Previewing the BCS Games, Part Three: The Fiesta Bowl

This game features two teams who have just been faced with two completely different situations.  

Texas, on one hand, beat Oklahoma on a neutral field, and Oklahoma is playing ahead of them in the National Championship. Texas feels, and rightfully so, that they deserve to play for the National Championship.

Ohio State, on the other hand, luckily got into a BCS bowl over other deserving teams like Boise State. Many think that Ohio State doesn't deserve a BCS bid because they have two losses and because their best quality win is against Michigan State, who is arguably overrated.

Texas climbed their way to an impressive 11-1 record, with their only blemish coming on the road to Texas Tech, when Graham Harrell threw a touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree with one second left.

It was a heartbreaking defeat for Texas. Texas is led by their passing game, and the leader of the passing game is none other than junior quarterback Colt McCoy.

Colt McCoy was one of the three Heisman finalists, and although he did not win the award (he came in second), he did win other awards, like the Walter Camp Player of the Year award, and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year award.  

He had the highest completion percentage in the Nation at 77.6%, (he actually broke the record for highest completion percentage in Division I college football), and threw 32 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

Ohio State has been called "the most overrated team in BCS history," and with good reason. Ohio State has fallen in the past two National Championships to Florida and LSU, both times being completely dominated by their SEC foes.

Their last BCS win was in 2005, when they beat overrated (as always) Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. This is Ohio State's chance to get their reputation back.  They will play with all their hearts so they are no longer the laughingstock of the BCS.

This year, Ohio State lost to the two good teams they faced, USC and Penn State, and those are the teams that happen to be facing off in the Rose Bowl.  

USC crushed Ohio State, and Penn State won a hard-fought battle (as they always are) against Ohio State, and thus took the Big 10 Championship by the way of a tie-breaker. Ohio State has a lot to prove, and they will be lead by the No. 1 recruit in the nation, Terrelle Pryor, and outstanding running back Chris "Beanie" Wells.

Texas has had a very explosive offense all year, putting up 40 or more points eight times this year. Texas is a team that can score in seconds, they are a very fast-paced teams and have a very fast offense.

Texas' defense, although not top-caliber, is very underrated. They held offensive powerhouses like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to 35 and 24 points, which is very impressive, especially when you consider that Oklahoma put up 60 or more points in its final five games. Thirty-five points is also Oklahoma's lowest scoring effort of the year, which occurred against both Texas and TCU.

Ohio State's offense is not nearly as dynamic, however. Although Pryor can make some exciting plays with his arm and his legs, and Beanie can also break some big runs, Ohio State is more known for their defense than their offense.

Ohio State plays the "Tressel Conservative Offense," as I like to call it. As the name says, it is based on head coach Jim Tressel's play calling, and, you guessed it, they have many very conservative plays in their playbook.

They don't score a lot, but they don't have to since, in most games, their defense can stop the opposing team, and sometimes the defense will even score a couple of touchdowns in a game.

Ohio State's defense is led by last year's Butkus Award winner James Laurinaitis (even though the award should have gone to Penn State's Dan Connor, who was a much better linebacker and he deserved it more for his performances that year.

The only reason Laurinaitis got it was because PSU's Paul Posluszny won it over him the year before, and they felt sorry for him and didn't want him to lose to two straight players from "Linebacker U" so they gave him the award).

Ohio State also has a great cornerback named Malcolm Jenkins. He won the Jim Thorpe award for the best cornerback in the nation, and along with Laurinaitis, is a senior captain on Ohio State's defense. Ohio State has a smash-mouth defense that hits really hard and causes many drives to stop due to either forcing a punt or a turnover.

Ohio State wins by "Tresselball," as we Big Ten fans call it. Basically, Tresselball is a concept where you don't make any dumb mistakes. This includes turnovers and penalties.

The way Tresselball is executed is that you have few or no penalties, you don't turn the ball over, and you force your opponent to make the mistakes, get the penalties, and force the turnovers.  Also, safe and conservative play-calling and winning the field position battle are also parts of Tresselball.

Unfortunately for Ohio State, when they played Penn State, at home might I add, PSU did not have a single penalty or turnover, and Ohio State had about four penalties and two turnovers.  Penn State also won the field position battle, having many drives start between the 30s.  Penn State beat Ohio State at their own game.

Texas wins by scoring a lot, scoring fast, giving its defense some rest on occasional long drives, and having its defense bend but not break.

Basically, to sum this all up, Texas scores on most of its drives, forces their opponents to pass when they have the lead, and they get their defense to put pressure on the quarterback so that the other team does not score as often, which results in a win for Texas.

Now, to put it all together.

Rushing: Ohio State gets the edge.

Passing: Texas gets the edge.

Receiving: Texas gets the edge.

Defense: Ohio State gets the edge.

Special Teams: Texas gets the slight edge.

Coaching: Ohio State gets the slight edge.

Scoring Ability: Texas gets the edge.

There we go. According to the stats and who has the edge, Texas holds a relatively small lead over Ohio State. Now, let's check my prediction.

Prediction: Texas 41, Ohio State 24.

And there you have it. Stay tuned for Part Four, "The Grandaddy Of Them All", the one, the only, the Rose Bowl!!!