Ohio State-Texas Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Wrapup

I feared that Ohio State had left too much time on the clock after they scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:58 left in the 4th-quarter, but that fourth-and-three play got my hopes up, as when I first saw the play I thought that WR James Kirkendoll was short of the red line. That turned out to be false however, and Colt McCoy was able to march down the field and hit WR Quan Cosby on that slant route for the thirty-yard touchdown. With that said, I thought that Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Peacock's play-calling on that drive was particularly poor to say the least, as his decision to play man-to-man coverage before Cosby's score let McCoy pick apart OSU on slant and drag routes over the middle (that wouldn't have happened in zone coverage) and on Cosby's play he had the safeties covering guys instead of dropping back to cover the deep ball on their respective side of the field. If Peacock would have called a cover 2-man under or even a cover one then Cosby most likely would have been stopped at about the five yard line, giving the Bucks 16 seconds of defense to play. Other major factors in the outcome of this game was the quarterback play of Terrelle Pryor compared to that of Colt McCoy, the sidelining of Beanie Wells and the first missed two-point conversion by the Buckeyes and second missed field goal by Aaron Pettrey. If Pryor throws a better in to Brian Robiskie on the two-point conversion when the score was 17-15 early in the fourth quarter instead of the ball that dropped short of him (say a ball up and to his side away from the defender) then the sure-handed Robiskie (when the ball is thrown between his thigh-slightly above his head, he has trouble with low balls due to his height) probably makes the catch, which would have put the score at 17-17 and calls for the Buckeyes to kick the extra point on their next score, putting the score at 24-17 and meaning that the game would have gone into overtime assuming everything stays the same. Of course though if the snap is handled correctly during Pettrey's second field goal in the first quarter and Pettrey hits the kick (he hit one from about the same if not the same distance on his first kick) instead of pulling it, then the Buckeyes probably kick both extra points on their next drive and the game goes to overtime tied at 24 also. The passing of Pryor really hurt the Buckeyes, as while McCoy made the large number of completions that he usually makes in a game (Texas usually calls mostly high-probability short passing plays meaning that McCoy will complete most of them. McCoy did not have his best game, as he should have had three picks instead of one due to about three-to-five bad decisions that he made), Pryor's throws were short and inaccurate for the most part. Todd Boeckman proved to be the team's better passer in this game, as his precise deep ball to Brian Robiskie and fade to Pryor proved. You could argue that the Buckeyes would have won this game had Boeckman been the starter for its entirety, as they would have had a decent chance of scoring at least one more field goal or touchdown with him in the game, but then again you wouldn't have Pryor's 78 yards on 15 carries if he was in the game and the Longhorns did get a very effective pass-rush (especially on the edge with Brian Erakbo and Henry Melton) on both QB's throughout the game. Beanie Wells had 106 yards on 16 carries for the Buckeyes with a touchdown, but he sat out most of the second-half of the game (I believe that the medical staff was concerned that he might have suffered a concussion), which had a big impact on the Buckeyes ability to run the football. Sure Boone Herron had 5 carries for 30 yards and a touchdown, but if Wells is still in the game you could argue that the Buckeyes would have continued to run the football more in the second-half which could have led to them scoring with the clock at :58 instead of 1:58. Props to Herron though for having a good game. Cosby and RB Chris Ogbonnaya really impressed me for the Longhorns, as Cosby reminded me of how quick he is coming out of his breaks and Ogbonnaya turned out to be faster than I originally thought he was. I think Cosby could be as high as a late-second round pick in the draft this year and Ogbonnaya's performance might get him picked in the sixth-seventh round, as Selvin Young (the Current Broncos star back who I believe had a better career for the Longhorns than Prior) went undrafted in '07 and I think knowing that will probably cause a NFL GM to foresee him as a potential efficient NFL back like Young. What the guy has overcome in his life alone is unbelievable, as two of his adopted brothers have passed away in his lifetime. Of the Buckeyes' two best players entering the draft this year, Robiskie and CB Malcolm Jenkins (who earned the Champ Bailey/Nnamdi Asomugha treatment from McCoy last night) I think Jenkins goes in the top 8 while Robiskie goes between the mid second-early third round. I think McCoy will stay at Texas for another year depending on whether OU QB Sam Bradford and Georgia QB Matt Stafford (both of whom who I believe are better NFL prospects than McCoy) stay in school or not (I believe he might come out if both enter the draft, I would put it at a 70% probability). It will now be interesting to see what type of reaction Texas' narrow win generates from AP Top 25 voters and DI coaches (one of which) has a say in whether their will be a split national championship this year or not. Yes, Texas beat the no. 10 team in the nation, but had to come from behind late to do so against an OSU team that critics had been dogging all year as being an average-to-good team playing in a mediocre conference when many people (not me who picked them to win and at least cover their +8 spread-the Jan. 30-31 Caesars spread documented in my BCS picks article) thought that they would destroy them. If I'm a coach or writer with a vote I put them third behind the winner of the Oklahoma-Florida game and Utah, though if Oklahoma wins somewhat convincingly I may give them a no. 2 vote, as I strongly believe that Oklahoma has improved enough on defense since they last played Texas that they would beat them if the two teams were to play today at the Cotton Bowl or another neutral site.