No. 4 Texas did not merely beat No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday night. The Longhorns rewrote a slice of Associated Press poll history in the process, rallying from 23-3 to 24-23 on Hollywood Smothers' 1-yard touchdown with 25 seconds remaining at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Sportradar, cited by the Associated Press via CBS Sports, called Texas' 20-point fourth-quarter comeback the largest final-period rally to win against an AP No. 1. ESPN Research added that, before Saturday, AP No. 1 teams were 197-0 when holding a 20-point lead at any point in the fourth quarter since 2004.
Both markers put the result in rare company even before the playoff implications are tallied.
How the hole got that deep
Ohio State controlled the first three quarters. Jeremiah Smith caught eight passes for 164 yards and a touchdown, including 43-yard gains in the second and third quarters, ESPN reported. Julian Sayin threw a 19-yard touchdown to Smith with 10 seconds left in the half after Texas failed on a fourth-and-1 toss to Ryan Wingo near midfield, pushing the Buckeyes ahead 20-3 at the break.
Sarkisian told ESPN the locker room felt "a little bit of shock" because the plan had looked sound on paper. The scoreboard said otherwise. A Buckeye field goal later made it 23-3 entering the fourth.
What flipped after the break
Texas' answer was possession football. Manning directed touchdown drives of 15, 13 and 12 plays, ESPN Research noted as unique among winners in the past 15 years for closing with three such marches in a row. Wingo's early fourth-quarter touchdown catch started the climb. Smothers scored twice from a yard out, including the winner.
Connor Hawkins, who had made three field goals, missed from 45 yards with 4:16 left, the AP reported. Manning told the wire that miss told him the Longhorns' moment had arrived. Sayin's final desperation throw was intercepted, sealing Ohio State's first loss of the season.
