Tostito's Fiesta Bowl Preview

Ohio State Buckeyes(10-2) vs Texas Longhorns(11-1)
Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. Mountain time

The Tostito's Fiesta Bowl will be played tonight on a neutral field in Glendale, Arizona.

Texas- The Longhorns have a lot to prove tonight because they feel that they have been snubbed from the National Title game. The BCS computer system chose the Oklahoma Sooners to take on Florida in the BCS National Championship game rather than the Longhorns, even though earlier this year Texas beat Oklahoma in a great college football game by the final score of 45-35. If it wasn't for Texas' loss to Texas Tech in the last seconds, they would be playing for the National title without question. Unfortanetly for them, Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech caught a pass down the sidelines to beat Texas 39-33 in another exciting game. But make no doubt about it that the Longhorns still feel like they gat a raw deal by not being able to play on Thursday in the title game. Colt McCoy is a highly talented, highly regarded college Quarterback, having an amazing season. He passed for over 400 yards against Oklahoma, and threw for 4 touchdowns that game. McCoy has plenty of offensive talent around him, and Texas should be able to move the ball very well against Ohio State's Defense. One thing that McCoy and the Longhorns offense is able to do is they seem to always convert on third down. I can't count how many times Oklahoma forced them into 3rd and long, and how many times McCoy was able to bail them out with a great play. If Texas can keep the chains moving on third down, they should have a great chance to control the ball and win this Fiesta Bowl.

Ohio State- Ohio State has had a solid year this year going 10-2, and only losing to then #1 USC Trojans, and then #3 Penn State Nittany Lions. They did get blown out 35-3 against USC but that was in week three of the season. They certainly feel they are better now, but not everyone agrees. Ohio State is being highly critisized for being in the Big 10 this year, because the Big 10 has not been that solid of a conference. In the Rose Bowl Penn State(Big 10 conference) got blown out by the USC Trojans 38-24, and the Nittany Lions scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to even make it somewhat close. Ohio State lost to Penn State 13-6 in a slow moving Big 10 football game earlier this year. That is exactly the beef with the Big 10, there is no outstanding players, no outstanding teams, and certainly no outstanding shootout football games like Texas played against Texas Tech and also Oklahoma. But how can yo not notice that Ohio State still went 10-2, they still play in what is called a "BCS Conference" and always seem to be in contention late in the year. The last two times that Ohio State has been in a BCS game, they have been absolutley blown out by Oklahoma once, and Florida another time. The strength in Ohio State is its offensive attak with Chris "Beanie" Wells, and freshman quarterback Terrell Pryor. These two players have carried thier team to their great season, but Texas is not a Big 10 team, they are a Big 12 team, and have a high powered offensive attack. Will Ohio State's defense be able to shut down Colt McCoy and the Longhorns offense? If they can, they have a chance to win, but that is a big "if."

Prediction- The Texas Longhorns go into this game as 9 point favorites in Vegas, and I dont see any reason to think otherwise. The Longhorns have only lost one game all year playing in the highly talented Big 12, whereas Ohio State has two losses, one of which was out of conference to USC. But still, the Big 12 is a better conference than the Big 10, and with Colt McCoy calling the shots in the Texas offense, I dont see how Ohio State wins this game. One thing that can not be over looked is the fact that the Texas Longhorns have a lot to prove tonight, because they feel shorted by not being in the BCS National Championship Game. I look for Texas to come out fired up and ready to prove the BCS voters wrong. They will score early and often against Ohio State, and I am all over the Longhorns in this game. I'll take Texas in the biggest margin of victory in the BCS bowls games, 38-10.