Texas Rallies Past No. 1 Ohio State in Largest Comeback Ever Against a Top-Ranked Team
The short version
- Texas came back from 23-3 down in the fourth quarter to beat No. 1 Ohio State, the largest comeback ever against a top-ranked team.
- The game drew 14 million viewers, ESPN's most-watched regular-season college football game in 10 years.
- Arch Manning is in his second year as Texas's starting quarterback.
- Texas has the No. 5 remaining strength of schedule, with eight of 12 games against Top 25 teams.
The Longhorns erased a 23-3 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Buckeyes in a game that drew ESPN's biggest regular-season college football audience in a decade.
The Texas Longhorns defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes with a fourth-quarter rally that stands as the largest comeback victory ever recorded against a No. 1-ranked team. Texas trailed 23-3 entering the final period before completing the turnaround.
The matchup, played for the second straight year as the biggest early-season game on the college football schedule, drew 14 million viewers on ESPN. According to Adam Schefter, that made it the network's most-watched regular-season college football game in 10 years.
Arch Manning, now in his second season as Texas's starting quarterback, leads an offense featuring running backs Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown and wide receiver Cam Coleman. The defense is coordinated by Will Muschamp, who joined the Longhorns after serving on Georgia's staff, where he was part of two national title runs.
Texas faces a demanding road the rest of the way. The Longhorns' remaining strength of schedule ranks No. 5 nationally, with only two of their nine remaining games against currently unranked opponents. One of those is the rivalry game against Oklahoma, which was ranked until the latest AP Poll.
Texas finished No. 13 in last season's final AP Poll and missed the playoff despite three losses, two of which came against teams that earned top-three playoff seeds.
