2009 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Texas 24 ... Ohio State 21
GAME RECAP:
Texas & McCoy pull off a classic
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Fiu's
Quarter-by-Quarter, Play-by-Play Game Notes
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2009 CFN Fiesta Bowl
Preview |
2008 Bowl Preview
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1. So now what happens to the
national title discussion? Did
Texas show enough to prove to
the world that it really
should've been in Miami instead
of Oklahoma (or Texas Tech, or
Utah, or USC, or Penn State, or
Boise State)? Not really, but
that's not necessarily the point. The
winner of the Florida - Oklahoma
game will be the 2008 National
Champion. Period. That's it.
However, that's not necessarily
it in the court of public
opinion, and on the message
boards. If Oklahoma wins, then
no matter what, Texas fans will
always have an empty feeling
that won't ever go away (just ask
fans of 2004 Auburn or 2003 USC
about how much it sucks to not
get a shot). The hole won't be
filled even if the AP decides to
vote the Horns No. 1. However,
if Florida wins, the debate is
over. Texas needed to blast Ohio
State to prove that it had a
real beef in the overall
argument, but if the Gators can
get by the Sooners, then it can
all be tied up in a nice, neat
bow with Florida finishing No.
1, Texas No. 2 or No. 3, Utah
No. 2 or No. 3, and then
Oklahoma and USC (or the other
way around) to finish up the top
five. Texas fans, if you want
your pain to be eased, at least as much as it can be, then root
hard for the Gators because then
your boys might finish ahead of
OU in the final rankings. It
might not be a playoff, but at
least there will be closure. If
OU wins, then let the message
board fun continue.
-
Pete
Fiutak
2.
If you like Florida to win on
Thursday night, you’re going to
have plenty of company. Guilt by
association isn’t always fair,
but don’t be shocked if people
start questioning Oklahoma over
the next 72 hours based on the
play of the other Big 12 South
teams this bowl season. Fair?
Who knows, but sometimes
perception is reality. And right
now, the perception is growing
that the Big 12 may have been
overhyped this fall. Oregon
blows past Oklahoma State in the
second half of the Holiday Bowl.
Texas Tech can’t keep up with
Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl.
Even Texas’ pulsating win over
Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl
fell short of expectations in
many people’s minds. The Big 12
needed the ‘Horns to dispose of
the Buckeyes much the way USC
did way back in September. It
didn’t happen. If not for the
heroics of Colt McCoy and Quan
Cosby, three of the South’s
ranked teams would have
imploded. None played up to the
oddsmakers’ measuring stick,
which will have the public
opinion pendulum swinging
further in the direction of
Gainesville as we get closer to
kickoff. -
Richard Cirminiello
3. What did James Laurinaitis,
Malcolm Jenkins, and the 23
other Ohio State seniors do to
earn this fate? Buckeye fans, at
least you still have the 2002
national title in your memory
bank to fall back on. The OSU
seniors, the ones who actually
played on the field, will have
to live the rest of their lives
with a ridiculously unfair check
mark next to their careers, sort
of like the Buffalo Bills that
lost four straight Super Bowls.
"Oh sure, they had great
careers, but ...."
There will always be a stigma
overshadowing the special
accomplishments that otherwise
should be lauded. After getting
blasted in the last two national
title games, and dealing with
the embarrassment that followed,
the defense was one stop away
from all but closing things out
with a brilliant statement that
would've all but forgiven the
other big January losses.
Instead, the Buckeyes got their
hearts ripped out knowing they
were just two minutes, and a few
inches on a key fourth down
play, from finishing off one of
the greatest eras in school
history.
Over the last four years, Ohio
State has gone 43-8 with four
straight trips to the BCS. Two
of the losses were in national
championships (which is far more
forgivable than this group ever
got credit for), one was to a
Texas team that probably
belonged in the national
championship, one was to a USC
team that would probably win the
national championship if there
was some sort of a playoff, one
was to a Penn State team that
won the Big Ten title and played
in the Rose Bowl, one was to an
Illinois team that played in the
2008 Rose Bowl, one was to a
2005 Penn State team that went
11-1, won the Big Ten title, and
won the Orange Bowl, and the
other was to the Vince Young-led
2005 national champion Texas
team. The eight losses came to
teams teams that went a combined
93-12 (that's an 89% winning
percentage) and finished their
seasons in the BCS. Let that
sink in for a moment. In the
end, this year's Ohio State
senior class didn't lose to a
dud team, had big wins over
Notre Dame in the 2006 Fiesta
Bowl, at Texas in 2006, and beat
Michigan four straight times
(five straight if you count a
redshirt year of 2004) including
the 2006 powerhouse. This will be remembered as an
extremely great group that
showed tremendous resiliency,
but it simply wasn't good enough
to be at the top of the
mountain. However, these seniors
came very, very close.
