January 6, 2009 - Glendale, AZ - Tostitos BCS Fiesta Bowl - #3 Texas vs #10 Ohio St.

In 2005 we saw Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns overcome Ohio State at the Horseshoe on national TV.

In 2006 we saw Troy Smith, Antonio Holmes, and Teddy Ginn Jr. return the favor in Austin as the Longhorns tried defending their 2005 National Championship.

Both were classic matchups of power conference behemoths that really ought to occur more in college football outside of BCS bowl games.

In this 2008 season, we get to see these two giants face off once more for a rubber game on neutral ground in the Fiesta Bowl.

Once again, can we expect to see similar big names, big plays, and another springboard to future success for one of these programs?

This year's Fiesta Bowl should be similar to the previous two games, in that we have the same big schools, the same coaches, the same gameplan styles, and the same pressures that programs at this level expect in striving to get better and bigger.

Let's compare the games and names:

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2005 - #2 Texas 25   #4 Ohio St. 22

Texas

QB Vince Young, RB Selvin Young, RB Jamaal Charles, WR Limas Sweed, NT Frank Okam, DT Rodrique Wright, CB Cedric Griffin, FS Michael Griffin, SS Michael Huff

Ohio St.

QB Troy Smith, RB Antonio Pittman, WR Ted Ginn Jr, WR Santonio Holmes, WR Tony Gonzalez, LB AJ Hawk

Highlights:  Future Heisman winner, frosh QB Troy Smith, comes in halfway through the game to get OSU on track.  2005 Heisman runner-up, QB Vince Young, throws a late game fade pass TD to WR Limas Sweed, who catches the football falling backwards, for the go-ahead score.  Texas went on to an undefeated season and the national championship.  Ohio St. lines up a ton of future greats who play in back to back national championships in 2006 and 2007 seasons, including LB J. Laurinaitis.

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2006 - #1 Ohio St. 24   #2 Texas 7

Ohio St.

QB Troy Smith, RB Antonio Pittman, WR Ted Ginn Jr, WR Tony Gonzalez, LB J Laurinaitis

Texas

QB Colt McCoy, RB Jamaal Charles, RB Selvin Young, WR Limas Sweed, DE Brian Orakpo, CB Cedric Griffin, FS Michael Griffin, SS Aaron Ross.

Highlights:  The Buckeyes played a mistake-free game, controlling the tempo and outcome most of the game.  Future star QB Colt McCoy gets his first taste of a big time college game.  Ohio St. uses this strong performance to bolster their #1 status for the whole season.  OSU LB J Laurinaitis shows his future Butkus Award stardom in gaining an interception, 10 tackles, and 3 stops for losses.

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2008 - #3 Texas (11-1)  vs   #10 Ohio St (10-2)

Texas

QB Colt McCoy, WR/KR Quan Cosby, WR/PR Jordan Shipley, DE Brian Orakpo, DE Henry Melton, LB Roddrick Muckelroy

Ohio St.

QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Chris Wells, WR/PR Ray Small, CB Kurt Coleman, LB J Laureinaitis

Highlights:  How far has QB Colt McCoy come in 3 years?  He's a Heisman finalist, and he had his team 1 play from being #1 and playing in the national championship game.  Though UT is sore for just missing the NC game this year, they look to use this year's Fiesta Bowl as an encouraging sign of things to come next season with McCoy returning to helm the Longhorns.  Though 10-2 with 2 losses to BCS bowl teams would normally seem like a great season for most teams, it's a step backwards for a program that's played in the last 2 NC games.  Ohio St. looks to prove their young talent in Terrelle Pryor and Beanie Wells are ready for another title run in 2009.  This will be J Laurinaitis' last game as a collegiate, and what a career it has been.  He is easily an NFL top 10 pick in the next draft, and he looks to lead the Buckeyes one final time to victory.  This will be a battle of Texas' high-power offense versus Ohio St's stingy D, which gives up only 13.1pts/gm(#9).  This year's game may not have the national title implications that 2005 and 2006 had, but the talent level is there on both sides.  The same great coaches are there.  And, these are two programs looking to finish out great seasons, proving that they belong amongst the nation's elite.  There is a high possibility that these two teams come into the 2009 season ranked #1 and #2 if Beanie Wells returns next season.

This should be a great game, and should end up being a fine rubber game to break the split between these two programs over the past 4 years.