The Curse of Ohio State-Texas 2005

The Buckeyes' loss to the Longhorns in their first matchup 20 years ago set off a chain of events over the next two decades ... but maybe not how you'd think.

COLUMBUS — Two weeks ago, James Laurinaitis mentioned the what-ifs from two decades ago, from the night the Ohio State Buckeyes lost to the Texas Longhorns. But he refused to revisit them in detail.

“I’m not going to bring them up,” Ohio State’s linebackers coach said. “You guys have already documented those.”

A dropped touchdown, a key missed field goal, surrendering a late TD drive — what could have been on the night of Sept. 10, 2005, was obvious to anyone who watched the game, much less anyone who played in it, like Laurinaitis did as a true freshman on special teams. I rewatched the game this weekend (soft video, weird graphics, Gary Danielson as the lead ABC analyst instead of Kirk Herbstreit). Refreshing the memory reaffirmed that the wrong team won that night.

That 25-22 loss by the No. 4 Buckeyes to the No. 2 Longhorns was cursed. Ohio State lost the first quarter and the final five minutes, and controlled the 40 minutes in between. Texas quarterback Vince Young looked superhuman at times, and the OSU linebackers tracked him down and corralled him at others. Ohio State failed in the red zone and was forced to try six field goals, making the first five. The last, a 50-yarder that could have given the Buckeyes a two-score lead late, drifted just wide. Why? In part because a second-down pass tipped at the line of scrimmage didn’t fall incomplete, but was instead caught off the deflection for a 4-yard loss.

If that’s only a 46-yarder instead of 50, Josh Huston likely makes it, and Ohio State wins.

Curse.

Twenty years later, Texas on Saturday will return to Ohio Stadium for the second time ever and the first since that night. Texas is No. 1, led by the Heisman Trophy favorite, and angry over the Buckeyes ending their 2024 season in a College Football Playoff semifinal.

The Longhorns are also the cursed program.