The anatomy of a comeback, according to Texas football

Halfway through the third quarter of the highly anticipated matchup between Texas and Ohio State, silence swept across Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

But after the Texas offense went three-and-out, the silence quickly cascaded into boos. The students who got in line 24 hours before kickoff, the alumni who flew in from out of state and the fans who paid upwards of thousands of dollars to be in the room where it happened, found themselves booing their own team.

It was quite the juxtaposition from just hours before. Despite the humidity, the seats in the stadium filled up more quickly than usual. Ahead of kickoff, the music was bumping, the sun started to set and there was a special sense of anticipation that filled the air, knowing that Texas had the chance to beat the No. 1 team in the country at home.

The first three quarters were not quite what those sitting in the stands imagined: Texas was down by 20 points and looked completely stagnant. The small but mighty contingency of Ohio State fans and their “O-H!” “I-O!” chants began to drown out those in burnt orange.

Within the blink of an eye, however, Texas started to crawl back from the hole it dug itself into. After the two quick touchdowns to put Texas within six points of the Buckeyes, the fans screamed in jubilation but restrained themselves, scared to believe it could actually be possible. No one wanted to get their hopes up for a comeback that ultimately failed.

Then Ohio State missed the field goal that could’ve sealed the game.

With the score still 23-17, everyone started to believe that Texas could actually, finally win this game.

The special teams kickoff players ran onto the field, waving their arms up and down to get the crowd going. “Don’t Stop Believin” blasted through the speakers while the stadium flashed multicolored lights.

The Texas players felt that atmosphere and energy all night, especially senior running back Hollywood Smothers, a transfer from North Carolina State who scored the winning touchdown. Besides all of the pyrotechnics and candles scaring him a bit, the atmosphere is something he hasn’t experienced before.

“You come to Texas for games like this and atmospheres like this, man,” Smothers said. “It was everything we needed to be.”

The fans went through the seven stages of grief for a seemingly dead chance of winning the game, only to watch those chances come alive out of the grave. They couldn’t process the moment, jumping up and down, screaming, crying and throwing water on each other.

“I have to give a shoutout to our fans and our crowd because they were freaking awesome tonight,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Our fans didn’t give up, they stayed and they were there and they were rocking, and they could feel the momentum shift and swing.”

It took everyone in that stadium —  Sarkisian going for it on fourth down twice, the defense stopping Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin from making anything happen in the last drive of the game, the wide receivers shaking off their drops and the fans helping to create one of the most special nights in Texas football history.

“The Eyes of Texas” is played after every game, win or lose, and not everyone stays for the school song. They’re tired, worn out by the heat or just trying to beat the traffic. 

But this time, everyone stayed.

They sang — some even cried. The stadium was filled with the burnt orange lights as everyone tried to soak in the moment. 

Games like last night are what make college football so special. The more than 100,000 people in attendance at DKR know there won’t be another game like this for decades, maybe even ever.

“You dream of playing games like this, hosting the number one team in the country at home,” senior quarterback Arch Manning said. “I mean how ‘bout that, you get the win with one point, let’s go, baby.”

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