The first half was a complete disaster for Texas on Saturday night. A fumble on the first snap from scrimmage. A you-couldn't-duplicate-this-if-you-tried interception on the next drive. A dropped walk-in touchdown. A 4th-and-1 gadget play that went for 40 yards on the whiteboard but minus-10 in reality, paving the way for a 4-play, 49-yard touchdown drive in the final minute.
At the half: No. 1 Ohio State 20, No. 4 Texas 3. And it felt worse than that.
What was the mood like in the home locker room at halftime? Not nearly as loud and F-bomb-y as you might assume.
In a mini-movie released by the program on Wednesday, Texas took viewers inside the locker room. We're greeted by head strength coach Torre Becton:
"It ain't supposed to be easy. How do you respond? That's been the test from the beginning. And you've got to make a decision together on how we're going to handle it."
The camera then cut to Becton having an intense 1-on-1 conversation with running back Hollywood Smothers. An hour and a half from then, Smothers would score the final two touchdowns in Texas's 21-point rally, but neither of them knew that then.
Here was Steve Sarkisian's message to the team: "What's in your mind right now? Is it on what happened? Is it on the 10 percent, or is it on the 90 percent (and) what we're going to do about it. I need you living in the 90 percent, man. Now we've got to respond the way I know you're capable of responding. You've got to do it together. One play at a time. It ain't about, one play is going to change the game. It's about a collection of plays together -- offense, defense, special teams. Is that fair?"
Obviously, if Sarkisian wanted his players to flush the first half and focus on the second, he couldn't come in there and rip them for the terrible first half they'd just played. To get his players to look forward, he had to look forward first himself.
In the Disney version of Saturday night's game, Texas turns its play around immediately after the rousing speech from the head coach. Maybe with one player reminding another of Sarkisian's halftime speech in the huddle just before the winning touchdown. Reality was not quite so tidy. Texas watched its deficit grow from 17 to 20, while its offense mustered 18 yards on its first two possessions.
It took a while, but things got better from there.