Fiesta Time for the Longhorns
The Longhorns, ranked third in the country, take on #10 Ohio State at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in suburban Phoenix.
U.T. Head Coach Mack Brown talked to reporters about the long layoff at his season ending press conference in early December. He said the ‘Horns could be a little rusty at the outset.
“You have more turnovers in bowl games,” Brown said, ”’cause people haven’t hit as much at the end of the year. You’ve got more free time. You have more kicking game mistakes, because you haven’t done it live for a while. So it’s like starting over.”
Some Texas fans are still upset because of a Big-12 Conference tie-break rule that put rival Oklahoma in position to win college football’s national championship later January 8. But Coach Brown says that could also put some steam in the Longhorns’ attack against the Buckeyes.
“You’ve gotta have a reason to prove something, every time you step up. And, if you don’t, that’s when you get beat,” Brown said. “And we’ve got to make sure that we can rekindle that edge, after the A&M thing, things didn’t work out exactly they way we wanted them to.”
Texas finished in a tie with Oklahoma and Texas Tech for a berth in the Big-12 Championship game. League rules gave that berth to Oklahoma, based on a higher ranking in the Bowl Championship Series standings.
The ‘Horns enter Fiesta Bowl with an 11-1 record. Ohio State comes into the game with a record of 10-2.
