No. 1 Ohio State sees 20-point lead evaporate in 4th quarter - ESPN

AUSTIN, Texas — The Ohio State Buckeyes controlled the game for more than three quarters.

Then they unraveled.

Ohio State blew a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter Saturday night, as Texas stormed back with three straight touchdown drives to stun the Buckeyes, 24-23.

According to ESPN Research, Ohio State became the first AP No. 1 team since 2004 to lose after leading by at least 20 points in the fourth quarter. The Buckeyes had also won 115 consecutive games when holding a 20-point lead, the sixth-longest active streak in the FBS before Saturday.

«This one hurts,» Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. «We had them on the ropes and didn't finish.

»Didn't play well enough in the fourth quarter — that's the bottom line."

Ohio State seemed headed for a third win over the Longhorns in three seasons.

The Buckeyes led 23-3 and had possession after forcing Texas into a three-and-out midway through the third quarter.

To that point, Ohio State star Jeremiah Smith had more receiving yards than Texas did total offense.

But the Buckeyes couldn't capitalize, punting the ball back to Texas. The Longhorns then became the first FBS team in the last 15 years to close a win with three consecutive touchdown drives of 12 or more plays.

Texas punched the final one into the end zone on third-and-goal to go ahead with 25 seconds remaining.

Ohio State, meanwhile, gained just 49 yards in the entire quarter. Joe McGuire also missed a 45-yard field goal that would've put the Buckeyes up by two scores with just over four minutes remaining.

«When you look at not being able to get off the field on defense, when you're really not able to sustain any drives on offense, and then you miss the field goal — all three phases didn't get it done in the fourth