Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is facing an avalanche of criticism after his disastrous play call on the 1-yard line against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Longhorns had battled back to tie the game at 14, and despite an Ohio State touchdown, Texas was driving with a chance to even the score.
Marching to the Buckeyes’ 1-yard line, momentum was clearly on their side. Then, the wheels came off thanks in large part to Sarkisian’s inexplicable 2nd-down play call.
On 2nd-and-goal, Sarkisian opted for a lateral toss play from quarterback Quinn Ewers to running back Quintrevion Wisner.
The result? A devastating seven-yard loss.
The next two plays sealed Texas’ fate: a third-down incompletion and a fourth-down strip sack on Ewers, which Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer returned for a game-sealing touchdown.
To recap: 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line…
-1st down: Run no gain.
-2nd down: Run toss for -7 yards.
-3rd down: Incomplete pass.
-4th: QB sack, strip, defensive touchdown.
Of course, many fans have questioned why Sarkisian didn’t utilize backup quarterback Arch Manning, who is known for his dual-threat abilities in short-yardage situations.
Facing the heat, Sarkisian attempted to explain the rationale behind his disastrous play call.
“We ran it and obviously didn’t get much improvement at all,” he said. “That’s one of those plays where if you block it all right, you get in the end zone and we didn’t, and we lose quite a bit of yards, and at that point, you’re kind of stuck behind the eight ball.”
But the explanation did little to quell the frustration of fans, who had already endured a similarly disappointing playoff exit last season.
For many, the loss to Ohio State felt like a squandered opportunity in what had been a promising season.
This marks the second consecutive year Texas fell one win short of a National Championship berth.
While the Longhorns showed progress throughout the regular season, the failure to capitalize on key moments in high-stakes games has become a recurring theme under Sarkisian’s leadership.
It should be noted that FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt attempted to defend Sark’s controversial play call.
“Everybody on social media is going to take off on that play call. Everyone’s going to say Steve Sarkisian cannot do that, there’s no way he can do that. But, I would just offer this as a glimmer of a defense of Steve Sarkisian,” Klatt said on his Joel Klatt Show podcast.
“The game plan is built based on the film that he has watched. The film that he has watched suggests that he cannot run the football between the tackles and score against Ohio State.
“He tries it on first down and there’s nothing there. So on second down, with that in mind, I understand the toss sweep. Having said that, as a player that got these play calls signaled into him and had to give them in the huddle, I despise toss sweep in short-yardage situations. Despise it.
“It’s like being in the shot-gun in these situations. The ball goes 5 yards backwards, intentionally. So a play-call that has the opportunity to lose that many yards, in that situation, that’s a tough pill to swallow. It’s the fourth quarter. You may not get another possession.”
Needless to say, Sarkisian is facing a mountain of criticism over that play call.
While Sark certainly has the Texas program trending in the right direction, the fact of the matter is the Cotton Bowl loss to Ohio State was a brutal pill to swallow. Especially with the game taking place in Arlington.
We all know that Sark’s job in Austin is currently safe, especially with Manning set to take over under center next season.
Having said that, was that one single play call so bad that it put Sarkisian on the hot seat for 2025???
