The 2026 College Football Season has started with a bang. Week one featured the controversial Western Michigan loss to Michigan. Week two delivered one of the season’s premier games, as No. 1 Ohio State traveled to Texas to face the No. 4 Longhorns.
On the first series of plays, Texas QB Arch Manning threw a backward screen pass to teammate Raleek Brown, who caught it and, in the process of getting tackled for a 4-yard loss, exacerbated the failed play by coughing up the ball on a vicious hit by the OSU tacklers. The Buckeyes had great field position after the splash play but were held to just a field goal by the Texas defense.
Just a few minutes later, Texas had a promising drive when Arch launched a great pass to a wide-open Cam Coleman who, while stretching out in a dive to catch it, hit the ground and the impact jarred the ball from his hands straight into the covering Ohio State DB Jaylen McClain. Quarterback Juliain Sayin then led a Buckeye drive that was capped off with a rugged Jackson 8-yard touchdown run.
Texas came back with a field goal to cut the lead to 10-3, but another OSU kick and a failed fourth-down attempt by the ‘Horns with less than a minute in the first half gave Ohio State the ball at midfield. Sayin and company took advantage as the young Ohio State QB found all-world wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, and the visitors took a 20-3 halftime lead, stunning the home crowd.
The third quarter was basically a stalemate, except for a Buckeye field goal to extend the lead; in the fourth, young Arch may have found some of the Manning Magic.
Arch and company reeled off 21 unanswered points as Coach Sarkisian got more aggressive on offense and defense. They pressured Julian Sayin relentlessly from all angles. Texas took chances, converting a 4th-and-9 from the 42-yard line, and the burnt orange started to believe in themselves and a comeback.
ESPN says that this is the second-largest comeback in University of Texas football history. Still, I think many may look at this rally, down 20 points in the fourth quarter against the nation’s top-ranked teams, as a springboard to greater things and one of College Football’s greatest games.
