GLENDALE, Ariz. — Left out of the national title game, Colt McCoy and Texas made the most of their trip to the Fiesta Bowl.
McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds to play, lifting third-ranked Texas to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Ohio State on Monday night.
The Longhorns had hoped to use the Fiesta Bowl to persuade voters they deserved a share of the national championship if Oklahoma beats Florida in Thursday night’s BCS final. The Associated Press top 25 is Texas’ only chance at nabbing a slice of the title, but the close victory over the Buckeyes might not be enough to persuade voters.
“I don’t think there’s anybody in the country who can beat us at this point,” McCoy said.
The Buckeyes nearly pulled off the upset behind quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Todd Boeckman but instead went down to a third consecutive BCS bowl loss.
McCoy, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, calmly led the Longhorns 78 yards in 11 plays and 1:42 without calling a timeout. On the touchdown, Cosby caught a short pass, slipped a tackle and sprinted toward the goal line before diving into the end zone.
The Longhorns (12-1) rebounded after Ohio State (10-3) had taken a 21-17 lead on a 15-yard run by Dan Herron with 2:05 to play.
That touchdown came five minutes after Boeckman hit Pryor for a 5-yard score to cut Texas’ lead to 17-15. Pryor’s pass on the two-point conversion was incomplete.
For most of the night, the Buckeyes stifled the high-powered Longhorns, who averaged 43.9 points this season but mustered only a field goal in the first half. They didn’t lead until a nifty third-quarter touchdown run by McCoy, who also threw for 414 yards and two scores with an interception.
The Longhorns finished in a three-way tie atop the rugged Big 12 South and thought their 10-point victory over Oklahoma should have put them in the conference title game. But Oklahoma was declared the division winner on a BCS standings tiebreaker, and the Sooners ripped Missouri in the Big 12 playoff to earn a trip to the national championship.
“This team started this way and finished this way, and they’re obviously one of the best teams in the country, if not the best,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.
Ohio State’s loss capped a 1-6 bowl season for the Big Ten.
“You saw a great football game out there, two teams going at it extremely hard,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.
Texas players rushed onto the field after Boeckman’s last-gasp pass hit the turf deep in Texas territory, then gathered in front of the band and sang “The Eyes of Texas” with jubilant fans.
Ohio State 3 3 0 15 — 21
Texas 0 3 14 7 — 24
First quarter: OSU — FG Pettrey 51, 7:28. Second quarter: Tex — FG Lawrence 27, 11:45. OSU — FG Pretorius 30, 5:39. Third quarter: Tex — McCoy 14 run (Lawrence kick), 8:29. Tex — Cosby 7 pass from McCoy (Lawrence kick), 1:04. Fourth quarter: OSU — FG Pettrey 44, 13:22. OSU — Pryor 5 pass from Boeckman (pass failed), 7:26. OSU — Herron 15 run (pass failed), 2:05. Tex — Cosby 26 pass from McCoy (Lawrence kick), :16. A — 72,047. OSU Texas
First downs 21 33
Rushes-yards 39-203 28-72
Passing yards 176 414
Comp.-att.-int. 10-25-0 41-59-1
Return yards 16 0
Punts-avg. 4-40.3 5-46.8
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 7-67 8-83
Time of possession 30:13 29:47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Ohio State, C. Wells 16-106, Pryor 15-78, Herron 5-30, M. Wells 1-(minus 2), Boeckman 2-(minus 9). Texas, Ogbonnaya 11-42, Whittaker 6-23, McCoy 7-3, Bobino 1-2, C. Johnson 3-2.
PASSING — Ohio State, Pryor 5-14-0-66, Boeckman 5-11-0-110. Texas, McCoy 41-59-1-414.
RECEIVING — Ohio State, Robiskie 5-116, Posey 2-13, Ballard 1-21, C. Wells 1-21, Pryor 1-5. Texas, Cosby 14-171, Shipley 10-78, Collins 7-60, Kirkendoll 5-41, Ogbonnaya 4-56, Ullman 1-8.
