The 2008 BCS Fiesta Bowl turned out to be a pretty good football game, but truth be told, the aftermath did little to resolve the impressions left on both teams and left lingering questions about two of football’s biggest and best programs. university in the country: Texas. and the state of Ohio.
This was the ticket into the game: No. 3-ranked Texas was a one-loss team still smarting from not being selected to play in the BCS national championship game; that honor went to two other one-loss teams, No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Oklahoma. No. 10-ranked Ohio State had lost its last two BCS bowl games and was eager to snap the losing streak because both losses came in the last two national championship games against Florida and Louisiana State.
This was the game: Despite being favored by 9.5 points and scoring an average of more than 43 points per game during the regular season, the Texas Longhorns were held to 3 points in the first half as the Ohio State Buckeye defense stood his ground, taking a 6-3 lead to the locker room.
After Longhorn junior quarterback Colt McCoy’s third-quarter scores on a 14-yard run and 7-yard pass to senior wide receiver Quan Cosby, Texas advanced 17-6.
In the fourth quarter, Ohio State cut the margin to 17-15 on a 44-yard field goal from junior Aaron Pettrey and a 5-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Todd Boeckman to rookie quarterback Terrell Pryor.
Buckeye’s defense kept Texas at 3 and out and then Boeckman led Ohio State on a 73-yard touchdown drive capped by freshman running back Daniel Herron’s 15-yard run to pay ground. Boeckman’s 2-yard extra point pass fell incomplete, leaving the Buckeyes with a 21-17 lead and 2:11 to play.
As a game coverage camera cut to the sideline, the Ohio State bench players were all smiles and beginning to celebrate; never a good idea with so much time left to play and an explosive Texas offense on the ball.
Enter Colt McCoy. Starting at his 22-yard line, McCoy completes passes of 6, 7, 13, 7, 3, 14 and finally a 26-yard touchdown pass to Cosby that made Ohio State defenders look silly and out of position. Cosby caught a short pass up the middle, fended off a tackle and sprinted toward the goal line before diving into the end zone with 23 seconds left. Joy on the Ohio State sideline turned to disbelief and outrage.
Buckeye quarterback Todd Boeckman had the ball with exactly 11 seconds left and 55 yards from the pay ground when he was quickly sacked for a 10-yard loss as Buckeye’s offensive line was hit hard when they needed to hold and letting Boeckman attempt to complete a miraculous step. On the next play with 5 seconds left, the pass fell incomplete, and that was the game.
This was the impression after the game: Texas won and coach Mack Brown and star quarterback Colt McCoy were gushing over the win like a geyser in a national park. You would have thought Texas had beaten Florida and Oklahoma on the same afternoon when, in fact, nothing could erase Texas’ loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders earlier in the year.
Texas players may be legends in their own minds, but the Texas Tech Red Raiders and many other college football fans aren’t so convinced.
The simple fact of the matter is that Utah has more of a right to sit out of the BCS national title game than Texas. Utah was undefeated 13-0 this year and humiliated Alabama in the BCS Sugar Bowl; all other contenders suffered at least one embarrassing defeat.
For Ohio State, it marked a third straight loss in a BCS bowl game for the third year in a row, which makes it easier to forget that Ohio State won the national championship 6 years ago. One nagging memory is seeing all the stars on the Buckeye players’ helmets as if they were King Kong come to life only to see how helpless and foolish they looked when the defense that had defended Texas so well from the start couldn’t get the job done. when it finally mattered.
If I were Jim Tressel coaching Ohio State, those stars on the helmets would come off and stay off until the Buckeyes win another national championship or at least another BCS game. When you strut your stuff and you can’t back it up, you look ridiculous. Ask someone who can back him up, like Joe Namath.
Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley
