. The Longhorns converted 80% of third downs while Ewers passed for 70 yards and another touchdown to Blue to match the Buckeyes a 14-14 as they headed into the fourth quarter.
Judkins would find himself in scoring position once more to set up Ohio State in front 21-14 before Texas let its fate unfold within the last two minutes.
Heartbreak took over the Texas sideline, but so did pride for a program which climbed its way onto the biggest stage in college football two years in a row.
“I wouldn’t have changed it for the world, showing up every morning with these guys and going to work and playing in some awesome environments and some great games,” Sarkisian said. “It stings right now, but I’m not going to let this one game and a couple plays overshadow what we were able to accomplish this season. Yes, we want to be champions. That’s what life is about. You always want to come out on top, but there’s so much that we can learn from this season. There’s so much to be proud of from this season.”
Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin
