Colt McCoy was determined to make sure he and his Texas Longhorns finished on top this time. After narrowly being left out of the BCS National Championship Game and finishing second in the Heisman Trophy race, McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play to cap an 11-play, 78-yard drive and give the Longhorns a 24-21 win over Ohio State in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl.
McCoy completed 41-of-59 passes, both Fiesta Bowl records, for 414 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a score. On the game-winning touchdown, Cosby caught a short pass over the middle, slipped a tackle and sprinted toward the goal line before diving into the end zone.
The Buckeyes used two quarterbacks in the game - senior Todd Boeckman and freshman Terrelle Pryor - to confuse the Longhorns defense and the plan helped them almost pull off the upset.
Making their fifth trip to the desert in the past seven years, Ohio State battled back from a 17-6 deficit to take a 21-17 lead on a 15-yard run by Dan Herron with 2:05 to play. That score came after Boeckman hit Pryor for a 5-yard score to cut Texas' lead to 17-15. Pryor's pass on the 2-point conversion was incomplete.
But there was too much time left on the clock, as McCoy completed 7-of-10 passes for 76 yards on the final drive.
Ohio State took a 6-3 halftime lead behind its solid defense and the running of Chris "Beanie" Wells, who had 96 yards rushing in the first half. But Wells, who finished with 106 yards on 16 carries, suffered a concussion and missed most of the second half.
On Texas' first possession of the second half, McCoy took a direct snap, bolted through the right side of the line, broke to the sideline and spun past a defender for a 14-yard touchdown run. Seven minutes later, McCoy found Cosby in the back of the end zone to put the Longhorns up 17-6.
Cosby finished with 14 receptions (second most in Fiesta Bowl history) for 171 yards and the two touchdowns.
