By admin 
AUSTIN – Hard enough to beat the No. 1 team in the nation when you don’t spot them 10 points before you so much as break a sweat, as Texas did Saturday before a crowd of 105,044 Saturday at Royal-Memorial Stadium, the third-largest in school history.
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The result is that you’re forced to do something out of the ordinary, maybe even historic.
Believe it or not, Arch Manning and the Longhorns had it in them, rallying from a 20-point deficit going into the fourth quarter for a 24-23 win that redefined Texas’ hopes, which had been all but lost through three quarters.
Hollywood Smothers’ leap from the 1-yard line with 25 seconds left in the game gave Texas its first win over a No. 1 team in 18 years.
The Longhorns might have awakened some echoes a couple years older, as well.
Here are five takeaways from Texas’ biggest win of the decade:
Sark’s slow start, fast finish
Steve Sarkisian updated his signature win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 2023 with an even better one against Ohio State, but it didn’t start out very promising. Texas’ first two possessions ended with a fumble on the game’s first play, giving Ohio State the ball in the red zone, and an interception by the Buckeyes’ Jaylen McClain, who, until the ball popped out of Cam Coleman’s hands, looked to be beaten for a 40-yard gain.
Before it was over, Sark went for it on fourth down twice from his side of the field, once on a fourth-and-9, and came up with touchdowns on both drives.
Sark, who was 0-2 against Ryan Day going into the game, outwitted his counterpart, who eschewed a field goal attempt that would have put the game out of reach. Day also made the mistake of letting Texas bleed the clock on its winning drive.
Fourth-quarter Arch
In Ohio State’s 14-7 win over Texas last year, Arch Manning went into the fourth quarter with just 38 yards passing, leading to a narrative that Julian Sayin outplayed him badly. The final numbers said otherwise and Saturday, as well.
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Manning passed for 132 yards in the fourth quarter last year, and he made a similar run Saturday. After passing for 76 yards in the first three quarters, he finished with 177 in Texas’ comeback win.
Texas history against No. 1
Going into the game, Texas had just five wins over No. 1-ranked teams in the program’s 133-year history, the last a 41-35 upset of Oklahoma on Oct. 11, 2008 at the State Fair.
The rest:
– Jan. 4, 2006 – Texas 41, USC 38 at the Rose Bowl.
– Jan. 1, 1965 – Texas 21, Alabama 17 in the Orange Bowl.
– Oct. 12, 1963 – Texas 28, Oklahoma 7 at the State Fair.
– Nov. 4, 1950 – Texas 23, SMU 20 in Austin.
– Texas is 7-9 against Top 10 teams in Sark’s tenure.
Who’s No. 1?
Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State’s 6-4, 222-pound receiver, enjoys a reputation as the best athlete in the nation, though there had been a question going into Saturday’s game of whether he was the best receiver on the field.
Smith, or Texas’ Cam Coleman?
Smith answered the question unequivocally with eight catches for 164 yards and a touchdown. Not only did Coleman, the 6-3, 204-pound transfer from Auburn, manage just two catches for 19 yards, he coughed up what would have been a 40-yard reception in the first quarter that went down as an interception.
On a 43-yard completion to Smith in the third quarter, Texas was in single coverage with its fourth-best cornerback.
Message to Will Muschamp, Texas new/old defensive coordinator: If NFL defenses won’t try to single-cover Smith, you shouldn’t either.
Curse lifted?
Ted Cruz, the junior senator from Texas, visited ESPN’s GameDay set at DKR, which was not a good omen for the Longhorns. Going into the game, teams that hosted Cruz were 3-19 since 2017.
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