ARLINGTON, Texas – Surrounded by cameras and reporters and accompanied by a police officer, Quinn Ewers walked across the field toward the tunnel that would lead to the Texas locker room. He took in the scene around him: The screens at AT&T Stadium were lit in scarlet and displayed the words “OHIO STATE WINS!” and “CHAMPIONS” in all caps. He acknowledged some Longhorn fans who were waiting for him to pass and raised their horns to show their support for the Texas quarterback while trying to ignore the fact that there would soon be a trophy presentation, and not for his team.

As he reached the end of the field to enter the bowels of the stadium, Ewers turned, looked back at the field and kissed the towel around his neck twice. He had accomplished so much on that field – he played for a high school state championship, won a Big 12 title and perhaps played his last college football game there.

Ohio State defeated Texas 28-14 in a College Football Playoff semifinal in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night to advance to the CFP National Championship game against Notre Dame. This was the second consecutive year the Longhorns’ season ended at this point. They were one play away from beating Washington last time out. This time they came close to stopping the Buckeyes, but again couldn’t do it.

Heading into the CFP matchup with Ohio State, the Texas players talked about last year’s loss to the Huskies and how it set the culture for this season. Ewers said he would “do anything to get us back here,” and they wanted to go one step further.

They almost made it.

Trailing 21-14 with just seven minutes to play, Ewers, as calm and collected as he always is, led the Texas offense from their own 25-yard line to the first-and-goal from the 2-yard line Ohio State. On the first play of the game, Jerrick Gibson rushed up the middle without success. “We went with a heavy package, which was Jerrick’s package,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We ran it, and obviously we didn’t get much exercise at all.”

On the second attempt, Ewers threw the ball to Quintrevion Wisner, who attempted to get to the rim but was swallowed up by Ohio State’s defense and suffered a 7-yard loss. “It’s one of those plays. If you block him right, you get into the end zone, and we didn’t do that, and we lose quite a bit of yardage,” Sarkisian said.

On third down, Ewers’ pass intended for freshman standout Ryan Wingo was broken up in the end zone. “At that point, you’re kind of stuck behind the eight-ball because we knew we were in four-down territory based on the score,” Sarkisian said.

And on fourth down, Ewers dropped back to pass but was quickly caught by Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer, who stripped the quarterback, picked up the fumble and returned it 83 yards for a touchdown. Ewers said he felt Sawyer coming, tried to move away from him and thought he could catch the ball before contact.

“It’s not like I was trying to give them the game,” Ewers said. “But I saw Jack running down the sideline with the ball. It sucks, man. But he’s a great player, a great person, a great human being.”

“It just sucks. It sucks.”

However, it was a poetic way things ended. Ewers famously began his career at Ohio State and was roommates with Sawyer before transferring to Texas after one semester. When asked if the two said anything to each other after the game, Sawyer said on the broadcast that Ewers said, “Screw you,” before walking away laughing.

“That’s my boy,” Sawyer said of Ewers. “Apparently we were roommates when he was here. I have a lot of respect for him and the rest of the Texas team.”

As huge as Sawyer’s touchdown was, it wasn’t the only defining moment in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night. Late in the second quarter, one play after Texas had tied the score at 7-7, Buckeyes running back TreVeyon Henderson caught a pass from Will Howard and went untouched for a 75-yard touchdown to give his team a 14-yard lead. 7-Header advantage to gain into half time. Part of Texas’ defensive game plan was to look for Henderson in the open field – he had a similar game against Oregon in the Rose Bowl when he had a 66-yard score – but the coverage failed.

“It’s unfortunate that they’re coming to the screen,” Sarkisian said. “I don’t think anyone expected this. It definitely stole some momentum.”

Texas had a strong response in the third quarter. Ewers led a game-winning drive while the defense ended the game with an interception by stuffing Quinshon Judkins on a third-and-1, sacking Howard and breaking up another pass on third-and-15. By the end of the night, the Longhorns had two sacks – Ohio State had given up 12 sacks all year and Howard had yet to be sacked in a playoff game. The unit also rendered star wideout Jeremiah Smith invisible, holding him to just one catch for three yards.

“(Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s) game plan for that situation at No. 4 was amazing,” defensive back Jahdae Barron said.

Ohio State may have been the favorite in this showdown, but early in the fourth quarter there was a feeling that Texas had to win the game.

In the end, however, Ewers couldn’t execute on the crucial moment and the Longhorns didn’t get their perfect finish. The senior signal-caller finished 23 of 39 for 283 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and was sacked four times. Texas was unable to run the ball effectively and ran for 58 yards, one of its worst performances of the year.

Now Ewers, who has dreamed of being the starting quarterback at Texas his entire life, will no longer play for a national championship. But he will go down in history as a central figure in helping Sarkisian build a program into an elite contender.

“I’m super proud of Quinn,” Sarkisian said. “I don’t know if he would ever live up to the standards everyone expects of him. But at the end of the day all he did was show up every day and work and be a great leader.” A great teammate. And that’s a real credit to him, because these days it’s human nature to look at Twitter, Instagram, social media, written articles, fan forums, you name it.

“But this guy never did that. He fought through everything. He never once complained about it. And I think that’s why he has so much respect from his teammates.”

As for Ewers and his future, there is speculation about lucrative NIL offers for him to enter the transfer portal. He hasn’t declared for the NFL Draft, but his thoughts are reportedly on it. He did not address the matter after the game.

As for the future of the program, the fan base has already turned its attention to Arch Manning.

“It hurts right now, it burns,” Sarkisian said. “But I’m not going to let this one game and a few games overshadow what we’ve achieved this season. Yes, we want to become champions. That’s what life is about. You always want to emerge as a winner. But “There is so much we can learn from this season and there is so much to be proud of this season.”

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.

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