Fiesta Bowl Speaks Volumes About Ohio State

Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor runs a short fade route to the corner of the end zone, jumps over a Texas defender, and hauls in a touchdown pass from his predecessor and now backup Todd Boeckman, cutting the Longhorn's lead to 17-15.

On the subsequent drive, running back Daniel "Boom" Herron took a hand off at the Texas Longhorn 15 yard line, cut back, and ran virtually untouched into the end zone to give the Buckeyes a 21-17 lead with 2:05 left in the Fiesta Bowl.

Wait a minute.

Pryor catching passes?

Boeckman throwing the ball?

The Buckeyes have the lead with two minutes to go?

And who the heck is Boom Herron?!!

All of the headlines, recaps and commentary about Monday night's thrilling Fiesta Bowl will laud Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and receiver Quan Crosby, among others on the Longhorns, and their stunning 11 play, 78-yard drive with less than two minutes to play.

And for good reason: the Longhorns came up big when the game was on the line.

But the story of this Fiesta Bowl were those athletes and coaches in the scarlet and silver.

Coach Jim Tressel pulled out all of the stops in a game where few thought that the Buckeyes had any real chance. Ohio St. had not only lost the past two national championship games, but had been soundly beaten. They have a true freshman quarterback.

And also, have you heard how Texas feels about the way the BCS treated them this year?

The odds were stacked against Tressel and the Buckeyes, but they responded excellently. The Longhorns had no answer in the first half for running back Chris "Beanie" Wells, and he seemed well on his way for an enormous game en route to carrying the Buckeyes to a win, only to be injured early in the second half, and absent from the rest of the game.

But Ohio St. battled. They scored 15 straight points on a Texas defense that was supposedly much better than advertised. They held one of the most explosive offenses in the country to half of their points per game average. They executed trick formations.

Texas deserved the win, but Ohio State played better than a loss.