Quan Cosby of the Texas Longhorns on the way to score the winning touchdown against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Glendale, Arizona, on Monday. (Rick Scuteri/Reuters)
U.S. COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Texas bounces back to beat Ohio State in Fiesta Bowl
By Billy Witz Published: January 6, 2009
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GLENDALE, Arizona: Colt McCoy, the University of Texas quarterback with a gunslinger's name and a game to match, spent most of the evening being battered by Ohio State University. But he would not be beaten.
McCoy picked himself up off the turf time and again, and in the end did the same with his team. He fired a 26-yard touchdown pass to Quan Cosby with 16 seconds left to lift the Longhorns to a 24-21 victory Monday over the Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium.
It was the 10th time in his career that McCoy rallied the Longhorns to victory and it is hard to imagine any were more satisfying than this one.
When a last-gasp pass by Ohio State's quarterback, Todd Boeckman, landed on the turf near the 5-yard line, Texas players tossed their helmets into the air and poured onto the field.
"We knew our guys had tremendous pressure on them and they just didn't quit," Texas's coach, Mack Brown, said. "It was a classic."
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Texas bounces back to beat Ohio State in Fiesta BowlYear in sport, part 7: The year aheadFarewell to the tranquil captainThe Buckeyes had taken a 21-17 lead with 2 minutes 5 seconds left when Daniel Herron burst through a huge hole in the left side of the line. It capped their unlikely rally from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit.
But as it turned out, it left too much time for McCoy, who was 41 for 58 for 414 yards. He threw two touchdown passes, ran for another score, was intercepted once, was sacked four times and was hit many more - including twice on hits that were ruled personal fouls.
Wherever he was on the field, the action seemed to follow as he channeled his inner Brett Favre.
"I don't think he's been hit like he was hit today," the Ohio State safety Malcolm Jenkins said. "But he's one of the better quarterbacks in the nation. That's not something that's going to destroy his game. He did a good job of staying poised and making the throws he had to make."
McCoy was 7 for 10 on the final drive, including a 3-yard pass to James Kirkendoll on fourth-and-3 at the Ohio State 43 that kept Texas alive by a matter of inches with 38 seconds left.
Two plays later, with the Buckeyes in an all-out blitz and all the receivers covered man-to-man with no help, McCoy hit Cosby with a slant.
Cosby raced untouched and dived into the end zone.
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