Texas’ Steve Sarkisian blew it with play calls that doomed his team against Ohio St.

As Texas and all of its fans drown their sorrows, and throw hissy fit rages over what the Longhorns should have done in their loss against Ohio State, reviewing their last meaningful drive will require all of the Shiner Bock in the bar.

Texas fans may just want to avoid watching the final minutes of its 28-14 semifinal loss in the Cotton Bowl for at least the next week. Make it a month. Better yet, just sit tight on it for the year, and re-watch Vince Young’s win over USC in the 2006 national title game for the 983rd time.

A Texas fan deliberately re-watching the Longhorns’ final offensive push from the Cotton Bowl would be a masochistic exercise that suggests maybe some intense therapy is a good idea.

If ever there was a game when Texas, and its primary play caller, needed to be “on it,” it was Friday night. Instead, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was “aggressively safe,” and flopped in the final minutes when UT was driving for a potential game-tying touchdown.

That sequence will generate most of the four-letter exchanges among the Texas faithful; this includes Ohio State’s 75-yard touchdown pass on an innocent screen pass in the final minute of the first half that Texas somehow allowed.

Against Ohio State, Texas could digest roughly 3/4 of a cup of Self Inflicted Error and expect to win. Bevo drank just a bit too much of that late in the fourth quarter.

Texas trailed by a touchdown with four minutes remaining, and had the ball at the Ohio State 6-yard line. A pair of pass plays drew pass interference calls, which put UT at the Ohio State 1-yard line with a first-and-goal.

All the Longhorns had to do was move the ball one yard for the game-tying touchdown.

Not that Texas fans need any reminders, but rather than move the ball forward, the next three plays netted minus-six yards.

The first play was a run that was stopped for no gain.

The second play was a pitch from quarterback Quinn Ewers that resulted in running back Quintrevion Wisner being stopped for a loss of six yards. The play never had a chance.

“When we got down to the one, we went to a heavy package, which is (running back) Jerrick Gibson’s package,” Sarkisian said after the game. “We ran it, and we obviously didn’t get much movement at all. And we had a plan to try to get the ball on the edge when we got down there.

“They went to big people. I can’t quite tell -- It was on the far side of where it got leaky.”

That’s code for, “We didn’t block it. Ohio State blew it to hell.”

A pitch play that close to the goal line is dicey against a defense as fast as Ohio State. A play from the 1-yard line should always be a QB sneak. That’s what Arch Manning is “there for.”

“That’s one of those plays, if you block it all right, you get in the end zone, and we didn’t, and we lose quite a bit of yardage,” Sarkisian said. “And at that point, you’re kind of stuck behind the 8-ball because we knew we were in four-down territory because of the score of the game.”

The fourth down play was a Ewers pass attempt that resulted him being sacked by Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer, who forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.

The play effectively ended the game, and Texas’ season.

The play decided the game, but the game wasn’t lost on that one play.

Starting with reducing Ohio State freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith to nothing, Texas’ defense kept the Longhorns in the game against a superior opponent (OSU was a 6.5 point favorite).

For reasons Sarkisian may never reveal, Texas never did try to push the ball down the field. Nearly everything was short.

The running game only generated 2.0 yards per carry, leaving everything on Ewers.

Other than a few pass attempts to running back Jaydon Blue, there were few vertical attempts of note. Blue scored two touchdowns on pass receptions on plays in space that Ohio State could not cover.

The Texas wide receivers didn’t do much, and tight end Gunnar Helm was only briefly featured. He could have made a difference against Ohio State.

Some of this is a result of Ohio State’s defense. Some of this is on Ewers, too. And much of it was a result of play calling that too often looked cute, or afraid.

For a Texas fan, there are little benefits to reviewing the tape of a loss that left the Longhorns one win short of the national title game for the second time in as many years.

If you must, just know all of the Shiner in the bar may not be enough.