Texas, Steve Sarkisian’s goal line play failed crucially in the Cotton Bowl

On By Littum

game

  • Texas was just one yard away from tying the Cotton Bowl, but a failed sweep and subsequent sack and fumble gave the game to Ohio State.
  • What happened on Texas’ failed toss sweep? Steve Sarkisian points to block as Ohio State player says film studio prepared Buckeyes for that play.
  • Big plays swing the College Football Playoff semifinals in Ohio State’s favor

ARLINGTON, Texas – Steve Sarkisian turned out cute, but it definitely didn’t look pretty.

Sarkisian gaining recognition for being one of the country’s leading play callersbut he fell into a familiar coaching trap on Friday of trying to show just how smart he is with a game sheet in his hands.

Only Ohio State’s defense made Sarkisian look foolish at the end of the Buckeyes’ 28-14 victory in the Cotton Bowl.

The scene: First-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Texas trailed by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. The Longhorn had to move three feet to make this College Football Playoff semifinal.

First down: Texas is heard going into a Power-I formation, but Ohio State stops a run up the middle.

No damage. Three more attempts for three feet.

Second down: Sarkisian goes way too deep into his bag. He calls a throw sweep off the left tackle out of the shotgun formation. The Buckeyes had it defended, died for rights. Safety Caleb Downs darted untouched into the backfield and nearly ended the play there and then.

Texas quarterback Quintrevion Wisner eluded Downs, but he made no headway toward the end zone as his run pushed further to the sideline. Safety Lathan Ransom freaks out Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. Ransom wrapped up Wisner 7 yards behind the line.

How to go from first-and-1 to third-and-8.

Two plays later, Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer ended Texas’ comeback hopes with a strip sack of Quinn Ewers. Sawyer scooped up the fumble and hauled his prize 83 yards into the end zone.

“Just a miraculous play,” linebacker Cody Simon said of Sawyer’s strip-sack and score. “That moment will live in history forever.”

Sure, it will, but Texas got into the weeds two plays earlier when Ransom’s tackle for loss put the Longhorns behind the 8-ball.

Steve Sarkisian defends play call that sent Texas into reverse order

Sarkisian stood by his throw sweep play call.

“It’s one of those plays, if you block it just right, you get in the end zone,” Sarkisian said. “We didn’t.”

Sarkisian didn’t fool Ohio State either.

To hear Downs tell it, the Buckeyes were ready for that pitching sweep.

“You could see it on film,” Downs said. “They like that game when big moments come up.”

No sooner had Ewers received the snap than Downs made a shot in the path of Wisner. Downs pushed Wisner off course before Ransom cleared the tackle.

“They’ve been doing it all year — crack throws to the boundary,” Downs said. “I’m just glad Lathan made it when I missed the tackle.”

Ransom’s reflexes weren’t quite as quick as Down’s right after the snap, but he wasn’t far behind his teammate. Ransom didn’t let Banks, the Texas big tackle who NFL scouts like, slow him down for long.

“No one really gets into big plays,” Simon said. “He pulled the trigger and made a big play.”

What went wrong on the second down, from Wisner’s perspective?

“I’m not even sure,” the Texas running back said.

Not his fault. He never had a chance.

“If you give us an inch, we’ll defend it,” Simon said. “That was the epitome of it right there.”

Big plays give Ohio State the edge over Texas in the Cotton Bowl

Texas never led this game, but it struggled against an opponent that emerged throughout the playoffs as the front-runner to win the national championship. Midway through the fourth quarter, the position was 14th.

“They made their plays when it counted the most,” Texas linebacker David Gbenda said.

Such as quarterback Will Howard’s 18-yard run on a fourth-down play to set up the Buckeyes’ go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.

Or, TreVeyon Henderson’s 75-yard touchdown on a screen pass.

Texas had tied the game at 7 before kicking a touchback with 29 seconds left before halftime. Ohio State could go into the locker room tied, but why not try something safe and see what happened?

Any football novice would expect a screen in that situation. Sure enough, Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly called.

And sure enough, Texas fell for it.

Ohio State’s two offensive tackles stayed home to block, while the Buckeyes’ three interior linemen leaked forward to block the screen. Four Texas defenders rushed Howard as the screen slowly developed. At the last minute, Howard flipped a finish to Henderson. The Buckeyes walloped Texas.

Henderson found the seam and, boom, he was gone. Gone after a score, untouched.

“He’s one of the fastest people I’ve ever seen,” Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka said of Henderson.

Texas’ defense looked squeaky clean on that screen pass before its blocking got “leaky,” as Sarkisian put it, on the second throw sweep a yard from the end zone, two quarters later.

But why does a high-risk race to the limit call for a second down?

Earlier in the game, Sarkisian effectively dialed up a quarterback run for backup quarterback Arch Manning to move the chains on fourth down during a drive that ended in a touchdown. Reinstating Manning might have seemed close to the goal line. Or another run or two inside the tackles might have done the trick.

We’ll never know. We know the Buckeyes weren’t the least bit fooled by a throw sweep that probably seemed smart to Sarkisian when he called it, but looked awfully silly and sloppy in action.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read his entire columnp.