Sarkisian Speaks on How Penalties Hurt Texas in Loss to Ohio State

 After Texas lost to Ohio State on Saturday, 14-7, there have been many concerns and questions raised about some coaches, players, and certain plays. One area that’s been in question after Saturday has been the discipline.

The Longhorns struggled throughout the game to maintain discipline and avoid getting penalized. When you look at the stats and see the final statistics, six penalties for 50 yards, it doesn’t immediately look that bad. However, when you see that Ohio State only had two for 15 yards, it becomes immediately apparent that Texas lost the discipline battle head-to-head.

But the issue becomes even worse when you take a deeper look at the issue as a whole, when and how they happened, and what they ultimately led to by the end of each drive, like a touchdown.

The first time that the penalties immediately became apparent was during the first drive of the second quarter. Steve Sarkisian took the time to address the issue on Monday.

“I do think penalties were an issue. It wasn’t so much the amount of the penalties, it was the timing of the penalties,” Sarkisian said. “Think about it, we have a third-and-4 and we get a stop, and they’re probably in a punt mode because of the nature of the game. And then we get a hand to the face on a pass rush, which extends the drive. Then we get a pass interference penalty that extends the drive, and they ultimately score a touchdown.”

What Sarkisian is talking about here is when Ohio State was driving downfield on the first drive of the second quarter. On a third down, Texas manages to get the stop on the pass deflection. However, it was called back because of the aforementioned hands-to-the-face penalty, which gave the Buckeyes the first down and allowed them to continue the drive.

After that, the Buckeyes were in a second-and-9 situation. Ohio State QB Julian Sayin attempted a pass, which then fell incomplete and would have forced a third-and-long, but a pass interference set Ohio State up with a first down. The Buckeyes were then situated at the 18-yard line and scored a touchdown six plays later.

The timing of the penalties was the worst part of the defense throughout the game. The penalties themselves weren’t terrible without context; it’s just the circumstances under which they were committed that made them bad.

“So, 30 yards in penalties on the one touchdown drive,” Sarkisian said. “Then we have an opportunity to really pin them deep in their own end and possibly get a safety, and we get another hands to the face rushing the quarterback, which negated a safety.”

It was yet another drive that could have killed the Buckeyes’ momentum, given Texas a couple of points, as well as the ball, which could have given the Longhorns the momentum they needed to go down and score to take the lead.

Instead, the penalty killed the defensive momentum that Texas had in the moment and let Ohio State maintain possession of the ball. It was even an issue on the offensive side of the ball, too, as Sarkisian mentioned.

“So ultimately, two fouls, which kind of equated to points,” Sarkisian said. “Offensively, same thing, we have a false start on a third and five, which knocks us back to a third and ten, which ultimately we have to punt and pin them deep again.”

Most of the penalties did occur on the defensive side of the ball, but they weren’t nonexistent on the offensive side either. On both sides of the ball, penalties killed momentum and allowed for the Buckeyes’ success.

Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns will need to ensure that they work on this through practice and instill the discipline needed to be successful on the field, penalty-free, for future games.

The Longhorns will look to bounce back this Saturday when they take on the San Jose State Spartans in DKR. The game will kick off at 11 AM CT on ABC as No. 7 Texas is currently favored by 36.5 points.