Texas Erases a 20-point Hole to Beat Ohio State
Down 23-3 in the third quarter, Texas scored 21 straight points and won 24-23. Ohio State did not score again after Connor Hawkins kicked a 48-yard field goal with 8:09 left in the third. That is the whole story, and it is a long time to go without points.
The Buckeyes had built the lead honestly. Hawkins kicked field goals of 26, 30 and 48 yards, Ja'Kobi Jackson ran it in from 8 yards, and Julian Sayin hit Jeremiah Smith from 19 yards with 10 seconds left in the half. Texas had a 37-yard Gianni Spetic field goal and nothing else for three quarters.
Then the fourth quarter. Arch Manning found Ryan Wingo from 3 yards at 14:19, Smothers punched in a 1-yard run with 7:14 left, and Smothers did it again with 25 seconds on the clock. Spetic kicked all three extra points. That one lead change, with 25 seconds left, is the only one in the game.
The yardage does not explain it. Ohio State had 372 total yards to Texas's 337, and Sayin threw for 278 on 17 of 32. Texas ran 40 times for 142 yards and leaned on the ground, then needed the last two touchdowns to cash it in. Each team threw one interception, and Texas also lost a fumble. Flip the last two Smothers carries and this is a comfortable Ohio State win.
Texas is 2-0 and Ohio State is 1-1. For fantasy, Smith's 8 catches for 164 yards were the biggest day of anyone and it still came in a loss. Daylan Smothers was the Texas answer, with two short touchdowns that won plenty of people a week.