Bowl Mania Day 15

Of all the BCS losses Ohio State has suffered in the past few years, last night was no doubt the worse. Less then half a minute away from making me look like an absolute moron (see Bowl Mania Day 14), Ohio State let Colt McCoy find Quan Cosby in the middle of the field. Cosby than waltzed twenty six yards for the go ahead score. It was a beautiful caper to what will be remembered as a signature drive for McCoy. It was a good thing it ended that way too, because if Texas had lost that game everyone would be all over Mac Brown and McCoy. And perhaps, rightfully so. It was a poorly executed final drive from a game management perspective. Did anyone remember that Texas had two timeouts left? Why were the Longhorns rushing around instead of stopping the clock. Maybe they were looking to catch Ohio State off balance,but I don't know if that should be the main objective down by a score with less than a minute to go. What were they waiting for? The fact that they had two time outs begins to explain the Texas play call. A pass in the center of the field? I know you have two time outs left, but that still strikes me as a risky play. Ohio State has to be kicking themselves for the way they defended that specific play. If the safety stays back and doesn't try and jump the play, that's an easy tackle. Instead, he over pursued when he shouldn't have and there's your ball game. ...But on the positive side, what a game Quan Cosby had. 14 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner. However, I think the "Texas got hosed" argument should stop. Their just not as good as Oklahoma. They were flat all night and needed a great drive in the final minute to come back. We detailed last night how bad Ohio State was compared to past years. They were impressive tonight in the sense that they were competitive. Heck, they should have won the football game. But they let a flat Texas team beat them and weren't all that spectacular themselves. However, the story of this game, to me at least, is not how Texas came back, but rather how Ohio State blew it. Getting killed in National championships is one thing, but that's relatively easy to get over given the finality of the score. The reality is I should be writing about a spectacular end to an unspectacular season for Ohio State. Instead, its arguably Jim Tressel's worst BCS loss yet.

GMAC Bowl: Number 22 Ball State v Tulsa- If theirs any more of a buzz kill game, its a non bcs game towards the end of the bowl season. At the beginning, its exciting. It's an appetizer before the BCS main course. Having the GMAC bowl smack dab in the middle of BCS season is like having that last cold mozzarella stick towards the end of a meal. It just doesn't carry the same joy as it did when it still arrived. However, Ball State is sort of interesting. They picked the worst time to loose their first and only game. Turner Gill and the Buffalo Bulls beat them in the season finale to win the C-USA championship. The fact that they were shellacked in their first and only real "huge game" of the season may say something about Ball State. They did have a big win against Central Michigan, but when it counted most, Ball State came up small. This is an offense led by two players. Nate Davis and MiQuale Lewis. Quarterback Nate Davis threw for over 3,400 yards and 26 touchdowns. Running back MiQuale Davis rushed for over 1000 yards and 22 touchdowns. There won't be much defense in this one as Tulsa also have an explosive offense attack. Golden Hurricane quarterback David Johnson threw for over 3,800 yards and 43 touchdown passes. Its hard to argue with a team who's quarterback found the end zone 43 times, but what you don't like about Johnson is his inability to take care of the football. Johnson had 18 interceptions this season. That's almost as startling a number as his 43 touchdowns. For comparison, Nate Davis only threw seven interceptions. Whats shocking about Tulsa is the season running back Tarrion Adams had. You would think that when a quarterback puts the ball in the end zone 43 times, that a running game is virtually non-existent. Surprisingly, that's not the case. Adams had over 1000 yards and 11 touchdowns. The senior averaged 5.8 yards per carry, the highest number he's had since averaging over six as a freshman. Tulsa finished the year 10-3. They did not play a ranked opponent and lost to the best team on their schedule (East Carolina 27-24). Their defense may not be as bad as you think either, but they certainly would not be considered good by any measure. They held all but five of their opponents to under 30 points. But, what cannot be overlooked is the 70 spot Houston put up on November 15th. This is downright terrifying. I don't like a team who has a quarterback that got picked off 18 times and a defense that is even remotely capable of giving up 70 points to any team, much less 8-5 Houston. The Pick: Ball State.

Bowl Mania Record: 17-15


Jordan Lauterbach