September 10th • #2 Texas • Ohio Stadium
An early season showdown that had all the makings of a national championship game, No. 4 Ohio State hosted Texas and its star quarterback Vince Young.

The Buckeyes opened the game on offense and promptly left the field after a three-and-out due to Justin Zwick failing to complete either of his pass attempts. Young started Texas' first drive at his own 12-yard line and marched 64 yards in 11 plays to set up a David Pino 42-yard field goal.

Following another stalled drive by Zwick, Texas had the ball on its own 16. This time, Young guided his team 84 yards and finished the 10-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Billy Pittman.

Troy Smith then entered the game at quarterback and on his first possession led the offense to three points in the form of a Josh Huston 45-yard field goal. The defense finally held Young and the Longhorns and got the ball back to Ohio State's offense with a chance to even the score.

This time, Smith started on his own 20 and finished the drive with a 36-yard scoring strike to Santonio Holmes on 3rd-and-8. Another key play in the drive came from Anthony Gonzalez, whose 12-yard reception on 3rd-and-5 from Ohio State's 39 kept the drive alive. The score tied the game at 10 with 8:11 left in the half.   

Linebacker A.J. Hawk intercepted Young at the Longhorns' 42-yard and returned it 24 yards to the 18. On 3rd-and-3 from the 11, Texas sacked Smith for an eight-yard loss and Huston came on to kick his second field goal. 

On the Longhorns' next drive, Jay Richardson forced Selvin Young to fumble on the second play. Hawk recovered the ball and the Buckeyes were back in business at the Texas 30. After Smith hit Gonzalez for a 21-yard gain, he hooked up with Holmes for a 12-yard pass that gave Ohio State a 1st-and-goal from the six.

Smith lost two yards on first down, missed Holmes on second down, and his third down pass to Hamby was broken up by defenders. Huston made a chip shot 25-yard kick for his fourth field goal of the game. The Buckeyes now led 16-10.

With 35 seconds remaining in the half, Tarell Brown returned the ensuing kickoff to the 31-yard line and Antonio Smith's personal foul moved the ball to the 46. Young hit Jamaal Charles on a crossing pattern that the speedy back took all the way down to the OSU 18. After a six-yard rush by Young, Hawk sacked him for a loss of eight yards. With two seconds left, Pino kicked another field goal to make the score 16-13. 

On the second play of the second half, Nate Salley intercepted Young at the 37. Antonio Pittman rushed for a first down, but Ohio State's drive stalled at the 26. Huston made his fourth field goal to extend the lead to six.

Texas answered again. Billy Pittman ran a crossing route and caught Young's pass then raced 63 yards to the Ohio State 5-yard line. After a false start on first down, Young ran the ball twice and Texas had 3rd-and-goal from the 4. Bobby Carpenter contained the star quarterback and dropped him for a four-yard loss. Pino made a 25-yard field goal to make the score 19-16.

The field goal barrage continued on Ohio State's next possession. Ted Ginn Jr. returned the kick 46 yards to put the offense in great field position at the 47. Zwick re-entered at quarterback and hit Roy Hall for an incredible 22-yard catch that took the ball to the Longhorns' 13.

After a five-yard Pittman run and an incomplete pass, Ohio State faced 3rd-and-5 from the 8-yard line. Zwick took the snap and fired a quick pass to Hamby over the middle. The tight end had the ball bounce off his chest, he tried to grab it, but threw it up in the air. A streaking Cedric Griffin popped him hard before he could complete the catch. 

Jim Tressel called upon Huston for the fifth time and the kicker made a 26-yard kick to stretch the lead to 22-16. Ten minutes later, he had a chance to make a program record sixth field goal, but his 50-yard attempt sailed wide left. Had the try been true, Ohio State would have had a two-score lead with five minutes remaining.

Young took advantage of the decent field position. Seven plays later, he connected with Limas Sweed on a 24-yard scoring strike on the left side of the end zone. The Longhorns' took a 23-22 lead with only 2:37 to play.   

"Sweed came off the ball real good and I threw the ball to the outside so he could go out of bounds or make the great play and Sweed made a great play for us," Young said.

"Obviously, he's a great runner," Hawk said. "Tonight he showed us he's a great passer."

On the first play from scrimmage after the Sweed touchdown, Zwick rushed left and fumbled. Texas' Brian Robison recovered and took the ball to the OSU 21. Eventually, the Longhorns faced 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 29 seconds remaining. Mack Brown elected to go for it, but Ohio State stopped Henry Melton short.

Down one, with 25 seconds left and needing close to 65 yards, Texas tackled Smith in the end zone for a 1-yard loss and a safety. Texas won 25-22 and went on to defeat USC in the Rose Bowl for the national championship.