Fiesta Bowl Reaction

I have never been a fan of people who tape/DVR games to watch them later as if they were live. But after watching tonight's Fiesta Bowl that way, I think I may do it more often.

I worked all day and did not get home until 11:30pm. But watching the OSU-TEX game on DVR without knowing anything about it was just as good as watching it live. And that's because that game was an instant classic.

In the end, I am incredibly proud of the way the Bucks played. I know, many feel like it's like we laid another BCS egg but considering the fact that many thought (including myself) that we would lose by a ton in this game, OSU played like a true champ.

Texas came into this game, hoping to prove they were the best team in the nation. And that meant, dominating OSU all game and in every facet. But that was not to be. Instead, Texas was on their heels pretty much all game, including in the last minute. And yes, Colt McCoy and Quan Cosby saved the day but all in all, Texas didn't look that impressive.

OSU dominated this game in the first half. The rush game with Terrelle Pryor and Chris Wells clearly had the upper hand. And the OSU defense played their best half yet, stopping pretty much anything Texas threw at them.

The second half was a bit dicey. Texas begna their no-huddle offense which gave the Bucks defense a bit of a problem. (Quick aside: Why did OSU have a problem with that? We had 6 weeks to prepare and to get in shape? Come on...) And when it looked like Texas was well on its way to running OSU out of Arizona, the Bucks refused to go away.

Instead, Todd Boeckman made a triumphant return to QB and threw a TD pass to his protege' Pryor, confirming Jim Tressel's status as a great play-caller and offensive mind. Plus, Herron's lead-taking TD run was amazing. And don't forget. The second half saw very little of Chris Wells, further proving that next year;s OSU team will be just fine without him.

Now, I know the defense couldn't hold the lead. And I know that OSU lost. But this game was beyond win and loss. It was about proving a point that Ohio State could play with the big boys. It was about proving Jim Tressel is a big game coach. It was about proving that Ohio State and the Big Ten should be relevant in the national discussion once again. I think after this game, all of that has been proven.

Mad props to Texas for coming away with a victory. It was a great game and let's just hope that Thursday's national title tilt is that good. But for now, let's all remember the great game that was OSU-Texas.

And final note, I want to send a special thanks to the 28 OSU seniotrs. While a lot of people have been giving them grief for their lack of big-game wins, I instead want to thank them for allowing us OSU fans to have the opportunity to get excited for games such as OSU-FLA, OSU-LSU, OSU-USC and OSU-Texas. If this senior class would have packed it in after the Florida debacle, this season would have been a joke. But instead, it was another action-packed and dramatic season, full of ups and downs. But after this final game, I think there will be ups than downs.