The Texas Longhorns were in prime position to tie the game in the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl on Friday night, as they marched from their own 25-yard line all the way down to the Ohio State one-yard line, where they had four chances to punch in the equalizer.

On first down, Texas running back Jerrick Gibson was stuffed for no gain. On second down, the Longhorns opted to run a toss play to fellow halfback Quintrevion Wisner, which resulted in a loss of seven yards. After an incomplete pass on third down, quarterback Quinn Ewers was strip-sacked by his former Buckeyes roommate Jack Sawyer, who returned the forced fumble 83 yards for a game-sealing touchdown.

The Longhorns’ play-calling at the goal-line befuddled both pundits and fans alike.

After the game, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian spoke to the media and explained that the Longhorns went into a “heavy” package after drawing a pair of pass interference flags that pushed the ball to the one-yard line.

“We had a plan to try to get the ball on the edge when we got down there,” Sarkisian said. “That’s one of those plays, if you block it all right, you get in the end zone, and we didn’t, and we lose quite a bit of yardage.”

“At that point, you’re kind of stuck behind the eight ball because we knew we were in four-down territory because of the score of the game.”

Sarkisian noted that in his mind, even if the Longhorns turned the ball over on downs, they’d likely get a chance at one more possession, given how backed up the Buckeyes would have been. Sawyer, of course, had other ideas.

“And I was okay even if we didn’t score, not that I didn’t want score, but thinking, all right, they’re going to have to be backed up, and we’ll probably get one more possession with good field position,” Sarkisian continued.

“The last thing you think is the sack, and it’s going to bounce right to the guy, and he’s going to run for a touchdown.”

Ultimately, Sarkisian acknowledged how hard it is to win if you can’t capitalize on chances such as the one his team had late in the game.

“First-and-goal on the one and we don’t score, you, quite frankly, probably don’t deserve to win that way.”