A night of blown opportunities for the No. 4 Ohio State football team Saturday might have killed any opportunity the team has to reach its ultimate goal: a national championship.
A series of miscues and close calls kept No. 2 Texas in the game long enough for the Longhorns to take a late lead and beat the Buckeyes 25-22 in Ohio Stadium.
Senior tight end Ryan Hamby dropped a touchdown pass, senior place-kicker Josh Huston missed a 50-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and junior safety Antonio Smith missed a tackle for a safety for the Buckeyes (1-1).
“(It’s) disappointing that we had many opportunities and didn’t cash in on enough to win,” coach Jim Tressel said.
The heavily-anticipated night game drew a rowdy stadium-record crowd of 105,565 in a back-and-forth game that saw Texas (2-0) jump out to an early 10-0 lead but have to spend the entire second half battling back.
Texas junior quarterback Vince Young found sophomore wide receiver Limas Sweed for a 24-yard touchdown pass to give Texas a 23-22 lead with 2:37 left to give the Longhorns the lead for good. Sweed got between OSU junior cornerback Ashton Youboty and senior safety Nate Salley and made a difficult catch for the first touchdown catch of his career.
“It’s a great feel, you know, but it just goes back to practice,” Sweed said. “We do it every day in practice, so it wasn’t really nothing.”
“I didn’t buy (Salley) enough time to get over the top and (Sweed) just made a play,” Youboty said.
On OSU’s ensuing drive, junior quarterback Justin Zwick was stripped by Texas sophomore safety Drew Kelson after scrambling out of the pocket. The Longhorns drove to the one-yard line, where they were stopped with 25 seconds left. On the next play, OSU’s other quarterback, junior Troy Smith, was sacked for a safety. The Buckeyes could not recover the onside kick.
The alternating of quarterbacks seen in the final two series was symbolic of the game as a whole. Zwick started for OSU and was 9-for-15 for 66 yards. Smith, returning from a two-game suspension, was 5-for-11 for 78 yards and connected with junior flanker Santonio Holmes for a 36-yard touchdown in the second quarter. On the other side of the ball, Young, Texas’ threat both on the ground and in the air, was 19-for-28 for 270 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and added 76 yards on the ground.
Zwick was on the field for three of the Buckeyes’ 22 points, while Smith engineered scores on his first five drives, often taking advantage of good field position. Despite that, Zwick came on for the Buckeyes’ late drive that ended with his fumble.
“We just thought that was the best way to go right at that point,” Tressel said.
Texas led 10-0 after the first quarter, thanks to a field goal by senior kicker David Pino and a five-yard touchdown catch by sophomore wide receiver Billy Pittman. OSU’s comeback began with a long kickoff return by Holmes, and Smith entered to lead a short drive that ended in Huston’s first field goal of the day. The next drive, the Buckeyes went 80 yards in nine plays, with the drive ending on Holmes’ touchdown.
“Being in that situation, knowing we needed a big play, I just told my quartebrack ‘Put it up and I’ll make a play on it,'” Holmes said.
On the ensuing kickoff, Texas sophomore running back Ramonce Taylor took Huston’s kickoff in the end zone, touched the goal line, and then thought about downing it. Antonio Smith, who plays only special teams, then wrapped Taylor up in the end zone for a sure safety, but Taylor escaped the tackle and brought the ball out to the Texas 35-yard line.
Senior linebacker A. J. Hawk then picked off an errant pass by Young to start OSU at the Longhorns’ 18-yard line, but the Buckeyes could add only a field goal. Hawk recovered a fumble on the next Texas drive as well, but again, the Buckeyes would have to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Huston. Pino would add a field goal before two seconds before halftime.
Salley incepted Young on Texas’ first drive of the second half, and Smith directed the team to another field goal. After Texas answered with a field goal by Pino, Zwick drove the Buckeyes to a third-and-goal at the 8-yard lne and found Hamby wide open in the end zone, but the senior bobbled the ball and lost it after being hit by Texas senior cornerback Cedric Griffin.
“Not one play is going to lose a game for you,” Zwick said.
Huston added his fifth field goal of the day to make it 22-16, a margin that would hold until Sweed’s touchdown. Huston had a chance to make it a two-possession game with 5:00 left, but his 50-yard attempt sailed just inches wide right.
“I think it would have been big, but like I told Josh, I’m not as disappointed with a miss there as we didn’t get them closer,” Tressel said. “Josh Huston should feel very good about his performance.”
Huston finished 5-of-6 on field goals, making kicks of 45, 36, 25, 44 and 26 yards.
In all, OSU started four drives inside Texas’ 40-yard line and settled for field goals every time.
“We should have went in and scored more points,” Holmes said. “In clutch situations, when you’re in the red zone, you have to score touchdowns.”
In all, Zwick was the quarterback for six drives, and Smith for seven.
“The rotation really went out the window after the first quarter,” Zwick said. “(The coaches) started going with who they wanted to, and that’s fine. You have to be ready to go whenever you’re needed to respond.”
Hawk finished with 12 tackles and two sacks. Holmes caught four balls for 73 yards, and OSU sophomore tailback Antonio Pittman finished with 75 yards on 17 carries. Billy Pittman led Texas with five catches and 130 yards.
It was just the second time Tressel has lost a non-conference game at OSU and the school’s first non-conference loss at home since a loss in 1990 to Southern Cal. The Buckeyes will try and start a new streak Saturday against San Diego State. The 2005 class of the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame will be honored at halftime of the game.
