Texas Came to Play 25-22
2005-09-14
Posted by: badanov
The Texas-Ohio State was a football game that was as good as it gets in college football. The game was a defensive display for both teams, both teams also well balanced in their offense with Ohio State having a friendly home crowd. But in the end, Texas prevailed 25-22.
Does Texas has a shot now at the national title? Dunno, but we do know this: going in to the game Texas quarterback had to show the country and the cameras that his team was as good as any, and he did so by marching the Longhorns down the field in the first quarter and in their first possession to end up with a field goal. This was a picture perfect drive and a good display of what Vince Young could do to opposing teams.
As we watched the opening plays, we knew that Texas could not afford to back into a win, that is, they could not hope to capitalize on mistakes to win. Texas had to be good enough not to rely on turnovers and busted plays.
Did Young win the game? He certainly helped, except that later in the game Ohio State started to key in on Young, forcing him to hurry. Routine pass plays in the flats or close in the middle became real problems for Texas. Even the option play could not be run because of Ohio State's defense. Ohio State had two of the fastest corner backs we have seen so far this year. The Ohio State front four were tossing aside Texas linemen and forcing Young to throw into zone coverage. And that sort of pressure worked: Young wound up with two interceptions.
For Ohio State, they were living by the field goal with five field goals in the game, a crucial sixth was missed in the fourth quarter. Texas also put its kicker to use with David Pino scoring three of three.
What killed Ohio State was the Texas pass rush. Both OSU quarterbacks, Troy Smith and Justin Zwick, combined for just 144 yards passing and one touchdown, by Troy.
Ohio State is a great team, one of the best we have seen so far this years, barring Georgia, but they couldn't get passed Vince Young and the Texas defense.
Next week, Ohio State hosts San Diego State and Texas hosts Rice.
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