Texas 25, Ohio State 22

I hate to burst anyone's Buckeye bubble again, but Ohio State lost to a better team last night. Texas, at the very least, was better when it counted.
Below are some key reasons why the Buckeyes couldn't hang with the Longhorns for 60 minutes in the biggest non-conference game in years.

1. Vince Young
He took the full fury of Ohio State's defense, getting knocked down in the backfield, smothered when he tried to go outside, and had his problems compounded, at times, when he couldn't find open receivers. But he survived and was there to heave the back-breaking go-ahead touchdown with less than three minutes to play. If he can hone his touch passes, I predict a very long and successfull NFL career for Young.

2. The trenches
Texas was better at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. While Texas' offensive line routinely gave Young enough time to consider his options, Texas' defensive line brought the heat on Ohio State's quarterbacks and rushers all night. Troy Smith was contained in the pocket, where he is less comfortable and less able to create, while Justin Zwick was flushed out of the pocket and forced to scramble, something he is less comfortable doing. Buckeye feature back Antonio Pittman was a non-factor in the outcome of the game.

3. Texas got tougher in the red.
Ohio state kicker Jeff Huston went 5-for-6 kicking field goals. A darn good showing, right? But those five field goals represent five touchdowns that weren't, including a painful bobble-catch-and-drop in the third quarter. Texas' defense hunkered down in the red zone and refused to let Ohio State find the end zone, save for one flier of a pass from Smith to Santonio Holmes in the first half.
You can't score one touchdown and expect to beat Texas. That's bucking the odds if you do.

4. Ted Ginn was antimatter.
Ohio State's electric playmaker had the plug pulled, thanks to the Longhorns' game plan, which prepared their defense and special teams to lock onto Ginn and never let him free. It worked like a charm. In the bigger picture, the only Ohio State playmaker who had even a decent game was Holmes.

5. Jim Tressel outsmarted himself.
All week long, I heard radio praise for Ohio State's "adaptable" offense, capable (supposedly) of playing smash-mouth running football as well as spread offensive sets. Our radio friends neglected to mention, however, that Ohio State could take more liberties against the much smaller Miami Ohio squad last week than against the beefy, NFL-prospect-laden Texas crew. Tressel was mistaken for thinking he could give Texas a bunch of different razzle-dazzle looks. Ohio State isn't that type of team, and Texas knew it.
The only thing Ohio State accomplished by showing Texas a spread offense set is to tick the Longhorns off, giving them the impression that Ohio State was going to try to beat them with smoke and mirrors.

Having said all of that, I came away from Saturday's game infinitely impressed with Buckeye linebacker A.J. Hawk. If anybody was a thorn in Young's side all night, it was Hawk, who showed his entire package: great lateral speed, pinpoint tackling, and heady aggression. I'd love to see him in a Browns uniform next year (hint, hint, Phil Savage).