Fiesta Bowl

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38TH ANNUAL TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL

Texas 24
Ohio State 21

 

Jan. 5, 2009
Attendance:
 72,047
Offensive Player of the Game:
 Colt McCoy, Texas
Defensive Player of the Game:
 Roy Miller, Texas
Sportsmanship Award:
 Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State
Head Coaches:
 
Mack Brown, Texas;
 Jim Tressel, Ohio State
Weather:
 Roof closed (cool and clear outside)
Television:
 FOX
Payout Per Team:
 
$18,200,000

38th Annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl

Colt McCoy was determined to make sure he and his Texas Longhorns finished on top this time.

After narrowly being left out of the BCS National Championship Game and finishing second in the Heisman Trophy race, McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play to cap an 11-play, 78-yard drive and give the Longhorns a 24-21 win over Ohio State.

McCoy completed 41 of 59 passes, both Fiesta Bowl records, for 414 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a score. On the game-winning touchdown, Cosby caught a short pass over the middle, slipped a tackle and sprinted toward the goal line before diving into the end zone.

The Buckeyes used two quarterbacks in the game – senior Todd Boeckman and freshman Terrelle Pryor – to confuse the Longhorns defense and the plan helped them almost pull off the upset.

Making their fifth trip to the desert in the past seven years, Ohio State battled back from a 17-6 deficit to take a 21-17 lead on a 15-yard run by Dan Herron with 2:05 to play. That score came after Todd Boeckman hit Terrelle Pryor for a 5-yard score to cut Texas’ lead to 17-15. Pryor’s pass on the 2-point conversion was incomplete.

But there was too much time left on the clock, as McCoy completed seven of 10 passes for 76 yards on the final drive.

Ohio State took a 6-3 halftime lead behind its solid defense and the running of Chris “Beanie” Wells, who had 96 yards rushing in the first half. But Wells, who finished with 106 yards on 16 carries, suffered a concussion and missed most of the second half.

On Texas’ first possession of the second half, McCoy took a direct snap, bolted through the right side of the line, broke to the sideline and spun past a defender for a 14-yard touchdown run. Seven minutes later, McCoy found Cosby in the back of the end zone to put the Longhorns up 17-6.

Cosby finished with 14 receptions (second most in Fiesta Bowl history) for 171 yards and the two touchdowns.


    "We knew our guys had a tremendous amount of pressure on them and they just didn’t quit.  It has been the way this team started.  It is the way they have worked throughout the year."

    Mack Brown
    Head Coach
    University of Texas



SCORE BY QUARTERS


1   2   3   4   Final
Ohio State  
3 3  0  15 
21
Texas 0 3 14 
7
24


HOW THEY SCORED

OSU TEX
3 0 Aaron Pettrey 51 yard field goal
3 3 Hunter awrence 27 yard field goal
6 3 Ryan Pretorius 30 yard field goal
6 10 Colt McCoy 14 yard run (Lawrence kick)
6 17 Quan Cosby 7 yard pass from McCoy (Lawrence kick)
9 17 Pettrey 44 yard field goal
15 17 Terrelle Pryor 5 yard pass from Todd Boeckman (pass failed)
21 17 Dan Herron 15 yard run (pass failed)
21 24 Cosby 26 yard pass from McCoy (Lawrence kick)


YARDSTICK

OSU
TEX
21 First Downs 33
39-203 Rushes-Yards 28-72
176 Passing Yards 414
10-25-0 Passes 41-59-1
16 Return Yards 0
4-40.2 Punts 5-46.8
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 2-0
7-67 Penalties-Yards 8-83


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – OHIO STATE: Chris Wells 16-106, Terrelle Pryor 15-78, Dan Herron 5-30, Maurice Wells 1-(-2), Todd Boeckman 2-(-9). TEXAS: Chris Ogbonnaya 11-42, Foswhitt Whittaker 6-23, Colt McCoy 7-3, Cody Johnson 3-2, Rashad Bobino 1-2.

PASSING – OHIO STATE: Terrelle Pryor 5-14-0-66, Todd Boeckman 5-11-0-110. TEXAS: Colt McCoy 41-59-1-414.

RECEIVING – OHIO STATE: Brian Robiskie 5-116, DeVier Posey 2-13, Jake Ballard 1-21, Chris Wells 1-21, Terrelle Pryor 1-5. TEXAS: Quan Cosby 14-171, Jordan Shipley 10-78, Brandon Collins 7-60, James Kirkendoll 5-41, Chris Ogbonnaya 4-56, Peter Ullman 1-8.

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