The 2024 Texas football season ended eerily similar to the 2023 season. With the ball in the red zone in the closing minutes of the game, the Longhorns could not find a way to punch it in.
It was a gut-wrenching loss. There is no way around it.
What Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian said in his postgame press conference after CFP semis loss to Ohio State
Texas hung tough and was the better team for a good portion of the game against a media-deemed juggernaut in Ohio State.
All you can do is tip your hat to the Buckeyes, who are poised to win their third National Title of the 21st century. They made big plays when it mattered most.
The next time the Longhorns step on the field for a football game will be August 30, inside the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio.
Here is everything Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the game.
On the loss:
"Hell of a football game. Two really good teams battling. They made two big plays. They hit the screen at the end of the first half and got the sack fumble on fourth down there for a touchdown."
"Today's game is the life of a competitor. You put yourself in the arena. You compete your tail off, but we have nothing to hang our heads about by the way we competed."
On the final drive:
"The first two plays, we threw the ball into the end zone and got back-to-back PIs."
"When we got down to the 1, we went to a heavy package which is Jerrick's package. We ran it and we obviously didn't get much movement at all."
On the toss to Wisner: "That's one of those plays if you block it all right, you get in the end zone. We didn't, and we lose quite a bit of yardage. At that point, you're kind of stuck behind the 8 ball because we knew we were in four-down territory because of the score of the game."
On the toss to Wisner: "We had a plan to try to get the ball on the edge when we got down there, they went to big people. I can't quite tell -- it was on the far side of where it got leaky, but it's one of those plays, if you block it all right, you get in the end zone, and we didn't, and we lose, you know, quite a bit of yardage, and at that point we're kind of stuck behind the eight ball."
On the defense:
On the Henderson 75-yard touchdown: "They called the screen, they blocked it well, and they got it in the hands of a really good playmaker."
On the 2024 season:
“I loved every second of it.”