Steve Sarkisian Says Red-Zone Failure Decided Texas' Last 2 Ohio State Losses

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said the Longhorns' inability to score inside the 10 was the difference in both of their losses to the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Sarkisian made the assessment Monday at a press conference previewing Saturday's game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Ohio State's coaches and players are too good for a one-dimensional offense, and finding balance is what matters to Sarkisian in a game like this. 'When it comes to those scenarios, personnel helps, scheme helps, the right play call at the right time helps, the mentality helps because they've got good scheme, they've got good players, they've got good play callers,' Sarkisian said. 'It's the marriage of those two things coming together. Ultimately, we need to be better in those scenarios. You just think about these last two games we played them, that was probably the difference in the ball game was our inability to score inside the 10. That's why we do the extra work. That's why you place certain emphasis on different seasons of where we need to improve. Hopefully, this time around we get more opportunities like that and we can capitalize on them.' Texas has scored 21 points in two games against Ohio State. The Buckeyes won 28-14 in the College Football Playoff semifinal at AT&T Stadium on Jan. 10, 2025, and 14-7 in the season opener at Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30, 2025. In last season's opener, Texas converted 5-of-14 third downs. Arch Manning threw for 170 yards with 1 interception in that game. Ohio State led the country in total defense last season under coordinator Matt Patricia, who was hired before the 2025 season. Ohio State has eight new starters on defense this year. Ryan Day added Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator in the offseason, giving the Buckeyes two former NFL head coaches calling plays. Ohio State was a 50 1/2-point favorite against Ball State, according to The Associated Press. The Buckeyes went three-and-out on their opening drive and scored on eight of their next 11 possessions in a 56-3 win. Texas opened this season with a 59-7 win over Texas State on Saturday afternoon before 102,738 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Manning completed 20-of-27 passes for 305 yards and 4 touchdowns with 1 interception before Texas pulled him in the third quarter with the Longhorns ahead 42-7. Manning threw touchdown passes to Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo on the first two possessions. Coleman caught 3 passes for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns in his Longhorns debut. Wingo caught 7 passes for 121 yards and 1 touchdown. Rasheem Biles forced a fumble and intercepted a pass in his first game for Texas. The Longhorns hired Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator in the offseason. Sarkisian is in his sixth season at Texas. He spent 2017 and 2018 as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons and worked as offensive coordinator at Alabama before taking the Texas job. Texas went 10-3 last season, 6-2 in the SEC, and opened this year fifth in the AP Top 25. Ohio State leads the all-time series 3-2 and Saturday will be the sixth meeting. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC. This article first appeared on Dallas Sports Journal and was syndicated with permission.