An old football axiom held true last night, Ohio State feasted off their blitz for 59 minutes. But that same blitz betrayed the Buckeyes in the waning seconds.
Texas QB Colt McCoy read the defense and delivered a strike to wide receiver Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown putting the Horns up 24-21 with 16 seconds left in the game. The Cosby catch provided yet another dagger in hearts of Buckeyes everywhere.
Following the game McCoy had a message for the pollsters: "I don't think there's anybody in the country who can beat us at this point."
The Buckeyes nearly did, and in losing the game they won.
The football factory in Columbus has been much maligned after a string of high profile losses. Ohio State was crushed in consecutive national championship games first by Florida (41-14) after the media had coronated them champs before kick off. Same story second verse as they fell to LSU (38-24) last year and then in a September game at USC the Buckeyes looked overmatched in another lopsided loss (35-3).
Last night was a different story. Ohio State's defense that quit in other big games limited Texas' potent offense to three first half points. In the third quarter, with fans and announcers waiting for the kill, the Buckeyes "D" was stout coming up with a pair of stops.
Coach Jim Tressel responded by tossing his standard offensive Big Ten playbook, opting for a variey of formations using both freshman QB Terrelle Pryor and senior sub Todd Boeckman. And Tressel was rewarded when Boeckman tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Pryor.
In the end a missed tackle was all that separated national championship-caliber Texas and the "undeserving" Buckeyes.
This year's Fiesta Bowl was an instant classic and a sign that Ohio State is still a relevant football program.
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