Everything’s Bigger for Texas

Texas and Ohio State played football for the first time Saturday night, and the consensus at game’s end was that these schools ought to get together more often.

Rekindling memories of last year’s thrilling Rose Bowl, Texas used the arm and legs of quarterback Vince Young to defeat another Big Ten team in the final minutes.

Saturday, Young tossed a 24-yard scoring pass to Limas Sweed with 2:37 left to help lift No. 2 Texas to a 25-22 win over No. 4 Ohio State before a crowd of 105,565.

The matchup had a September date but a December buzz, with major bowl officials hovering in a press box jammed with more than 1,000 journalists, boosters, donors, Big (Ten) wigs and various other hangers-on.

If it wasn’t the most anticipated early-season game in college football history, it was close -- and it almost lived up to unprecedented hype.

Texas (2-0) jumped to a 10-0 lead, lost it almost as fast, and trailed by six when Young led his team on a six-play, 67-yard, game-winning drive.

Young never panicked.

“We’ve been through this, man,” he said afterward about coming from behind. “And I was walking down the sideline telling the guys, ‘Man, we’ve been through this.’ ”

Ohio State got the ball back at its own 23 with 2:31 left, but quarterback Justin Zwick, on first down, fumbled the ball back to Texas.

Texas turned the ball over on downs at the Ohio State one, and then sacked quarterback Troy Smith for a safety with 19 seconds left.

Ohio State’s last-chance gasp at victory ended when its on-sides kick after the safety was recovered by Texas, sending Buckeye fans home bitter and joyous Longhorns back to Austin.

Despite the loss for Ohio State, which fell to 1-1, it is conceivable these two teams could meet again Jan. 4 in the Rose Bowl for the national championship.

So was it any wonder why Rose Bowl representatives got a police escort to the stadium?

It was suggested that key losses already this year among several preseason contenders might clear the national title runway for Saturday night’s winner.

Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel suggested nothing has been decided.

“The runway’s full of games,” he said. “And we didn’t get this one done. That’s the facts. We have to get after it next week. We have a lot we can accomplish and I think our guys know that.”

Saturday reaffirmed what most believed, that Texas’ Young is the most exciting college football player not wearing a USC uniform.

Young, a 6-5 junior and the most valuable player in last season’s Rose Bowl against Michigan, passed for 270 yards against Ohio State, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for 76 yards.

The game also proved Texas Coach Mack Brown can win a big game.

Although Brown is one of the most successful coaches of his generation, with a 72-19 record at Texas, he had lost his last eight games against top-10-ranked opponents, including five straight defeats to archrival Oklahoma.

“I don’t think you ever silence critics anymore,” Brown said. “Critics are critics because they’re called critics and that’s what they’re paid for.”

Brown did not like this Ohio State matchup originally, fearing a non-conference game of this magnitude did not benefit a Texas team primed for a national title run this year.

The game was scheduled years ago, though, and Brown had to play it -- and he played it to the hilt.

If you can assume this is the year Texas finally beats Oklahoma, which has already lost to Texas Christian, the Longhorns may have the straightest shot outside of USC of making the Rose Bowl.

The Longhorns have been close before. In 2001, they were in a position to play Miami in the Rose Bowl for the national title but couldn’t close the deal in the Big 12 title game, losing a heart-breaker to Colorado.

After Saturday’s game, Texas players led its small band of traveling fans in a chorus of “I’ve been working on the railroad,” and they now can start working on defeating Oklahoma next month.

Consider this: Texas had played 1,132 games since 1893; Ohio State 1,117 games since 1890. Yet, the schools had never met on a field, in a bowl, or in a parking lot.

Tickets for Saturday’s game were fetching up to $1,500 on Ebay.

Could a game like Ohio State-Texas ever live up to the hype?

Short answer: sort of.

It wasn’t a perfect game, by any means, with both teams settling for too many field goals.

Ohio State kicker Josh Huston kicked five field goals, while Texas’ David Pino had three.

Tressel only wishes his Buckeyes could have saved a little wear-and-tear on Huston’s leg.

“We had many opportunities and didn’t cash in on enough to win,” he said.

Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter boldly predicted before the game that Texas’ Young was not going to leave Columbus as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Young answered by rushing for 56 yards and passing for 65 as Texas scored on its first two possessions in the first quarter.

The Buckeye defense, which hits hard and from all directions, finally slowed Young a bit, but not enough, and not in the end.