No. 4 Texas mounts late rally, shocks No. 1 Ohio State — SkimNews
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- Texas rallied from a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat No. 1 Ohio State 24-23 on Saturday night in Austin, with Hollywood Smothers scoring the winning 1-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds remaining.
- Arch Manning sparked the comeback with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo and finished with 196 passing yards, using his legs to convert several key first downs during the closing rally.
- Connor Hawkins missed a 45-yard field goal that would have clinched the game for Ohio State, instead setting up Texas' game-winning drive after having earlier made three field goals.
- Ohio State built a 23-3 lead through three dominant quarters but produced just one field goal after halftime; Julian Sayin passed for 278 yards and Jeremiah Smith caught 8 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown before Sayin's final-play desperation pass was intercepted.
- The result snapped a streak in which AP No. 1-ranked teams had been 197-0 when holding a 20-point lead at any point in the fourth quarter since 2004, according to ESPN Research.
- The comeback was the fifth 20-point rally in Texas program history and the first since 2007, giving the Longhorns a claim at No. 1 in their first win over Ohio State in three meetings across the past three seasons.
Why it matters: Texas now has a legitimate claim to the No. 1 ranking after becoming the first AP No. 1 team since 2004 to blow a 20-point fourth-quarter lead, ending a 197-game streak. For Ohio State, the loss exposes a second-half offensive collapse—just one field goal after halftime—despite Sayin's 278 passing yards and Smith's 164-yard receiving game.
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