What we learned from Texas’ loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff

Here are my thoughts on the Texas vs. Ohio State College Football Playoff semifinal.

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The toss sweep to the left out of pistol to the boundary—it’s the play everybody will be talking about this offseason, along with the entire play sequence inside the 5-yard line. But what did we learn about Texas this season and after the loss to Ohio State in the semifinal?

We learned that Ohio State is a good team. We learned that they have great coaches who, in crunch time, put their players in the best position to execute. We also learned that Texas’ regular struggles came back to bite the Horns in the butt. Unfortunately, we learned that flaws are magnified when you face a good team, as they are able to take advantage of them (i.e., Georgia). The question may circle back around to whether Texas really played anybody because, when they played good teams equally matched, they lost all three contests. But let’s dive into this.

Coaching Staff:

I’ll start with the positive and say I thought Coach PK and the staff did a great job on defense, minimizing an explosive Ohio State offense that had been running up and down the field the past few weeks. I thought, offensively, UT got outcoached for most of the night, especially in situational opportunities such as third down, fourth down, and the red zone. When we talk about the “deer in headlights” look in previous games, I felt that, in critical moments, the Texas staff had that look. Credit to Ohio State for contributing to that.

Quinn Ewers:

Unfortunately, his last few plays as a Longhorn will be a strip sack that went for a game-sealing touchdown and an interception. Overall, Quinn really managed the game well. I want to say this loss is not on him at all. Losing a receiver like Matthew Golden, who you relied on late in the season and in the playoffs, hurt. Not having him there due to injury allowed Ohio State to key in on Gunner Helm. This kind of goes back to coaching—not having a full rotation of your receivers so that your quarterback gets great game reps with them. I feel like Silas Bolden could have been a key factor, but Quinn had to rely on Bolden, who doesn’t play much, Wingo, a freshman, Deandre Moore, who is good but got hot and cold at times while battling injuries himself, Helm, and the running backs.

Quinn used the running backs a ton in the second half, which was really key because the checkdown is your friend. Finding Wisner when he was about to get sacked was great awareness. The run he made where he looked to the sideline to find the first-down marker and decided not to slide and give up his body was a leadership-type play. The two wheel routes for touchdowns to Blue were great play calls and great execution.

Running Backs:

They had a quiet night on the ground. Tre Wisner broke a few tackles here and there. Jaydon Blue caught the ball well out of the backfield, especially on the touchdowns, but when it came to the running game, it was like running into a brick wall all night. Texas tried outside zone, saw a toss sweep, which everyone knew was a big no-no from the beginning (coaching staff). I thought when the Longhorns ran split zone and power downhill, they were able to get yards, but like in previous games, Steve Sarkisian went away from it after gaining positive yards.

Receivers and Tight Ends:

Matthew Golden is the true number one receiver. When he went out, that took away Texas’ primary target and, to me, was a key factor in how you wanted to attack Ohio State’s secondary, which was outside. We saw him make a late catch in the game on third down, which was really good, but missing him most of the game really hurt. Even though you would like to see the other guys step up, asking them to do so is a lot in such a critical moment. I thought DeAndre Moore had a few catches but really couldn’t maneuver and get open most of the night. Wingo had an explosive run after the catch, but for the most part, he’s a young freshman still trying to figure things out. Silas Bolden was thrust into action due to injury but, outside of one great effort after the catch, was a non-factor. Gunnar Helm—UT decided to go to him late in the game once again. He made a play, even though I think it was a weak penalty call against him for taunting. Overall, it was just an okay, quiet night for the pass catchers.

Offensive Line:

Outside of the red zone, short yardage, and situational downs, they played okay as far as pass protection. To me, they faced the number one defense—a really good defensive line—and held their own. Now, they couldn’t get a push in the running game, but that’s been the case all season vs. equally matched teams in the trenches. The false start penalties? You just come to expect them. You might as well just account for them every game, put it in your play script or your practice script because it’s just going to happen. I felt like they were a little outmatched athletically up front, and it showed in certain situations, but for the most part, they did an okay job outside of not getting a push in the run game.

Defensive Line (or should I say, Colin Simmons):

Colin Simmons was the best defensive lineman in the game for either side outside of Jack Sawyer, who got the strip sack at the end. Simmons, freshman or not, is an absolute beast off the edge—he cannot be blocked. I thought he disrupted the game plan for Ohio State once he was inserted. Being a freshman didn’t matter to him; he wanted the action. He did not want to come off the field at all and lived up to the moment and his ranking, showing why he is and was a five-star. He played well versus the run, the pass, and when he couldn’t get pressure, he got up and batted the ball down. The other guys on the defensive line were solid, but Simmons was the leader last night.

Linebackers:

Did they play last night? I felt like they had dirty eyes all night. They were confused, especially in zone coverage, which we knew was a weakness. But on a few of the explosive runs and gains, it was strictly on them—going the wrong way, over-pursuing, not reading their keys well. Yeah, they made tackles, but for the most part, the linebackers were a non-factor. Anthony Hill got a sack, but from this unit, I wanted and needed to see more because we knew where Ohio State would attack. David Gbenda (why did he get benched again?) made an absolutely phenomenal play on the interception, reading the quarterback’s eyes as Ohio State started pressing and wanted to get the ball to Jeremiah Smith. But outside of that, I didn’t see much.

Secondary:

Everyone was talking about the highly anticipated matchup versus Jeremiah Smith and the Ohio State receivers—who they held to one catch for three yards, by the way. I thought they executed their game plan masterfully. They were in tight coverage for most of the night versus Ohio State receivers. They made Carnell Tate, the third option, beat them (still a 5-star) as they took away Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith. Shout out to Coach PK for a great game plan—being able to keep the two-high safety look most of the night and still stop the run.

The only negative thing I have to say about the secondary is the missed tackles. I thought they gave up yards after the catch, which they normally don’t do. But for the most part, they played their butts off with sticky coverage, swarming to the football, and giving it their all all night.

Special Teams:

Special teams was a quiet night outside of the heart flutter Silas Bolden gave us on the punt return where we thought he might return it, then he fumbled. It was a very quiet night, which is okay. That means they didn’t cost us the game or put Texas in bad situations. And even in the second half, UT kind of flipped field position and won that battle.

Overall:

We learned Texas is a defensive team, and the defense was the one that was going to carry the Horns all the way to the national championship. Unfortunately, the team Texas faced is also a defensive team, who just happens to have a little bit better of an offense. This team fought hard. This team left it all on the field. This team will be remembered for how they played as a complete unit.

Let’s attack the offseason.