Nobody must’ve told Steve Sarkisian about Tom Herman’s goal-line nightmares. Herman knows. Did Sarkisian not see what happened to Pete Carroll in the Super Bowl? 

At the 1-yard line, you run it straight at the defense.

That’s not what happened Friday night with Sarkisian. A coach who built his entire program around “big humans” suddenly goes away from them in the season’s biggest moment?

First-and-goal from the 1-yard line. You get four plays. You line up and smash the ball into the end zone.

An ill-fated pitch play on second-and-goal from the 1-yard line became a seven-yard loss. The overhead camera view clearly shows that Ohio State had five defenders ready to go against four Texas blockers. 

The third-down incompletion and Jack Sawyer’s strip sack and 83-yard fumble return are huge Ohio State moments, to be sure. But those likely don’t happen if Sarkisian decides to run right through the Buckeyes’ defense, not go around it.

“That’s one of those plays, if you block it all right, you get in the end zone,” Sarkisian said after disaster struck. “And we didn't, and we lose quite a bit of yardage.”

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Even Sarkisian’s mentor, Carroll, knows you probably should line up and run it at the 1-yard line.

Carroll famously had Russell Wilson throw it on the goal line in Super Bowl XLIX when the whole football world expected Marshawn Lynch to smash it in. Wilson threw an interception, which sealed the New England Patriots’ victory.

These decisions seem easy, but apparently, they’re not. 

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Herman can relate. The former Texas coach once had a problem at the 1-yard line, too.

It was the 2018 spring game. The first-team offense simply wanted to line up, punch the first-team defense in the mouth and score. Sounds easy enough, right?

But it wasn’t. Toneil Carter got stuffed twice, and Herman summoned Lil’Jordan Humphrey to execute a gadget play to score. Finally.

“Do we really think those three plays are indicative of what we can and can’t do on offense?,” Herman barked afterward, clearly perturbed about goal-line questions. After the spring game, no less.

Still, Herman was so motivated — or upset — he spent the rest of 2018 making his team tougher in goal-line situations. The Horns beefed up their goal-line practice drills and made it a huge focus every week.

Against Tulsa in week two, the Horns had two goal-line situations against a three-touchdown underdog. On the first drive, Sam Ehlinger waltzed into the end zone untouched. Later in the game, the offense got stuffed three times and Ehlinger threw an over-cooked pass across his body incomplete on fourth down.

“Moving forward, we’ll have a stronger focus,” Ehlinger said afterward. “Our eyes should light up in the red zone, because that’s how you win games.”

Texas had a renewed focus. When you get the chance, don’t get fancy. Punch teams in the mouth and score.

Fast forward to the Sugar Bowl. Ehlinger called his own number three times from the 1-yard line and bullied his way into the end zone to beat No. 6 Georgia. The 28-21 win was pretty big at the time, although just a rare flash more than a sign of things to come.

“Thank you for giving me the ball,” Ehlinger said, looking at Herman in the post-game press conference. “I wouldn't want it any other way.”

Would Arch Manning have made a difference on the goal line against Ohio State?

Could this offensive line summon the strength to get one yard given four chances?

If Texas had tied the game, would the Horns have been able to win it possibly in overtime?

Nobody will ever know.

The Cotton Bowl loss doesn’t change the fact Texas had a tremendous season. The Horns should be celebrated for going 13-3, reaching the SEC championship game and going three rounds deep in the College Football Playoffs.

But this one will sting for a long while.

Maybe in 2025, the Horns will line up and smash the defense in the mouth at the 1-yard line. After all, that’s what “big humans” are supposed to do.