Texas proud of fight to the end in CFP loss to Washington - ESPN

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Texas never led during its 37-31 loss to Washington on Monday night at the Allstate Sugar Bowl — but in a dramatic finish, had four chances to pull off what would have been a comeback for the ages.

That is until the very last second, when Quinn Ewers' throw to Adonai Mitchell fell to the turf in the end zone as time expired.

After Jordan Whittington caught a 41-yard pass on third-and-10 with 20 seconds remaining, Texas suddenly had a real chance for a storybook finish.

«We felt magical, the whole time that we felt like it was already written,» Whittington said. «No matter what happened, I didn't know it was going to come down to the last, like, 10 seconds… but we didn't waver one time.»

The Longhorns all night struggled to contain Washington QB Michael Penix Jr., who shredded Texas for 430 yards and 2 passing touchdowns, completing 76% of his throws while adding 31 yards on three runs.

«He had a good day,» defensive back Jahdae Barron said. «When our D-line got him out of the box, even ran a little bit. That was a plus for him.… Hats off to Penix.»

Texas trailed 34-21 with 14:51 remaining in the game, which looked in danger of slipping away. The Longhorns had 10 penalties, tied for a season high, and said they believed many of their setbacks were self-inflicted.

«We all went out there as a team and we fought our butt off,» said Mitchell, who had a soaring touchdown catch on a 1-yard fade to begin the comeback with 7:23 left. «We just played a great team. We didn't capitalize the way we wanted to. We had a lot of mistakes on the field.»

The Huskies were able to contain Mitchell and Xavier Worthy, the Longhorns' two star receivers, with Worthy catching two passes for 45 yards and Mitchell finishing with