by Randy Hill

Comment

Sworn in as co-defendants were the third-ranked Texas Longhorns and the twice-beaten Ohio State Buckeyes, two squads dragging burdens of proof through the several excruciating weeks separating college football's regular season and its controversial closing ceremony.

Monday's dramatic, 24-21 Texas victory failed to deliver the desired outcome for both teams.

Texas was attempting to demonstrate that its omission from the BCS championship game was a colossal mistake. The Longhorns and their fans probably weren't thrilled that quarterback Colt McCoy grabbed the silver in the Heisman race, either.

But despite riding McCoy on a 414-yard passing night, the Texas comeback victory did not produce sufficient evidence to make its case. The 'Horns were hoping to convince jurors from The Associated Press poll who — with their No. 1 votes waiting to be cast — could be considered the super delegates of college football.

The Buckeyes were merely scratching for proof that they and their Big Ten cronies (now having combined for six BCS losses in a row) should not be dismissed as the BCS version of Wile E. Coyote. Although Ohio State did itself proud (relative to recent years), the Buckeyes may have accomplished little more than offer evidence that Big 12 teams have less killer speed than top teams in the SEC.

Yeah, we always seem to dig up that speed issue. And, for the record, it wasn't much of an issue this time.

Using the Longhorns' apparent defensive speed against them, at times, in the opening half, Ohio State reached intermission with a 6-3 lead. Star running back Beanie Wells, often aided by trap blocks that exploited the Texas horizontal pursuit, rolled for 96 first-half yards on 12 carries.

Unfortunately for Ohio State's BCS redemption rally, true freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor was throwing splitters against the Texas pass coverage.

That leads us to the protection issue.

On Media Day, the Buckeyes protected Pryor by leaving him at the team hotel. On Monday, coach Jim Tressel and his offensive coaches had to be more creative against sack-fiend Brian Orakpo and the Texas defensive line. This Orakpo-phobia inspired the Buckeyes to keep a back and tight end around for maximum protection, a tactic that offered fewer open receivers for Pryor to play with.

The 6-foot-6 rookie responded by trotting out of the pocket and out of bounds. That didn't exactly produce an offensive explosion, but the Longhorns offense had its own concerns.

The Ohio State defense did its job in that half, mercilessly blitzing McCoy and deploying sticky man coverage against his receiving corps. Colt, who still managed 198 passing yards before intermission, would begin the second half with what certainly seemed to be the superior, adjusted game plan.

"They were blitzing about 49 percent of the time, so we went with quicker routes," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "Colt and the offense started handling the blitz better and we mixed in the run better."

The mixing included a few options in the running game for Texas, which scored twice in the third quarter and entered the fourth with a 17-6 cushion.

Texas also made enough adjustments on defense to stop Wells, who left the game for good after taking a hit to the head.

But the Buckeyes refused to go roll over. With Wells out and senior quarterback Todd Boeckman (he actually took the game's first snap) mixed in for duty on obvious passing downs, Ohio State came roaring back. It didn't hurt that several designed runs finally were called for Pryor, whose 78 rushing yards were a dozen more than his splitter supplied through the air. The Bucks pulled to within two points (at 17-15), when Pryor, who lined up at wide receiver when Boeckman was in the game, caught a five-yard jump ball for a touchdown.

Boom Herron's 15-yard TD spring gave Ohio State a 21-17 lead with 2:05 to play, leaving McCoy just enough time to be a hero ... again.

The deciding, 11-play, 78-yard drive, which included a crucial fourth-down catch by James Kirkendoll, ended when McCoy hooked up with Quan Cosby on a 26-yard burn of another Ohio State blitz.

"I said 'If I catch the same look, give me a slant,'" McCoy said of the Ohio State pressure package in his talk with Cosby, who finished with 14 catches or 171 yards and two scores.

McCoy also supplied a measure of moral triumph for the Big Ten, which counts Iowa as its lone victor this bowl season.

"That was the best defense we faced all season," Colt said of the Buckeyes.

Considering what the Longhorns went up against on a weekly basis in the Big 12, we still can't be sure if that qualifies as expert testimony.

"We showed up and proved everybody wrong," said Cosby, who didn't seem to notice that his team was a double-digit favorite.

Some of us probably remain bitter that another OSU (Oregon State) failed to take care of business against Oregon, providing the Fiesta with a showdown-caliber matchup between Texas and USC.