Longhorns rally past Ohio State
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Texas Longhorns will be No. 1 on at least one ballot.
It belongs to coach Mack Brown.
Brown said he made up his mind after Colt McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play, lifting the third-ranked Longhorns to a 24-21 Fiesta Bowl victory over No. 10 Ohio State on Monday night. The stunning strike capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive that took only 1:42.
"I wasn't sure before right now, but Friday morning I'm going to vote Texas No. 1 because I think this is the best team in the country," Brown said.
However, the coaches likely will give their trophy to the winner of the Bowl Championship Series title game, which pits Florida against Oklahoma — a team Texas beat in the regular season.
Texas' only hope for a share of the title is in The Associated Press Top 25. As exhilarating as the victory was, it may not have been dominant enough to persuade voters that the Longhorns (12-1) deserve a share of the national championship.
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 (10-3) nearly did.
They flirted with the upset behind quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Todd Boeckman but instead went down to a third straight BCS bowl loss, leaving the Big Ten 1-6 in this postseason.
It didn't help that Buckeyes tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells, who rushed for 106 yards on 16 carries, missed much of the second half with a concussion.
"That's the problem in tight ballgames like this," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "Two outstanding teams, sometimes you finish it (and) the game ends when you are the one ahead, and sometimes the game ends when you're not."
The Longhorns rebounded after Ohio State had taken a 21-17 lead on a 15-yard run by Dan Herron with 2:05 to go.
That score came five minutes after Boeckman hit Pryor for a 5-yard score to cut Texas' lead to 17-15. Pryor's pass on the 2-point conversion was incomplete.
Boeckman completed five of 11 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown. Pryor was 5-for-14 for 66 yards, and also ran for 78 yards on 15 carries.
Brown was impressed by Pryor, a rangy freshman.
"He will be a guy that's in a Heisman race, and it may be sooner than we think because he is a leader," Brown said.
