Texas vs. Ohio State | inspin's Blog

Longhorns -8 vs. Buckeyes

The bowl championship series resumes Monday night, January 5th with a good matchup of the nation's tenth and third team as Ohio State takes on Texas in the Fiesta Bowl to be held in Glendale, Arizona in a matchup of angry teams with some things to prove.

Ohio State (10-2) is the only 2-loss team in a BCS bowl this season and will be trying to reclaim its good name on a national stage. The Buckeyes struggles in the last two BSC title games are well documented, as was their throttling at the hands of USC, 35-3, earlier this season.

Meanwhile Texas (11-1) could not have done more to be included in the BCS title game. They beat one of the teams involved (Oklahoma), and have an identical record, but still are on the outside looking in. The only blemish on their record was an epic contest which saw the lead see-saw in the last five minutes of the game and saw Texas Tech ultimately claim the game 33-32.

Nonetheless, the Texas Longhorns will prepare for a battle with the Buckeyes with their Heisman Trophy runner-up Colt McCoy under center. McCoy set school records with 3445 yards, 32 touchdowns and a 77.6 completion percentage. He also led the team with 576 yards and 10 scores on the ground.

Despite many people not wanting the Buckeyes in this game due to recent performances, they hold the lead, along with USC and Oklahoma, for most BCS bowl appearances with seven.

The turning point in Ohio State's season came when coach Jim Tressel made a change at quarterback after their embarrassment in Los Angeles. Terrelle Pryor took over the starting reins and helped the Buckeyes to an 8-1 finish. The freshman completed 62.2 percent of his passes for 1158 yards and 12 touchdowns. He only threw four interceptions during his starting role. Pryor also ran for 424 yards and five touchdowns.

While both teams are geared for offensive fireworks, this may turnout to be a defensive struggle as both teams were in the top 20 in scored defense.

The two teams recently played a memorable home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006 with the road team winning both contests, Texas in '05, Ohio State in '06.

The Buckeyes are 18-21 in all-time bowl games while the Longhorns are 23-21-2.

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