Ohio State Game Recap
RECAP
TEXAS!!
Whew, where to even begin.
What we all witnessed Saturday night will go down in the annals of Texas football lore as one of the great games — and great wins — in program history. A truly magical night in Austin, and a comeback for the ages.
Texas knocked off the Buckeyes 24–23 in front of a raucous crowd at DKR, battling through the relentless Texas heat — and back from a 23–3 deficit entering the fourth quarter. It wasn’t always pretty, and there will be plenty to clean up in the coming weeks. But the feeling of winning that game will live on for a long, long time.
Because games like this are what make college football great. A national powerhouse comes into Austin with the eyes of the sports world upon us. The pressure. The expectations. The opportunity to deliver a moment at home that people will remember for the rest of their lives.
This is why the college football regular season is sacred — you just don’t get these types of scenes in the Peach Bowl.
And the Longhorns gave us everything.
Let’s enjoy the hell out of this one.
Postgame stats
POSTGAME ANALYTICS
September 12, 2026
This wasn’t the Texas State steamroll. Ohio State won field position, turnover margin, and havoc, but Texas held the edge in success rate, PPA per play, third downs, and points per opportunity. The biggest separation came in finishing drives: Texas averaged 6.00 points per scoring opportunity to Ohio State’s 2.56. Then the fourth quarter turned those margins into 21 unanswered points and one hell of a comeback.
Player of the game
Hollywood Smothers - RB (Jr.)
HOLLYWOOD.
In a game loaded with stars, our Player of the Game goes to Smothers — who gave Texas exactly what it needed against one of the most talented defenses in the country.
Smothers was the engine of the Texas offense, consistently finding yards against an Ohio State front that wasn't going to give much away for free. He ran with patience, burst and physicality, turning small creases into productive gains and giving the Horns a dependable answer when they needed to stay on schedule.
And crucially, Hollywood delivered when Texas needed him most. He came up with big yards on the final drive before capping the Longhorns’ comeback with a 1-yard touchdown, flying over the top of the defense with just 25 seconds remaining to give Texas the lead.
Saturday night in Austin had everything.
And in the end, we got our perfect Hollywood script.
Play of the Game
3rd Quarter — 4th-and-9 Conversion
Talk about STONES.
Facing 4th-and-9 in the dwindling minutes of the third quarter, trailing 23–3 from their own 42, Sark rolled the dice and kept the offense on the field in what amounted to a last-ditch effort to spark a comeback.
And it worked.
Arch Manning delivered his finest moment of the night, rolling out to escape pressure before throwing back across his body to find Emaree Winston over the middle. Winston secured it and rumbled just beyond the line to gain, keeping the drive — and the Longhorns' hopes — alive.
This was the clutch moment to rival all clutch moments.
It's the kind of play that's enormous in the moment — but could grow even larger in importance as the story of this season unfolds. If this team ends up going where we think it can, we may look back at 4th-and-9 against Ohio State as one of those moments when everything changed.
There were plenty of mistakes and missed opportunities on both sides.
But when Texas absolutely had to have one?
Arch and Winston delivered. Game on.
How did we do?
Let’s check in on some of our pregame predictions.
Okay, so my official prediction failed — though I did say in my heart I knew the Longhorns would win. The BOK Model nailed it, projecting a 27–26 Texas victory. That’s a win for the data. My reasoning was pretty simple: the Buckeyes had beaten our Horns twice in a row, and I’d seen us get pushed around in the trenches in those games. Until Texas proved it could win that kind of fight, I wasn't ready to pick against Ryan Day.
Well, they’ve finally proven it, to me and to the world.
I may never pick against the Longhorns again!
The biggest question I had coming in was the how the Texas running game would stack up. Smothers and the Texas offensive line answered the bell resoundingly. That was all I needed to see — thank you!
My player to watch was Graceson Littleton, coming off his scoop-and-score against Texas State. While he played pretty well, it was Justin Cryer and Bo Mascoe who will be getting shoutouts from us on the defensive side of the ball.
I ended the preview with four words:
Prove me wrong, Horns.
They did.
Final Thoughts
Now that’s what Texas Fight is all about.
60 minutes of football. Even when the bounces aren’t going your way for 45 of them, you just. Keep. Fighting.
And we did.
The Longhorns finally exorcised their Buckeye demons and gave 100,000 fans at DKR — and millions around the nation — a thrill of a lifetime.
Down 23–3. One quarter left.
And Texas won the damn football game.
The Horns are 2–0. Ohio State is in the rearview mirror. We WON.
Final Score: Texas 24, Ohio State 23
Hook ‘em