-
Pete
Fiutak
4.
Texas WR Quan Cosby might have
just delivered the single best
individual effort of the 2008
bowl season, catching 14 passes
for 172 yards and a pair of
touchdowns, including the
game-winner with 16 seconds
left. On a night when Colt McCoy
was not at his all-time
sharpest, despite the tremendous
numbers, Cosby helped out his
quarterback by constantly
finding the soft spot in the
Ohio State defense and picking
up a ton of yards after the
catch. While not the most
physically imposing receiver in
the country, or even the Big 12,
he does so many of the little
things well, from route running
to ball skills, which should
open up the door to a shot in
the NFL. -
Richard Cirminiello
5.
This
game had enough plot twists,
brain cramps, and brilliant
plays to last the whole
offseason, but since this is
just "5 Thoughts" and not "100
Thoughts," here's the one angle
worth taking in the immediate
aftermath of an entertaining but
sloppy slugfest:
Jim Tressel, one would like to
think, can rest easy, even in
defeat.
The quarterback rotation
involving Todd Boeckman and
Terrelle Pryor--a move lambasted
by many (but not here)--proved
to be a great decision that
married multiple needs for the
Buckeyes. The system not
only allowed Boeckman, a senior,
to have one more big-game
experience; it kept Pryor fresh
and offered the Bucks a credible
home-run threat on pass plays.
The pieces actually fit
together, proving that Mister
Sweater Vest--unfairly buried by
the media and fans alike after
recent big-game losses to
Florida, LSU and USC--knows what
he's doing.
Yeah, imagine that--Jim Tressel
can coach. Far too many people
in this country have been quick
to assail him for being anything
less than No. 1 in America.
The reason why the Bucks lost
this game was that OSU players
committed situational
breakdowns, breakdowns not
attributable to anything Tressel
or the Buckeye coaching staff
could take credit for. A solid
first-half performance showed
that Ohio State was given a
great game plan by its coach.
The adjustments to Beanie Wells'
second-half injury revealed a
staff that knew how to change up
on offense.
Some might be tempted to say
that Tressel hasn't coached
Pryor all that well. The inds of
mistakes Pryor made had nothing
to do with coaching. Stepping
out of bounds short of the
marker? How can that be
attributed to coaching? If Pryor
is still doing that kind of
thing next season, okay--that
would be a failure on the part
of Mister Sweater Vest. But in a
freshman season? I'm sure a part
of Tressel couldn't believe what
he was seeing when Pryor--a
truly AWESOME athlete in the
fullest sense--bailed out
prematurely on a number of
plays. Shocking lapses from
players in the heat of battle
can't--and shouldn't--be laid at
Tressel's feet.
His team might have lost three
times, but it's clear that
Tressel had a quarterback whose
physical gifts have not quite
been accompanied by a mature
mind.
If Tressel makes Pryor a smarter
football player--and the smart
money says he should--in 2009,
Ohio State will become a
dominant offensive team and roll
to a Big Ten title.
A Few Thoughts From The
Readers ...
What
was Ohio State thinking with
leaving 2 minutes left on the
clock and scoring
that touchdown??? Is there no
better time than that at that
moment for the RB to dive on the
ball after he gets the first
down, force Texas to burn its
final 2 TO, and then kick the
field goal to take the lead by 1
with almost no time left? How is
this not a preferable approach
to taking the TD with 2 minutes
left and letting a legendary
Colt McCoy led offense take the
field to try and take the game?
- Paul R.
With what possible logic did Jim
Tressel use to go for two after
the last Ohio State touchdown?
It was 21-17. Even if it works,
it's 23-17 with less than two
minutes to play. What he hoping
for the possibility of Texas
scoring a touchdown but missing
the extra point? If OSU kicks
the extra point, then it
would've had a shot to win the
game with a field goal. Of
course, that didn't turn out to
happen, but what if the Buckeyes
lost in overtime because of this
gaffe? Just because Colt came up
with that great final drive,
that shouldn't forgive this
phenomenally boneheaded move.
- Victor J.
I love college football, I like
the game so much, I would watch
San Jose State vs. Hawaii. BUT
it is bad enough we have to wait
for the BCS Championship game
and the Fiesta Bowl and on top
of that the games are played too
late for us East Coast people.
Like I said I love CFB, but I'm
not going to stay awake all
night during the week when I
have a mortgage to pay and a job
to get up and go to. Along with
a playoff system, how about we
get some reasonable game times.
Matter of fact I liked it the
old way when all the games were
played at once on Jan 1 and get
the thing over with. - Mark