What an unbelievable, tear-jerking, redemption-exacting, comeback victory for the Texas Longhorns.
The No. 4 Horns finally toppled the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes, and while it was far from a pretty win, it was the exact kind of gritty, grind-out victory that Texas needed to realize exactly what kind of football team it is.
Obviously, Texas won and Ohio State lost, but more specifically, there are a few all-out winners and a couple of undeniable losers from the game. So, here they are:
Winner: Arch Manning, Texas quarterback
There were mistakes, and there was some shakiness throughout the first three quarters for Texas's starting quarterback, Arch Manning. However, the absolute stoic manner with which he handled the fourth quarter was a massive reason the Horns were able to secure that victory.
- First drive in the 4th quarter: 4 passes, 31 yards, 1 touchdown
- Penultimate drive: 3 passes, 32 yards
- Final drive: 4 passes, 48 yards
Of course, there were incompletions, and the running backs tacked on yards as well as two of the three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but Manning led the offense. He controlled the clock, calmed down his teammates, and silenced the crowd when Texas needed to focus.
Manning grew up in that fourth quarter, something we didn't see until toward the end of the season last year, and that alone is a huge win for the Longhorns.
Winner: Emmett Mosley V, Texas wide receiver
Wideouts Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman were supposed to be the stars of the season, and they had relatively good games other than two major flaws on their report cards, but as I said, they were major flaws:
On Texas's second drive of the game, Coleman was wide open downfield, and Manning hit him in stride, but he lost his footing while attempting the catch. The ball popped out and was intercepted. Just a little later in the first half, Wingo failed to bring in a pass in the end zone that hit him in the hands.
Instead, it was fellow wide receiver Emmett Mosley V who joined Manning in the true fourth-quarter heroics. The Texas quarterback connected with Mosley for 52 of his 111 passing yards in the fourth quarter, and Mosley earned extra yards on a few ridiculous plays after contact.
Because Ohio State prepared so heavily for the dynamic duo of Wingo and Coleman, they seemingly forgot that the Longhorns are flush with even more talent at the wideout position, and that gave Mosley the opportunity to shine.
Loser: Ryan Day, Ohio State head coach
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day had a two-game winning streak against the Longhorns and head coach Steve Sarkisian. He lost that on Saturday night.
And it came after a couple of questionable plays to end the game, including preventing Texas from scoring right away on their final offensive drive of the matchup, which eventually let the clock run down to just 25 seconds before Ohio State got the ball back.
After the game, he told reporters that he considered just letting the Horns into the end zone, but obviously decided against it, and he didn't have a real explanation for why he made that choice:
"It didn’t work out," Day said.
Now, this isn't to say that Day is a bad coach or Ohio State is a bad team. That is an extremely talented college football program, something that Sarkisian alluded to after the win. However, that game was undeniably a massive loss for Day.
Winner: Hollywood Smothers, Texas running back
Transfer running back Hollywood Smothers had a good game last week. Against Ohio State, he had a great game.
While he only earned 74 yards on 21 carries, his consistent presence in the backfield helped to ease Manning's stress, provided an extra blocker for passing plays, and presented an additional threat that the Buckeyes had to be ready for.
He scored both of the rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning TD, where he leapt over the pile on the line of scrimmage to cross the goal line.
Smothers' efforts were aided by 54 yards from fellow running back Raleek Brown, as well as 24 rushing yards by Manning, but the Longhorns' RB2 was the star of the show on the ground and absolutely one of the biggest winners of Week 2.
Winner: Bo Mascoe, Texas cornerback
For the first time since he joined the Buckeyes, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith actually proved to be a problem for the Longhorns.
In their previous meetings over the last two years, Texas shut down Smith, allowing him to earn just seven catches for 46 yards and no touchdowns. This time, he earned 164 yards for one touchdown on eight catches.
However, as the second half unfolded and the Horns' defense arrived, transfer defensive back Bo Mascoe became a problem for Smith, instead of the other way around.
"Bo [Mascoe] had a couple of key breakups on third downs," Sarkisian said about the cornerback's job covering Smith in the fourth quarter.
Loser: College football scoreboards
Between stalled game clocks and play clocks that seemed to never start rolling at the same time, the clocks were a point of contention throughout both halves of the matchup. It wasn't the first time something of this variety has happened this season (and it's only Week 2).
In Week 1, we saw one second (1) get added back to the clock in the Western Michigan-Michigan matchup that allowed the Wolverines to score their game-winning Hail Mary touchdown, robbing the Broncos of the win.
As the Longhorns were mounting their comeback, the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones saw a similar clock saga as the Michigan game just one week earlier, but it was in a significantly less consequential scenario.
Yes, there are always going to be bumps and bruises for teams and officials throughout the start of the season, but for those issues to be about the game clock is far from ideal.
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