Duel in the desert

I'm back for 2009. It's true I took a few weeks off during the holidays, and wasn't planning on blogging tonight, but I'm in fatass mode on the couch watching football all day long. I decided to start 2009 with a look at the most important bowl game (to me at least). Monday January 5th the Horns will face off against Ohio State in Glendale at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State fans have garnered quite the reputation of being drunk, couch burning, jorts wearing, beer drinking, classless, white trash. See the video below.

While this may be the case, I think there is a lot of respect between the two programs and their coaches. Jim Tressel and Mack Brown are both known as the "nice guys" in college football who try to play the game clean and with class. Both programs have a great history and have put many players in the league. Ohio State who was thought to be a great team stumbled against Penn State and USC this year, and Texas lost in a last second battle to Texas Tech leading to a controversial decision that lost the Horns a chance at the national title game. In some respects both programs are disappointed to be playing in Glendale. The Buckeyes thought at the start of the season they would be there, and The Longhorns who held the #1 rankning mid season thought at some point they would be there up until the last BCS rankings were released prior to the Big XII championship game. Regardless I think both teams will still play for great pride and this will be a good game. Of course I'm a Texas fan so this might look a bit slanted, but lets look at the break down of this game.

Why Ohio State will win the game -

Ohio State has a tough defense and that is where it starts. All Americans James Laurinaitis and Malcolm Jenkins anchor a tough and agressive Buckeye defense that plays with tenacity and smarts. Jenkins may be the top corner in the nation, so the Longhorn passing game will be up for a tough test. The Ohio State offense has a dynamic playmaker in Terrelle Pryor, although he's had more promise than production. Pyror who was the top player in prep ball last year has done a pretty good job. Often drawing comparison's to Vince Young, Pryor has shown to be a less than adequate passer and not quite the player with his legs Young was. Still he's young, only a true freshman and has the oppurtunity to have a break out game. The Texas defense has been salty against the run this year, but will face the best rushing offense they've seen in Chris "Beanie" Wells. I'm on record as saying that I think he's the best running back in college football and the big guy will have a productive NFL career in my opinion. Tressel has said he'll line up Pryor and Todd Boeckman who started in last year's BCS Title game. I don't know how imaginaitve Tressel can be, but this could propose problems for the Longhorn defense who's young secondary has struggled against the pass. The Wide Receivers for Ohio State Robiskie and Hartline are very much like Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby. Solid but not spectacular. Solid may be a bit of an understatement for the group I just mentioned. Although none of the four were thought to be best in the nation, all four have tremendous playmaking ability. If Ohio State is to win this game, it will be in the fashion they always win games. If Pryor can make a few key plays with his arm and his legs and Beanie Wells has a great game coupled with a stingy defensive efforts the Buckeyes can win a grind it out style game. The defense will be keying against the Longhorn passing game considering the Horns running game has struggled.

Why Texas will win -

The Horns have had a fantastic year and look to continue their performance in Glendale. Heisman candidate Colt McCoy has carried the Longhorn offense on his back with help from friends Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby. McCoy has been the Horns running game this year and is definitely the most valuable player in the nation to his team. The Horns offensive line has been on and off this year and will face a solid but not potent Ohio State defensive line. As mentioned above the Horns will face a good secondary, but Colt has faced them before and has always found a way to beat them. The Longhorn defense may not have the best numbers in the nation, but the Horns have found a filthy pass rush with Brian Orakpo, Sergio Kindle, Roy Miller, and Henry Melton. If they can keep Pryor contained they should do well to stop the Bucks passing attack. As I mentioned the Longhorns have a young group of defensive backs, but they have the potential to be playmakers, and they've only gotten better as the year has progressed. The key to this game will be contatining Beanie Wells and if the Horns can do that they can break this game wide open. I don't believe Ohio State has the ability to come from behind in a quick matter, and the Longhorn defense have been closers this season save for one night in Lubbock. The Horns best chance is to shut the Buckeye offense down and let your offense do it's thing. If the Horns can jump out to a big lead and not look back they should be in control to win this game.

My Prediction: Texas 31 Ohio State 14

Obviously this will look like a homer pick, but I think Texas is the better team. I think if Texas does what they do well and get out ahead, Ohio State doesn't have the power to get back in the game. This will be interesting as it is a rubber match in the series after The Horns took game 1 in Colombus in 2005 and Ohio State won the 2006 matchup in Austin. Ohio State's history in bowl games recently vs. Texas shows an overwhelming advantage to the Horns. Monday I'll have a running diary from the Fiesta Bowl posted on what's happening at our place as the game goes on, so look for that.