Texas vs. Ohio State: Longhorns rally falls short, Buckeyes win 14-7

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Ohio State defense, once again against the Texas Longhorns, bent but didn’t break.

The No. 3 Buckeyes stopped the Longhorns on fourth down with 1:27 remaining to squelch a potential game-tying drive to claim a 14-7 win over No. 1 Texas on Saturday at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

The Texas offense, led by sophomore quarterback Arch Manning, was held scoreless for three quarters until Manning hit Parker Livingstone for a 32-yard touchdown with 3:28 left. Manning showed flashes of brilliance but battled inconsistency in his third-career start, finishing 17 of 30 passing for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed for 38 yards on 10 carries.

“I’m proud of the way we fought and our ability to go down and score, and then we got a stop,” Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We had a couple of chances, and just didn’t quite make the plays we wanted to make.”

Manning’s interception led to Ohio State’s second touchdown, a 40-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Julian Sayin to Carnell Tate with 13:08 left in the game. It was the game’s only official turnover, but the Buckeyes forced Texas to give the ball up on downs four times.

“Ohio State took advantage of their opportunities, so that’s a credit to them,” Sarkisian said. “Offensively, I thought our plan was pretty good early on. We were playing physically, but we didn’t have a lot of rhythm in the passing game.”

Sayin, making his first-career start, completed 13 of 20 passes for 126 yards with a touchdown. Perhaps most importantly, he didn’t throw an interception.

Like the College Football playoff semifinal game the teams played in January, the Buckeyes’ defense stood strong in the red zone. Ohio State stuffed Manning on a quarterback sneak attempt from inside the 1-yard line to force a turnover on downs in the third quarter, and then stopped the Longhorns again in the fourth quarter with Texas at the Buckeyes’ 9-yard line. Those were Texas’ only red zone possessions of the game.

Ohio State scored the game’s first touchdown on its third drive, marching 80 yards in 13 plays to score on a 1-yard plunge by CJ Donaldson with 8:57 left in the second quarter.

Texas had five drives of at least eight plays, and four ended in the Longhorns surrendering possession on downs. The other ended in a punt.

Texas outgained the Buckeyes 336-203, and Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner rushed for 80 yards on 16 carries. Donaldson paced the Buckeyes, rushing attack with 67 yards on 19 attempts.

Tight end Jack Endries led the Longhorns with 50 receiving yards on four catches, including a 30-yard completion on the Longhorns’ final drive to get them in position to potentially tie the game. Manning misfired on a pair of short passes that more than likely would have resulted in first downs on the final drive, and then on fourth-and-5 from midfield, he threw a pass while in the grasp of an Ohio State defender to Endries for a 3-yard gain.

Texas committed six penalties for 50 yards, and two of the fouls extended the Buckeyes’ drive that ended in Donaldson’s short scoring run. Colin Simmons picked up a facemask penalty that turned a fourth down into a first down, and then Malik Muhammad was flagged for defensive holding to advance the ball for Ohio State.

Sarkisian reminded everyone at the postgame press conference that this is the first game of potentially a 16-game season, and he’s always thought the team that lifts the national title trophy at the end of the season will have blemishes on its record.

“I sat at SEC media days and said the days of an undefeated national champion are over, especially when you play in games like this,” he said. “We have an opportunity over the next month to clean some things up and get ourselves in a great frame of mind to get ready for SEC play.”

Texas (0-1) hosts San Jose State at 11 a.m. CT, Sept. 6. Ohio State (1-0) hosts Grambling State.

Who did Lee Corso pick with his final headgear selection?

Before the game, the college football world honored longtime ESPN College Gameday personality Lee Corso. The former head coach’s final show was Friday in Columbus, and as he did for the first time in 1996, he picked the Buckeyes to win the ballgame.

It was a perfect full-circle moment for the 90-year-old Corso, who recovered from a stroke in 2009 to make a triumphant return to the desk. Friday was his final show as he rides off into the sunset for retirement.

It was the 431st headgear selection, and he’s 286-144 overall before Friday’s showdown, so he ended his career 287-144.