Texas vs. Ohio State: Echoes of Vince Young and Troy Smith

It’s been 20 years since Texas last marched into the Horseshoe and hightailed it out of Columbus with a win.

On September 10, 2005, under the lights at the Horseshoe, the No. 2 Longhorns took down No. 4 Ohio State in a heavyweight fight that felt like a national title game preview. And it was.

Led by redshirt junior Vince Young, Texas pulled off a 25–22 fourth-quarter comeback that silenced 105,000 fans. That game didn’t just set the tone for Texas’ season, it foretold a national championship. The Longhorns ran the table that year, beat Reggie Bush and USC in the Rose Bowl, and delivered the program its first championship since 1970.

Now, two decades later, the echoes of Vince Young, Troy Smith and the 2005 matchup are impossible to ignore.

Projected Heisman hopeful Vince Young was dominant throughout the game. He threw for 270 yards, rushed for another 76, and tossed a pair of touchdown passes. But the A.J. Hawk-led Buckeye defense still managed to keep Young in check, especially considering the stats Young put up the rest of the season. Ohio State forced two interceptions and held the Longhorns to a season-low 25 points (Texas would score between 40 to 70 points on all other opponents).

Troy Smith was suspended for the 2004 Alamo Bowl and week one of the 2005 season. He returned for the Texas game but head coach Jim Tressel had Smith and Justin Zwick split snaps. Smith and Zwick combined to complete 14 of 26 passes for 163 yards, but Smith was the clear choice. Smith completed 11 of those passes and delivered the Buckeyes’ lone touchdown of the night on a dime to Santonio Holmes. Smith also led the offense on five scoring drives. Zwick, meanwhile, managed just one scoring drive before a costly late-game fumble gave Texas the ball — and the win.

That night marked a turning point. Smith was named the starter moving forward and went on to earn the Heisman in 2006, receiving the third-most percentage of possible points available in Heisman history (behind only Joe Burrow and Reggie Bush).

But this isn’t 2005, and there’s no A.J. Hawk, no Troy Smith, or Vince Young.

While Arch Manning isn’t Vince Young, he already has a name written in college football lore with the goal of having his name etched onto a Heisman plaque. Manning was dominant this past September (accounting for 12 touchdowns in four games), but has attempted only 12 passes since. Manning may not dominate the way Young did in 2005, but he doesn’t have to; he just needs to do enough to make the Horseshoe go quiet again. The last time a Texas quarterback with sky-high expectations came into Columbus, he walked out a legend. Arch would welcome a similar fate.

The Buckeyes are the defending national champions, loaded with talent, returning with swagger, and a little revenge in their hearts. It’s not just that Texas won last time. It’s how they did it — Young was cool, poised, and clutch in the fourth quarter. Hawk’s defense was able to slow Texas for the most part, but Young was unstoppable. And for two decades, that game has been part of Texas’ highlight reel and Ohio State’s heartbreak montage. Buckeye fans remember, and certainly Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline does; he was a part of that 2005 and experienced the gut-wrenching loss first-hand.

Just like Tressel did in 2005, Ryan Day will be choosing between two unproven quarterbacks: Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz. Whoever gets Day’s approving nod will get to exploit defenses with the glitch in the matrix: Jeremiah Smith.

The 2025 script may be unwritten, but the scene looks familiar. Texas enters the game as a top contender, armed with a dynamic quarterback and high expectations. Ohio State is, again, led by the top defender in the country, Caleb Downs, like they were with Hawk. Twenty years later, the echoes of Vince Young and the Texas victory are still heard in the Horseshoe — the Buckeyes will look to silence them.