Texas Longhorns One Win Away From First National Title Game in 15 Years

ARLINGTON, TX — The Texas Longhorns football team has a chance to punch its ticket to the national championship game with a win Friday over Ohio State.

It has been 15 long years since Texas last played in the national final, when the Longhorns fell 37-21 to Alabama after losing starting quarterback Colt McCoy to a shoulder injury in the first quarter.

Texas was in this same position last year but came up short in a 37-31 loss to Washington.

The Longhorns had to survive a 39-31 double-overtime win last week over Arizona State to reach this point. One play away from its season ending, Texas converted a fourth-and-13 in OT to keep it alive.

Now the No. 5-seeded Longhorns will have to find a way to slow down No. 8 Ohio State. The Buckeyes are considered a six-point favorite after their impressive 41-21 win over No. 1 Oregon last week.

Texas will have some home-field advantage with the game being played up the road from Austin at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The stadium is also the site of Ohio State’s last national title 10 years ago.

This meeting will be a matchup of two of the best defenses in the nation. Ohio State has the No. 1-ranked defense, while Texas is No. 3.

Texas and Ohio State have played only three times, with Texas holding a 2-1 edge. The last meeting was in 2008 when the Longhorns defeated the Buckeyes 24-21 in the Fiesta Bowl, led by a 400-yard passing performance from McCoy.

The winner of this game — which is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday and will be broadcast on ESPN — will play No. 6 Penn State or No. 7 Notre Dame on Monday, Jan. 20, for the first national championship in the new 12-team playoff.