Steve Sarkisian did not hedge after No. 4 Texas beat No. 1 Ohio State 24-23 on Saturday night. Speaking to ESPN, he called the home win the biggest of his Texas tenure, delivered in front of 105,044 fans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, the third-largest crowd in Longhorns history.
"We've had some really big moments, but this one is special," Sarkisian said. "When you beat the No. 1 team in the country in the fashion that we did to come back the way that we did to represent Longhorn Nation, to represent the name on our chest, Texas, I think means a lot."
The fashion was the point. Texas trailed 23-3 entering the fourth before Arch Manning directed three touchdown drives and Hollywood Smothers scored the winner from a yard out with 25 seconds left.
Three years of unfinished business
Saturday was the third Texas-Ohio State meeting in three seasons. The Buckeyes won a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl in January 2025 and took a 14-7 season opener in Columbus last year. Beating them in Austin closed that loop, at least for the regular season.
Sarkisian told ESPN he told Ohio State coach Ryan Day afterward that he hoped to see him again.
Day, for his part, said the Buckeyes had Texas "on the ropes and didn't finish." Julian Sayin passed for 278 yards, and Jeremiah Smith had eight catches for 164 yards and a touchdown, but Ohio State managed only a field goal after halftime, the Associated Press reported via CBS Sports.
Coaching choices that kept drives alive
Sarkisian said he made clear Texas would stay aggressive and play in four-down territory late. Manning converted a fourth-and-9 to Emaree Winston and a fourth-and-6 to Emmett Mosley V before the touchdown marches fully took hold, ESPN reported.
