Ohio State Buckeyes safety Lathan Ransom (8) tackles Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (26) near the goal line in the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl Classic during the College Football Playoff semifinal game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on January, 10, 2025. Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas Longhorns Players Explain Goal-Line Stop vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

Originally posted on Texas Longhorns on SI
By Harrison Reno | Last updated Jan 11, 2025 6:12 PM ET

The Texas Longhorns fell just short of advancing to their first CFP National Championship game for the second year in a row, losing 28-14 to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. And while the final score may not indicate, the Longhorns were a yard away from potentially sending the game to overtime late in the fourth quarter.

After back-to-back defensive pass interference calls on what was shaping up to be a 75-yard drive, all Texas needed was a yard to punch it into the endzone and tie the game at 21 with under 4 minutes remaining in regulation.

However, after the first-and-goal run up the middle for freshman running back Jerrick Gibson was held for no gain, the controversial halfback toss play call was made. With Quintrevion Wisner lined up to his left, Quinn Ewers was in the shotgun as he tossed it to Wisner, on the first of two disastrous plays that doomed the Longhorns' national championship hopes.

"That's one of those plays, if you block it all right, you get into the end zone," Steve Sarkisian said of his play-call. "We didn't, and we lost quite a bit of yardage."

So what went wrong on the toss play? Well, as always the devil is in the details in football. During his post-game interview, starting left tackle Kelvin Banks explained exactly what went wrong for the Longhorns on the ill-fated toss play. He was one of a few Texas players that was asked about the sequence after the game.

"I saw the boundary safety to come down [Latham Ransom], and I thought it was gonna be a big hole behind me, because that's kind of how the play [was] designed to go," Banks said. "I'm supposed to kick him out. Trey hits the hole behind me, and then while I'm kicking him out, I just I hear screaming, y'all, so I look, I'm turning my left, and then Downs is making the play."

So on the surface, the toss seems to indicate that the play was supposed to see the Longhorns capture the edge and run wide to the goal-line. Banks revealed that is not the case. Instead, as shown in the video above, the hole that is vacated by Banks pulling is supposed to be where Wisner is designed to cut it back and score.

However, that is where the heads-up play is made by Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs, who shoots the gap left open by Banks, forcing Wisner to continue running wide, where he then is corralled for a seven-yard loss by Ransom.

If Downs is fooled by Banks pulling and runs with him instead of shooting the gap, then this play may be remembered entirely differently. But as Sarkisian said post-game, Ohio State's defense made the play, while Texas didn't, which unfortunately for the Longhorns ended up costing them the game.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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