Texas turned a 23-3 deficit into a 24-23 coronation in one quarter, and the AP Top 25 has no clean way out of it.
I sat through Ohio State looking like the clear No. 1 for three quarters in Austin, then watched the whole thing collapse under 21 unanswered points. Hollywood Smothers finished it from a yard out with 25 seconds left. Largest fourth-quarter comeback win against an AP No. 1 ever, per Sportradar. First time since 2004 a top-ranked team blew a 20-point fourth-quarter lead. Texas’s first home win over a top-ranked opponent in 76 years. The Longhorns are 2-0. The Buckeyes are 1-1. Sunday’s poll at 2 p.m. EDT is about to hand Texas the No. 1 spot because the alternative is pretending that fourth quarter was a weather delay.
Arch Manning walked into the night carrying last year’s loss like unpaid debt. He said it flat: “We couldn’t lose to them again. I had nightmares about that game last year. So, we’re glad to get a win tonight. We’ll have a good night in Austin.” That is the entire emotional architecture of this result. Revenge with a clock that actually cooperated.
He went 23-of-37 for 196 yards, one touchdown, one interception. On the final drive he was 4-of-5 for 48 yards. Not a Heisman commercial. A survival reel. “I did not want to come in here after a loss at home to Ohio State again and have some sort of bad — y’all telling me we’re not good, all this stuff.” He also said the quiet part out loud: “I always knew we were going to be in it in the end.” Three straight touchdown drives of 12-plus plays in the fourth. Fifteen plays for 91 yards. Thirteen for 72. Twelve for 73. That is a quarterback and a staff refusing to let the story end on someone else’s terms.
Steve Sarkisian saw the same arc and named it. “Last September was a hard month for him. I think him getting through the adversity of last year helped him get through the adversity of tonight. When he comes back, everybody else comes back.” Then the line that lands hardest: “Arch played like a man tonight, and that was really cool to see.” Coaches throw growth talk around every September. This one had a final score attached.
Sarkisian Rolled Dice the Ballot Can’t Ignore
The coaching decision that still sits with me is the one Sarkisian refused to soft-pedal. Momentum was fragile. Punting felt safe. He went for it anyway. “Nah, that’s a loser thing. Winner’s win baby. You’ve got to go for it. … Keep it close? They didn’t hire me to keep it close. They hired me to win.” Connor Hawkins then missed the 45-yarder that would have stretched Ohio State’s lead again with a little over four minutes left. Texas kept the ball and the night. Smothers scored twice from a yard. Ryan Wingo caught the Manning touchdown. The stadium did what Austin does when the script flips.
I fully expected the Buckeyes to hold their lead and close it out on the road. That assumption is gone. Home-field vanity and Manning’s chip proved louder than the pregame ranking math. Ohio State still looks like a playoff team with a scar. Texas looks like the team that just forced every voter to redraw the top line.
Around them the board is already shaking. No. 6 Oregon lost 39-31 on the road to Oklahoma State, a program that had dropped 21 straight against FBS opponents. That is a plummet with a capital P. Michigan beat No. 11 Oklahoma 17-10 and slides back into the conversation while the Big Ten absorbs multiple hits. Georgia and Notre Dame will fight for the next rungs. The fallen powers will argue resume and strength of schedule until the votes post. The SEC-bias chatter and Big Ten-weakness talk will fill the afternoon. None of it changes the first ballot line.
Nightmares Cleared the Path to No. 1
Texas enters Sunday afternoon as the only honest No. 1 because of how they won, not just that they won. Prior poll had Ohio State with 46 of 69 first-place votes and Texas with two. Those two are about to multiply. A 20-point fourth-quarter hole erased against the defending standard-bearer is the kind of result that ends the debate before the spreadsheet opens.
Sarkisian called it special without overselling the résumé: “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 it means a lot.” Manning kept it simpler and louder: “You dream of playing in games like this, hosting the No. 1 team in the country at home. I mean, how about that? Getting a win? By one point? Let’s go, baby!”
Playoff seeding talk in mid-September is usually noise. This one carries weight because the top spot now belongs to a team that proved it can finish a game it had no business finishing. Ohio State will reload. Oregon will try to climb out of the hole Oklahoma State dug. Michigan will keep collecting quiet wins. Texas gets the flag and the target.
When the AP drops, Texas sits alone at No. 1. The rest of the order is argument. The fourth quarter in Austin already settled the first line.
