Texas's pass offense was nothing without Matthew Golden on the field
What yesterday's loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl proved is that the Longhorns have heavily relied on junior Matthew Golden to be the team's go-to No. 1 wide receiver.
When Golden left the game due to an injury, and after a facemask penalty call against him on a play where he was blocking for a screen pass downfield, Texas's passing attack was much more limited.
Despite missing a large number of snaps due to the injury in the first half, Golden still had two catches for a couple of explosive plays for the Longhorns.
Golden being on the sidelines in the medical tent and in the locker room for a bit in the first half meant the Ohio State defense was able to really focus on pressuring Ewers and locking down senior tight end Gunnar Helm. For the first time this postseason, Golden and Helm didn't combine for over 100 receiving yards, and neither had a touchdown catch against Ohio State.
Sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. and true freshman Ryan Wingo had additional opportunities to make big plays and get more targets for Texas's offense with Golden limited in this game.
There were a handful of decent plays from the Texas receivers against Ohio State yesterday. But the fact of the matter was that junior running back Jaydon Blue had the only two receiving touchdowns against Ohio State, and the receivers had a pretty small impact on this game.