Even after two years in a row of defeating the Texas Longhorns, the Ohio State Buckeyes couldn't hold onto their 20-point lead on Saturday, and it was hard for any OSU fan to watch, but particularly for former players.
Former Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, who was on the 2024 and 2025 teams that beat Texas, even said that he saw what was coming as Texas started to mount an offensive stand and couldn't keep the game on.
"I was watching the game 'til midway through the third [quarter], and then I could feel they were getting momentum," Downs said on his podcast, Downs 2 Business, which he hosts with his brother, Josh. "I said, 'I can't watch this right now... This is gonna keep me up. If I watched the end of the game, it would've kept me up the rest of the night... Nah, I gotta go to sleep.'"
Caleb Downs chose sleep over watching the end of the OSU vs Texas game 😠pic.twitter.com/RiqaqvvwSi
— Downs 2 Business (@downs2business) September 16, 2026
During his two years with the Buckeyes, Downs amassed 10 total tackles (seven solo) against the Horns, as well as an interception in the two teams' College Football Playoff Semifinal meeting.
Despite his accomplishments while at OSU, which included winning a National Championship, Downs couldn't bear to watch his team crumble against the Longhorns.
However, Saturday night wasn't the first time Downs' team had lost to Steve Sarkisian and the Horns. He started his collegiate career with the Alabama Crimson Tide, and when the Longhorns came to Tuscaloosa in 2023, it was a shocking upset victory for Texas.
Downs had 10 total tackles in that game, as well as a forced fumble, but even his incredible performance as a true freshman wasn't enough to hold off the Horns that year. So, throughout his collegiate career, Downs went 2-1 against Texas, but he was undefeated against UT while at Ohio State.
Ohio State's inability to hold off Texas was too hard for Buckeye fans to watch
Of course, Downs could always point to the fact that he had his first regular-season NFL game the next night as he and the Dallas Cowboys took on the New York Giants, but in reality, Texas's comeback victory was simply too hard for many Ohio State fans to watch.
In response to Downs' confession of turning the game off, many Buckeyes shared that they, too, chose to sleep or watch another game instead of watching their team suffer defeat.
In fact, quite a few fans were begging Downs to try to come back, since a few missed tackles throughout the fourth quarter helped Texas put up its 21 unanswered points.
Read more: Texas broke more than just TV viewership records as it took down Ohio State
Downs went on to lose his rookie debut for the Cowboys, with the Giants securing a 28-20 victory to kick off the season. So, even though he turned the TV off on Saturday night, Downs' teams finished 0-2 on the weekend.
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