A Tale of Two Halves

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.

“We won the first three quarters but lost the fourth.”

Ryan Day, A Tale of Two Halves.

Block. Tackle. Take care of the football. That’s the simple formula for winning football games.

The Buckeyes did that in the first half. The Longhorns didn’t.

The result at halftime: OSU 20, Texas 3.

In 100-degree Austin, Texas gametime heat, Ohio State turned up the temperature immediately after they won the coin flip.

True freshman cornerback Jay Timmons pulled the hat-trick by tackling a Longhorns receiver, stripping him of the ball, and recovering it on the very first play. Jaylen McClain gathered a fortuitous interception on the Longhorns’ next drive on a ball that bounced off Texas wideout Cam Cameron’s chest inside the OSU 15-yard-line. The Buckeyes turned both turnovers into points to take a 10-0 lead.

Jeremiah Smith looked like a player created for Tecmo Bowl, unstoppable and an unfair advantage for his team. He finished the half with 6 receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown.

Julian Sayin was 12 of 16 for 192 yards and a touchdown throwing primarily to the unstoppable one.

The offensive line looked solid. The kicking game was reliable.

Safety Earl Little, Jr. had seven total tackles, five solo and seemed to be everywhere on defense.

The Buckeyes did not commit a turnover and put up 240 total yards to the Longhorns’ 97.

Note: In the second quarter, Ohio State decided to go for a first down on 4th and 2 from the Texas 13-yard-line and failed. I typed in my notes: “How big will that play turn out to be?”

It didn’t seem to matter at the time. The Buckeyes defense, helped by an inconsistent Longhorns offense, appeared to have things under control.

After halftime, Connor Hawkins hit his third field goal of the day to push the OSU lead to 23-3. Texas still couldn’t move the ball.

Then the worst of times began for Ohio State as the fourth quarter started.

The Buckeyes offense was suddenly conservative and impotent, racking up three-and-outs and forcing its defense to spend way too much time on the field. After the dominant first half, OSU managed 132 yards the rest of the way.

In the second half, The Longhorns turned Sayin (5/16, 86 yards) and Smith (2 catches, 54 yards) into one-half wonders. The Buckeyes scored three points the final thirty minutes of the game.

Arch Manning suddenly turned into a version of his grandfather, college football hall of famer and longtime NFL quarterback Archie Manning. Texas exploded for three touchdowns, gaining 239 second-half yards…most of which were in the fourth quarter.

Ohio State looked timid on offense and exhausted on defense as Texas turned three quarters of the worst of times into a flurry of the best of times.

The Buckeyes still had a shot late in the fourth quarter, but a Hawkins 45-yard field goal attempt missed to the left.

4:16 remained in the game. Manning and company used 3:51 of that time on a 12-play coffin-nailing drive for the game’s final score.

Honestly, I’m still trying to process this loss nearly twelve hours after it happened. During the game, I experienced the shift of emotions Augustus Gloop must have felt when he saw Willy Wonka’s chocolate river, then fell in and got stuck in a suction pipe….to the delight of the Oompa Loompas (Ohio State haters like my former friend and Connor Stalions disciple Andy Hannan). Just kidding about the “former friend” thing. Kinda.

Enjoy the moment my ex-pal.

But losses have historically ignited the Buckeyes like nothing else could. And the coaches and this young roster, which faces many more tests in the near future, just learned a valuable lesson.

Never, ever take your foot off the gas.

O – H!