AUSTIN, Texas — Hours before the out-of-nowhere comeback, before Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium pulsated with noise and shock, before the "SEC, SEC" chants spontaneously broke out over the din of elation and before thousands of forlorn Ohio State fans walked out into the night having that conversation about Ryan Day once again, a plume of burnt orange smoke seemed to linger over the field in the searing Texas heat.
It is a standard part of the pregame pyrotechnics here, but it was a particularly poignant image in the moments before a game like this one between two of college football's biggest brands and highest-ranked teams, with consequences that will take the rest of the season to figure out.
For 14 Saturdays of college football, we're all just waiting for the smoke to clear.
By the end of Texas 24, Ohio State 23, it was a beautiful picture but an incomplete one, made possible only by a regular season that feels increasingly under attack by the powers that be. Year by year, the coaches and administrators at the mega-programs become less interested in playing games like these because the stakes are so high. And yet, without those high stakes of a limited playoff structure where losing this kind of game can knock you out, what kind of sport are you left with?
"Hopefully it pays dividends for us in December," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said late Saturday night. "But we have a lot more meat on the bone we have to chew off here before we can start worrying about whether this win helps us get into a playoff or not."
#state #year #like
It is a standard part of the pregame pyrotechnics here, but it was a particularly poignant image in the moments before a game like this one between two of college football's biggest brands and highest-ranked teams, with consequences that will take the rest of the season to figure out.
For 14 Saturdays of college football, we're all just waiting for the smoke to clear.
By the end of Texas 24, Ohio State 23, it was a beautiful picture but an incomplete one, made possible only by a regular season that feels increasingly under attack by the powers that be. Year by year, the coaches and administrators at the mega-programs become less interested in playing games like these because the stakes are so high. And yet, without those high stakes of a limited playoff structure where losing this kind of game can knock you out, what kind of sport are you left with?
"Hopefully it pays dividends for us in December," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said late Saturday night. "But we have a lot more meat on the bone we have to chew off here before we can start worrying about whether this win helps us get into a playoff or not."
#state #year #like
6 hours ago
