Head Coach Ryan Day paces along the sideline as the Buckeyes move down the field in their opening drive of the game against Texas on Sept. 12. Credit: Liam Ahern | Managing Photo Editor

Through the first three quarters in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Saturday, the No. 1 Buckeyes seemed to be on their way to defeating No. 4 Texas for a third consecutive season.?

However, the final quarter resulted in a 20-point comeback by the Longhorns, to stun Ohio State 24-23. The loss marked the third loss in the Buckeyes’ last four games dating back to last season.?

Head coach Ryan Day discussed the loss during a Tuesday press conference before the Buckeyes take on Kent State in Ohio Stadium Saturday.

“It’s extremely frustrating, it’s maddening and we’re excited to get back on the field and get going because the last couple days haven’t been fun around here,” Day said.?

Here are three takeaways from Day’s press conference in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Reflecting on the Buckeyes’ collapse against Texas

Ohio State’s defense did not allow a touchdown during its first game against Ball State and held Texas out of the endzone in the first three quarters of the game.?

Then came the fourth quarter in Austin, which saw the Longhorns score three touchdowns on consecutive possessions, while Ohio State went scoreless.?

The Buckeyes’ 20-point blown lead marked the largest collapse under Day’s tenure at Ohio State.?

“When you look at the second half just in general, we had momentum and we lost momentum,” Day said. “We had an opportunity certainly to finish the game and knock them out there in the third quarter [and that] didn’t happen.”

Day said the loss was a combination of the coaches not putting the players in a good enough spot to succeed and the players not executing.?

“The players have to look at themselves and say, and I think they will, ‘we need to execute better, we need to finish,’” Day said. “And then the coaches need to look at [it] and say ‘how do we put these guys in better situations to go finish the game?’”

Trust in freshmen players

Cornerback Jay Timmons has been the only freshman to have started a game this season for the Buckeyes. Day said Timmons, who forced and recovered a fumble on the first play of the game against Texas, has built enough confidence with the staff and his teammates to earn playing time.

“In general, for some of the young players, whether it’s on offense or defense, they have to build enough trust,” Day said. “You look at a guy like Jay Timmons, from the jump he’s building up trust to say put him in the game and look [at] what he did. These other guys, they’re going to have that opportunity here.”

Freshmen such as running back Legend Bey, wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. and Brock Boyd made an impact in the season-opener against Ball State, while defensive end Khary Wilder made two quarterback hits in limited action against Texas.

Day said freshmen players will have the chance to play going forward.?

“We have some really good young players on all three phases, [specifically on] offense and defense that are going to play into both sides of the ball more often as we move forward into conference play,” Day said.??

Late-game clock management against Texas

With 1:23 remaining in Saturday’s game, trailing 23-17, Texas set itself up with a first and goal from Ohio State’s one-yard line.

The Buckeyes, who had one timeout remaining, had the option to lean on their defense to prevent Texas from scoring a touchdown on four consecutive plays or to call a timeout and allow the Longhorns to score a touchdown to preserve time on the clock for Ohio State’s offense to score.

The Buckeyes opted for their defense to hold Texas out of the endzone and decided to call a timeout after Texas’ first down play call. As time winded down, the Longhorns ultimately scored a touchdown on third down with 25 seconds remaining, to take a 24-23 lead.

Day was asked if he regretted the decision to not call a timeout right away and allow Texas to score a touchdown, to potentially give the Buckeyes’ offense more time to try to win the game.?

“It didn’t work, so the answer is yes,” Day said. “If we win the game, it would have been the right decision. In the moment, you’ve got to make a hard decision and I decided to try to hold the line.”