McCoy drives Longhorns

Left out of the national title game, Colt McCoy and Texas made the most of their trip to the Fiesta Bowl.

McCoy connected with Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play, lifting No. 3-ranked Texas to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Ohio State on Monday night.

The Longhorns had hoped to use the Fiesta Bowl to persuade voters they deserved a share of the national championship if Oklahoma beats Florida in Thursday night’s Bowl Championship Series title game. The Associated Press top 25 is Texas’ only chance to secure a piece of the title but the close victory over the Buckeyes may not be enough to persuade voters.

“I don’t think there’s anybody in the country who can beat us at this point,” McCoy said.

The Buckeyes nearly pulled off the upset behind quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Todd Boeckman, but suffered a third consecutive BCS bowl loss.

McCoy, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, drove the Longhorns 78 yards in 11 plays and 1 minute 42 seconds without calling a timeout. On the touchdown, Cosby caught a short pass, slipped a tackle and sprinted toward the goal line before diving into the end zone.

The Longhorns (12-1) rebounded after Ohio State (10-3) had taken a 21-17 lead on a 15-yard run by Dan Herron with 2:05 to go.

That score came five minutes after Boeckman’s five-yard touchdown pass to Pryor cut Texas’ lead to 17-15. A two-point try failed.

For most of the game, the Buckeyes stifled the high-powered Longhorns, who averaged 43.9 points per game but mustered only a field goal in the first half. Texas didn’t lead until a third-quarter touchdown run by McCoy, who threw for 414 yards and two touchdowns.

Ohio State’s loss capped a 1-6 bowl showing for the Big Ten Conference.

“You saw a great football game out there, two teams going at it extremely hard,” Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel said.

Early in the game, it looked as if the Buckeyes would be celebrating.

The Buckeyes took a 3-0 lead on a 51-yard field goal by Aaron Pettrey midway through the first quarter.

Four minutes into the second quarter, Texas tied it, 3-3, on a 27-yard field goal by Hunter Lawrence.

Ohio State responded with a 67-yard march to the Texas seven. But tackle Bryant Browning was flagged for a false start on third and two at the seven, and after an incomplete pass, the Buckeyes settled for a 30-yard field goal by Ryan Pretorius.

Texas’ best chance came late in the half, when McCoy marched the Longhorns from their nine to the Ohio State 16 in 47 seconds.

But on third and two at the Ohio State 16 and nine seconds to go, McCoy’s pass was intercepted by Anderson Russel at the goal line.