No. 1 Ohio State & No. 2 Texas, Postgame Analysis

On Saturday September 9, 2006 Texas hosted what was said to be one of the most anticipated college football games in any regular season for years, No. 1 Ohio State and No.2 Texas at Austin. It was the first time in ten years that the No. 1 and No. 2 teams have played in regular season and the pressure was certainly on Texas after the BCS awarded Ohio State the No. 1 slot even after Texas' national Rose Bowl victory against USC last year.

It was evident that former Heisman Trophy candidate Vince Young indeed would be missed after accepting an early leave to the NFL last year, but most thought Texas would be able to pick up enough slack and with home field advantage pull out a victory in Austin. However, the combination of Ohio State's offensive attack with veteran quarterback and Heisman trophy candidate Troy Smith returning this season proved to be too much for Texas to handle.

Surely most of the focus and preparation for Texas secondary was on Troy Smith and Ted Ginn (another obvious Heisman candidate), and although Ginn did have a great game Saturday, the outcome proved to be more of an unlikely combination of Smith and wide-out receiver Anthony Gonzalez. Gonzalez slowly ripped the Texas secondary apart with eight catches for over 142 yards. The big question will remain, would the outcome been any different if starting Texas cornerback Tarrel Brown had not been suspended on marijuana and gun charges the week prior? Most will say yes, but the pivotal point in the game happened offensively in the first quarter when Texas rookie quarterback Colt McCoy passed to Billy Pittman who fumbled on the Texas two yard line and allowed an Ohio State fifty-yard carry back to midfield. A few plays later Ohio State completely turned the momentum around by scoring and silencing a majority of 65,000 fans in Austin.

After that it was apparent that the veteran quarterback's leadership of OSU and the decisions Smith made played the largest role in Ohio State's 24-7 victory over Texas. Freshman rookie quarterback Colt McCoy for Texas looked a little 'green' on the field but in his defense, actually did not cause many unforced errors. One could get a sense of Texas head coach Mack Brown's coaching style watching him ease the youngster into his first big season of play by slowly adjusting him into a passing game. However, the inexperience was apparent and after throwing an interception and giving up a pivotal possession in the second half, it was enough to keep OSU's momentum moving forward to snap a Texas 21-game winning streak.

After the game there wasn't any sign of showboating on OSU's part. The postgame interviews with head coach Jim Tressel and quarterback Troy Smith were completely professional and weren't set forward in any derogatory way from encroachment by the media. When asked what the feeling was like coming into Austin to regain dominance from a Texas upset in Ohio the year prior, Smith immediately dismissed the idea of revenge and gave all the credit to the coaching staff and players of Ohio State while commending Texas' effort.