Longhorns Looking for Revenge After Last Year’s Postseason Loss to Ohio State

 As the Longhorns entered the week of Aug. 25, they officially entered the week of their top-3 matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes, a rematch from the College Football Playoff semifinals from last year, when Texas lost 28-14.

It should be a game that every college football fan should remember, and one that Texas fans hope they can soon forget and move past, given the heartbreaking circumstances of the last-game loss.

After falling victim to Washington in a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals of the playoffs the year before, Texas entered the game with high hopes of finally reaching heights that the program hadn’t seen since 2005.

Texas finished the 2024 regular season with an 11-1 record, led by quarterback Quinn Ewers at the helm. The Longhorns had an extremely successful season, with only the Georgia Bulldogs giving them trouble along the way.

A SEC Championship Game appearance ended in disappointment for the Longhorns after the Bulldogs beat Texas for the second time that season, but the Longhorns still managed a playoff berth.

After beating Clemson 38-24 in the First Round, which was played at DKR, the Longhorns faced an Arizona State team on a Cinderella run. But the Horns still prevailed after some struggles, beating the Sun Devils 39-31 in a second overtime.

Then came the Buckeyes. Although Arizona State gave the Longhorns a tough run in the end, it still felt as though Texas had the momentum, confidence, and skill to beat a Buckeyes team that went 10-2 in the regular season.

After some back-and-forth action through the game, the Longhorns found themselves in a fourth-and-goal situation at the eight-yard line, down 14-21. It was the chance for the Longhorns to tie, and possibly take control of the game.

Ewers took the snap, but in what felt like an instant, he was hit in the backfield and stripped of the ball. The ball was picked up by the Buckeyes and returned for a touchdown, giving Ohio State a 28-14 lead.

On the next drive, Ewers threw an interception, effectively sealing the victory for the Buckeyes. The clock ran out, and the 28-14 score was finalized, allowing the Buckeyes to play in the national championship.

The Longhorns made the trip back to Austin while the Buckeyes went on to win the national title.

But now, as the 2025 season begins, Texas has the chance to kick the season off with a revenge victory against the No. 3 team in the country, and more importantly, regain the all-time lead against Ohio State.

“As far as the ballgame goes, pretty epic matchup when you think of 1 vs. 2 in at least one of the two major polls for the first game of the season. It’s great for college football in my opinion,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said.

Both teams will be entering the season with new faces at quarterback: Texas with Arch Manning and Ohio State with Julian Sayin. Both teams have lost key players, but they have also reloaded, and only time will tell which team has the talent to prevail.

“I think doing it with confidence, knowing that adversity will strike, and then having a next-play mentality, having the mental toughness to persevere,” Sarkisian said. “But mostly it’s staying connected. It’s staying connected on the sidelines, being enamored with what we need to do, and not getting so caught up in what’s going on around us.”

Ohio State does have the advantage this time, playing at The Shoe, but Texas is a strong team that has won in environments like Michigan Stadium and Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. The Longhorns can’t let the crowd get to them.

“Naturally, this is a tall task. We talked about this at length before the season, but we’ve got a tough road slate this year,” Sarkisian said. It serves us good to have to go on the road early, find out about ourselves, find out where we’re at as a program, where we can improve, and where we can continue to get better because we’re going to travel more than any other SEC team this year.”

Fans can expect relatively young offenses for both teams, while strong, experienced defenses are likely to be the stars of the show when the game kicks off at 11 AM CT on FOX this Saturday.