playDave WilsonSep 14, 2026, 03:14 PM ETCloseDave Wilson is a college football reporter. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsAUSTIN, Texas — After a dramatic 24-23 comeback victory over then-No. 1 Ohio State, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday that the Buckeyes should be rewarded for playing a marquee matchup in a nonconference game.”I hope Ohio State does not get punished for that game Saturday night. They played a heck of a game. I mean, it’s 24-23, they lose to us scoring with 25 seconds to go in the game,” Sarkisian said.
“I hope if they end up being a 9-3 team, the committee can appreciate the fact that they came to Austin, Texas, in September when it was 100 degrees and played us in that environment and played a heck of a game.”Last year, with a College Football Playoff spot on the line late in the season, Sarkisian said he believed the Longhorns shouldn’t have been punished for their 14-7 loss to the Buckeyes early in the season.”Ohio State should be rewarded for playing in this game against us,” Sarkisian said Monday. “Time will tell. And this isn’t crying over spilled milk. I don’t think we got rewarded for going to Columbus last year in Week 1.
Hopefully, this year they reward Ohio State for coming and playing in this game with us.”Ohio State fell to No. 6 in The Associated Press’ Top 25 following the loss.Sarkisian reiterated that he does not know how Ohio State’s season will unfold and that the conversation will be moot if the Buckeyes go 11-1. He said that he seeks to play in big games and that he knows the Texas “brand” means teams and television networks will want the school in marquee matchups, and he added that he has a locker room full of players who come to Austin to do so.”That’s why you come to Texas, to play in these big games,” Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning said Monday. “I think it helps our team, builds confidence that we can win in any way. We can be down, we can be not playing well, but we can find ways to win.
I think that’s what builds confidence in those big games.”After his team scored 21 points in the final quarter for the win, Manning sprinted across the field in celebration as the final seconds ticked off.”That was the most fun ending to a game I’ve ever had,” he said. “I did not know what to do. I was just running around.”Sarkisian’s message was that these heavyweight fights should be considered a strength rather than hurting the teams that lose.”Everybody loves those matchups,” Sarkisian said. “Well, if we want to continue with those matchups, we’ve got to reward the teams for playing in those games … because if they don’t reward them for playing in the game, then all of us start playing FCS, [Group of] 6, and then I don’t think that’s the product that we want in college football.”But the CFP committee makes these games a gamble.”We’re not the NFL where it’s all based on, ‘What’s your record?
Who did you beat?'” he said. “You make the playoffs based off of opinions of others, essentially, unless you win your conference.”After the win, the Longhorns ascended to No. 1 in this week’s AP poll, the third season in a row in which Texas has hit that mark. But Sarkisian said the Longhorns are aware that it does not matter two games into the season.”A week ago, the narrative was we can’t win the big game,” Sarkisian said. “How are we going to beat Ohio State?
What are we going to do? Now we’re the best team in the country allegedly and everybody’s patting us on the back. Two polar opposites of where we are. We need to stay right here, and we need to stay enamored with what we need to do.”
