First-half defensive stops by Texas set up second-half comeback

· Yahoo Sports

AUSTIN, TX - SEPTEMBER 12: Matthew McConaughey on the field after the Texas Longhorns win the college football game the Texas Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes on September 12, 2026, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, TX. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

AUSTIN, Texas — “I don’t know if we could have played a worse first half.”

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After the Texas Longhorns committed two turnovers in their first five plays from scrimmage in Saturday’s eventual comeback win against the Ohio State Buckeyes and entered halftime trailing 20-3 with an eight-percent win probability, according to ESPN, head coach Steve Sarkisian’s post-game assessment was hardly incorrect.

But it also didn’t do justice to the importance of three red-zone stops for the Longhorns in the first half — the sudden-change effort to hold the Buckeyes to a 26-yard field goal after fifth-year running back Raleek Brown fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, a run stuff on a 4th and 2 from the Texas 13-yard line early in the second quarter, and the hold to force a 30-yard field goal with 1:41 remaining in the first half.

Defensive stops in the red zone render touchdown rates in that area of the field one of the most important stats in football with persistent failures to score inside the 20-yard line defining many of the biggest losses of the Sarkisian era in Austin.

It’s the reason why the Longhorns — and teams around the country — run red-zone lockout drills in practice to hone both sides of the ball, awarding defenses four points for holding the offense to a field goal or six points for a turnover on downs as the opposing sides battle to a target score.

So a red-zone lockout drill would grant the Texas defense 14 points for the first-half stops. Games don’t work that way, but the lost opportunities to score more points make a difference.

Had Ohio State head coach Ryan Day opted to kick a field goal instead of go for the fourth down — a decision that would almost certainly be at odds with “The Book,” the analytics binder that all coaches now use to guide situational decision-making — even those three points would have pushed the comeback from the realm of improbable towards impossible.

Any more points and the Longhorns would have needed to pull off one of the greatest miracles in college football history.

“Red zone is essentially everything,” Texas fifth-year defensive tackle Hero Kanu said on Monday. “If you get to the red zone, okay, cool, but are you going to score the points?”

Beyond red-zone lockout drills, the Horns drill sudden-change situations on Wednesdays all year long.

“We come out of stretch and the first thing we do is a sudden-change drill and we spot the ball at the 18-yard line, so I don’t think it was foreign for our players on defense to go out and play the way they played that first drive,” Sarkisian said.

On that drive, the Buckeyes initially looked poise to punch the ball right through the middle of the Longhorns defense as Bo Jackson followed up a nine-yard run with a five-yard effort down to the 4-yard line.

Then Will Muschamp’s group received a major assist from new Ohio State offensive coordinator Arthur Brown, who apparently either missed the College Football Playoff semifinal between the Horns and Buckeyes when he was the offensive coordinator of the Pittsburg Steelers or took the absolute wrong lessons from Steve Sarkisian’s disastrous decision to run a toss sweep near the goal line because the result was the same for Ohio State as it was for Texas 19 months ago — Jackson lost nine yards when Brad Spence won off the edge to inflict the monumental tackle for loss.

And while tight end Mason Williams was able to get six of those yards back, the decision to target nickel back Graceson Littleton led to a third-down incompletion even with Jeremiah Smith as the intended receiver.

That’s a no-fly zone even for the best player in college football.

Late in the first quarter, a 10-yard sack of Arch Manning concluded a three and out for Texas in poor field position, allowing Ohio State to start its possession across midfield after a 16-yard punt return by Brandon Inniss.

Steadily down to the 21-yard line, an incompletion by Julian Sayin put the Buckeyes behind the chains before matching four-yard runs by Jackson set up the critical 4th and 2.

Smith tried to run right at Texas, calling a slice zone out of 13 personnel. In summing up how the play unfolded, Kanu delivered the same message the Longhorns did on the field.

“Access denied.”

Such a crucial play is no time for freelancing.

“It’s obviously team effort — everybody’s got to be in the right position to make the play and we’ve got to trust each other to make the play when your number is called,” Kanu added.

Sarkisian credited the play to the defense’s collective will.

The key initial effort came from defensive tackle Alex January with a swim move to create the penetration that stopped the forward momentum of the 218-pound Jackson, allowing enough time for four Texas defenders to help make the tackle, officially credited to Kanu and safety Jelani McDonald.

Showing its first signs of playing complementary football, the Texas offense responded by driving 69 yards on 16 plays, falling short of a touchdown when wide receiver Ryan Wingo dropped a 30-yard touchdown pass and the Longhorns were forced to settle for a 37-yard field goal.

Back on defense, Smith was able to isolate Smith on safety Derek Williams, who got put in a spin cycle on a 43-yard gain for the Ohio State standout. A 19-yard reception by Inniss moved the Buckeyes into the red zone as the defensive line finally started to put some pressure on Sayin with edge Colin Simmons flashing on an eight-yard sack after a run stuff by defensive end Zina Umeozulu and cornerback Kade Phillips.

Sarkisian often cites the improved maturity from Simmons when discussing his star pass rusher, but the ability to add some secondary moves to his elite speed rush is evidence of the Duncanville product becoming a more complete player.

Way behind the chains, Smith settled for a screen pass to Jackson to shorten the field-goal attempt for Connor Hawkins to 30 yards.

The three stops highlighted a first half in which the defense gave up 240 yards on 6.5 yards per play with all five explosive plays coming through the air as Muschamp’s unit struggled to play a less aggressive brand of football. Linebackers struggled to re-route receivers like Smith, allowing them easy access to space to exploit safeties, and the box count wasn’t favorable to stop the run because of the two-deep shell that also proved ineffective at limiting the Ohio State aerial attack.

But there’s also the reality that total yardage is a misleading stat that takes a back seat to the supremacy of red-zone touchdown rate, the area of defensive success that gave the Longhorns a chance heading into halftime.

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