Steve Sarkisian’s Texas Athlete in Hot Waters After Attacking OSU Junior

It wasn’t the offensive drought or even the fourth-quarter collapse. Both Texas and Ohio State fans were fuming for one reason after the Longhorns’ season-opening loss in Columbus. That story everyone was talking about on Sunday morning was Steve Sarkisian’s preseason All-SEC edge rusher. He was supposed to be a game-wrecker, but ended up as the game’s cautionary tale after a penalty that flipped momentum.  

On September 3, an X post threw light on the main flashpoint when Ohio State junior right tackle Phillip Daniels recounted how it all went down. “Phillip Daniels said Colin Simmons called him ‘trash’ moments before Simmons was penalized for a hands-to-the-face penalty. ‘I was like, huh? Me? I know you not talking to me. Hemmed him up, he took my helmet off, still going — I had a few choice words,’ Daniels said.” It was during a second-quarter snap where the two locked horns. Within moments, Colin Simmons had ripped off his helmet and drawn a 15-yard flag, keeping alive what turned into OSU’s first scoring drive. And just like that, Steve Sarkisian’s defensive star became the headline for all the wrong reasons. 

To put the game in perspective, Texas did the unthinkable and held Ohio State to just 14 points. For a program that averaged 35.7 last year en route to a national championship, that’s a defensive clinic. Yet, the Longhorns still walked out with a 14-7 loss, only the fifth time in 25 years they’ve lost when holding a team under 14 points. Steve Sarkisian nailed the sentiment postgame saying, “If we can hold a team like that to 14, we’ve got to find a way to score 15.”

Phillip Daniels, the Minnesota transfer, thrived in the moment. He called it “mind games,” proof that composure sometimes matters more than raw aggression. “You’re going to come here and talk crazy? Y’all think you’re the No. 1 team? Y’all going to just come in here and beat on us,” he added. “Nah, it’s home field advantage, and we’ve got one of the best QBs in the league, we’ve got Jeremiah, we’ve got the whole O-line, we’ve got the running backs.”

Meanwhile, Texas was undone by six penalties for 50 yards, including two backbreakers on scoring drives. “The untimely penalties sometimes are unfortunate,” Steve Sarkisian said, but when one of those penalties comes from your most hyped defender because of poor on-field conduct, that’s backbreaking. And the internet, as always, had the final word, and it wasn’t pretty for Colin Simmons. 

Fans troll Colin Simmons’ trash talk

Texas fans expected their star edge rusher to be the X-factor against Ohio State. Instead, they saw him completely neutralized. “How embarrassing being completely shut down by ‘trash’,” one person wrote. They flipped Colin Simmons’ own insult back on him. He called Phillip Daniels “trash,” but with no sacks, no turnovers, and no big plays, the label bounced right back.

Frustration boiled over beyond just the stat sheet. Many felt Colin Simmons embarrassed the program with his antics with one writing, “This @ColinSimmons__  person sounds like a complete d——-g loser.” Well, preseason hype means nothing when all you leave behind is a costly penalty and wasted opportunities.

Fans also pointed to moments outside the Daniels penalty, including his struggles in coverage. “Hey @ColinSimmons__ remember when you got bodied in this same game by a WR? Lmfao,” they commented. That’s a reference to Carnell Tate dusting him on a fourth-quarter play. 

For some, Simmons’ performance was so invisible that they needed a reminder that he even played. “This is the first confirmation we’ve gotten that @ColinSimmons__ was in fact on the field Saturday. What a complete no show after posting Sayin’s pic on his story,” they wrote. He recorded two tackles, one solo. 

Finally, some fans circled back to the original insult that started the fire. “Maybe Colin should look himself in the mirror call himself Trash!!!!” The last comment closed the loop — turning Simmons’ trash talk into a mirror held up against his own lackluster performance.

Ohio State out-disciplined Texas. No sacks allowed, only two penalties all game, and a transfer tackle who let his play and not his mouth set the tone. For Coach Sarkisian’s Longhorns, it wasn’t the Buckeyes’ 40-yard bomb or the officiating crew that doomed them. It was self-inflicted wounds, and Colin Simmons’ penalty was the loudest one of all.