The burnt orange train eventually came to a halt at a scarlet-red stoplight. It was actually losing steam down the stretch anyway, but it finally met its match. Zoom out and the Texas Longhorns’ overall season is a difficult one to assess. Zoom in, and the same is true for their CFP semifinal loss, too. One glaring mistake on a certain 2nd and goal in the dying embers stands out. However, there was more to why Steve Sarkisian and Co. lost to the Buckeyes.

The game began like every Ohio State playoff game has. A stop on defense and a quick 7-0 lead. What transpired there on out was a testament to Texas’ resilience. They kept the OSU juggernaut down to 14 right until that fateful sequence in the 4th quarter. Steve Sarkisian called a convoluted jet-sweep instead of trying to punch it in from the 1-yard line to make it 21-21. The Longhorns actually lost yardage and, more importantly, all their momentum. 

3rd and relatively long was stopped, and then 4th down resulted in a strip sack for a house call on the opposite end. Jack Sawyers didn’t just snatch the football, he snatched Sark’s reverence within the Texas faithful. Hindsight is 20/20, but even without it, everyone was in unison thinking Steve Sarkisian blew that game with his untimely play-call. It is a fair rationale, perhaps, but it’s not simply white or black like that. There are more overarching issues that caused the Longhorns’ dreams to be seized, and Joel Klatt has leveraged his opinion on them.

In an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Klatt seemed to imply Texas even getting to the 4th quarter on an even keel was massive. Klatt thoroughly laid out his entire assessment. “I thought that Texas’ path in that game was narrow, even as talented as they were. Ohio State has a better defense than Texas has seen…their offense can play at a level higher than Texas, as seen all season long.” he discerned. “It was going to be a very specific way that Texas had to win. Guess what? It was happening. Ohio State did not play well offensively and kept shooting themselves in the foot.” 

The Texas defense has been stout every step of the way, and there’s no taking away from them. But OSU kept garnering penalties offensively. Joel Klatt pointed to there being four 2nd and 20 scenarios for the Buckeyes, which is too much to overcome especially against a secondary of the Longhorns’ ilk. Klatt then proceeded to point to the crux of Texas’ issues in the game. No,  It wasn’t Steve Sarkisian.

Steve Sarkisian deserves blame for the loss, but there were deeper issues to contend with

Rival fans take every opportunity to tell you Ohio State has paid its way to a great roster. There is a consensus acknowledgment that Ryan Day has the best talent. So when you lose to them, it’s important to keep this in perspective. “[Texas] finally figured out Ohio State’s defense. Namely, throwing to the backs into that short side, and they made it a game. So here it is, you’ve executed a blueprint that is a very narrow path.” said Klatt. Remember, Texas was shortchanged on the flanks. WR1 Matthew Golden exited the game with an injury for a large chunk of time. Sarkisian had to resort to calling more dinks and dunks for Quinn Ewers than he’d have liked. He just didn’t have the personnel to exploit the OSU secondary. Klatt then addressed the elephant in the room.

“Texas had done everything right. They put themselves in a position to win, and they still don’t win. Why? Well, because Ohio State has playmakers and people that make plays all over the field, both units…that’s tough to overcome.” That goal-line stand was a microcosm of this discrepancy in “playmakers” between the two teams. Caleb Downs made a crucial TFL on 2nd down, Jack Sawyer tipped a pass and then caused a strip-sack on 3rd and 4th down. So what does all this boil down to?

Steve Sarkisian was in a mismatch, fellas. He cannot be absolved of that egregious play-call. His team had overcome a difference in roster quality to make it that far. His fingerprints are all over that loss. However, he was also part of the good stuff happening for 50-something minutes of that ballgame. Without Matthew Golden, Sark was battling a short-changed playbook. It all, unfortunately, culminated in a lapse of judgment in the biggest moment. Now, he’s lost Golden for good, as well as WR2 Isaiah Bond, to the NFL. Sarkisian will need to go back to the drawing board and rethink some stuff. But most importantly, build another roster that can hang with the creme de la creme.