Texas was inactive for most of the first half.

Then, in the final seconds of the second quarter of the Cotton Bowl, the Longhorns finally woke up — with a little help from Arch Manning.

But Ohio State let Texas revel in its excitement for only a short time.

Texas went scoreless for most of the first 30 minutes and finally scored with 29 seconds left in the second quarter after Arch Manning helped extend the drive with a quarterback keeper on a fourth-down play.

With the ball at midfield and a yard left for a new set of downs, Manning stepped in at quarterback for Quinn Ewers and took a designated quarterback keeper to the other side of the field for eight yards and a new set of downs.

Ewers then came back into the game and completed two of his next three passes, the latter of which set up an 18-yard touchdown to Jaydon Blue, tying the game at 7-7.

One play after the ensuing kickoff, however, Ohio State responded in emphatic fashion as quarterback Will Howard threw a short pass to running back TreVeyon Henderson, who did the rest with a 75-yard catch-and-run to put Ohio State up by seven To bring leadership Enter the first half.

It was a blowout for Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals after it looked like there was a chance of going into halftime tied.