Texas comes back to defeat No. 1 Ohio State: 1 bettor wins $1.2 million wager on Longhorns

No. 1 Ohio State took on Arch Manning and the No. 4-ranked Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night as a rare underdog under head coach Ryan Day, and looked great for three quarters, building a 23-3 lead. But Texas fought back with 21 unanswered points, including the winning touchdown with 25 seconds left to secure a remarkable 24-23 victory.

The Longhorns’ win was quite profitable for one bettor in Las Vegas.

A bettor at Caesars Palace placed a $1.2 million wager on Texas to win at -127 odds before the game, which won nearly $945,000 after the Longhorns completed their huge comeback. Texas had in-game money-line odds of as long as 31-1 at some sportsbooks at one point.

Texas had a turnover on the first play of the game, fell behind 10-0 after the first quarter and trailed 20-3 at halftime. The Longhorns converted multiple fourth-down conversions in the fourth quarter to keep touchdown-scoring drives alive and were aided by Ohio State kicker Connor Hawkins missing a 45-yard field goal attempt with 4:16 remaining and Ohio State up 23-17.

The Buckeyes entered as 2.5-point underdogs, which marked the first time in Day’s tenure at Ohio State that he was an underdog in a regular season game against any team not named Michigan. Ohio State had gone 1-1 straight-up and against the spread in the two games as an underdog against Michigan.

Texas faces UTSA next week, while Ohio State plays Kent State.