Commentary: Arch Manning let down by Longhorns' game plan

On fourth down late in Saturday's game between top-ranked Texas and No. 3 Ohio State at the Horseshoe, a blitzing Buckeye broke free as a bull in a meadow, bearing down on Texas' defenseless quarterback in a thunder of hooves. Deja vu, no? Arch Manning escaped Quinn Ewers' strip-sack fate that doomed Texas last year in the national semis at JerryWorld, but the Longhorns couldn't do anything Saturday to change the outcome against the Buckeyes in a 14-7 loss before 107,524 patrons growing accustomed to the results. For the record, since the beginning of last season, the Longhorns have lost four games, all of them to Ohio State and Georgia. One of these days, if Steve Sarkisian wants to take Texas back to the Promised Land, he probably needs to beat one or the other. The Longhorns' coach might want to work on his game plans against the cream of the Big Ten and SEC. He should start with his offense. "If we can hold a team like that to 14," he said of the Buckeyes, "we've got to find a way to score 15." Actually, they demonstrated plenty of ways to win Saturday. If all you saw from the game was the stat sheet, you'd have thought Texas ran away with it. The Longhorns outrushed (166-77) and out-passed (170-126) the Buckeyes. They averaged 4.5 yards per carry to the hosts' 2.3 and held the edge in first downs, 16-11. What undid Texas in the end was a couple of penalties that propelled Ohio State's first touchdown drive, as well as the only turnover of the game, a pick thrown by Manning that set up the Buckeyes' second touchdown. Oh, and it didn't help that Sark lost his nerve just before the half and punted from midfield on fourth-and-2. Julian Sayin, a former five-star quarterback and Alabama transfer making his debut, didn't do anything spectacular for Ohio State. He dropped a 40-yard touchdown pass on Carnell Tate, but he also made it harder for Tate than it should have been. Pretty much the story of both quarterbacks Saturday. Manning looked far better in the Raising Cane's, Warby Parker and Vuori apparel ads during the game Saturday than he looked on the field. He was, in a word, awful in the first half. Sark said his new starter was confused by the defenses unfurled by Matt Patricia, the Buckeyes' new defensive coordinator. He looked it. Bouncing on the balls of his feet in the pocket, surveying the chaos in front of him, he looked jittery. His passes suggested it. The telltale sign of a quarterback who might be a little over-caffeinated is when he consistently throws high. Manning threw high, low, behind and in front of receivers. He stuck to his fastball, too, when a changeup would have been welcome. Ryan Wingo is expected to be one of Texas' top receivers. Manning targeted him eight times, completing two. Most of the afternoon, Wingo looked like a fan trying to flag down missiles from a T-shirt cannon. Manning too often forced throws, including a wildly inappropriate pass deep and across the field for Wingo that was intercepted by Jermaine Mathews Jr. He finally found a rhythm in the fourth quarter, finishing 17-for-30, topped by a 32-yard touchdown to Parker Livingstone that made it a one-score game. But by then it was too late. "They're a good team," Manning said, "but I thought we beat ourselves a lot. That starts with me. "I've got to play better for us to win." As poorly as Manning played for someone with his bloodlines — not to mention the nation's No. 1 NIL evaluation — Sarkisian made sure to tell everyone afterward to tap their brakes. Still just Manning's third start overall and first as the No. 1 quarterback. He can't help what everyone else has been saying about him. Like a certain columnist who said, if he lives up to his legacy, he'll be the greatest Texas quarterback ever. Vince Young is not moved. "The expectations were out of control on the outside," Sark said of Manning, "but I'd say let's finish the book before we judge it. "This is one chapter, and we've got a long season to play." No question about it. Even if the Longhorns didn't last long in their first turn in the No. 1 spot going into a season, and even if they became the first top-ranked team to lose an opener since 1990, the College Football Playoff committee won't hold it against them come November. As long as they make things right, that is. Sark can start by giving his excitable young phenom a handful of easy throws to take a little of the edge off. Tell him he doesn't have to break the radar gun. And, if Sarkisian insists on calling a quarterback sneak at the goal line, he should send in a couple of the Eagles' offensive linemen. One last thing, Sark: Next time you're at midfield on fourth-and-2 with 45 seconds left in the half of a 7-0 game, go for it. Don't tell us afterward you didn't want to give the other team three points. Trust your defense. It's good enough. It's your offense that needs the work.