Wahoo Wire

New Orleans, LA - After a week of talking about the quarterback matchup, the defenses ended up running the show in the Sugar Bowl with Texas’ making the stops necessary to preserve a 13-7 win for the Longhorns.

“That was a hard fought win for our guys today,” Texas coach Mack Brown told reporters afterwards.  “They have a great defense out there and I thought our offense played exceptionally well to get those much needed points.”

It may not have been the typical Big 12 offensive explosion from Texas, but Heisman runner-up Colt McCoy did what was needed to win.  McCoy went 13 for 26 for 172 yards with no turnovers and also rushed for 44 yards on 17 attempts to keep the Gator defense on their toes.

“He [McCoy] played one of his best games tonight,” said Brown.  “Every play we needed to have, whether it was a pass or a run, he made it and that’s why he’s such a special player.”

Despite McCoy’s great play, it was Florida who struck first with an Emmanuel Moody 69-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.  No team had gained a first down up until that point so Moody himself was a little surprised he was able to get to the endzone.

“I was expecting to get hit after I broke the line,” Moody said.  “But [wide receiver David] Nelson got a great block in there at the last minute and I knew what to do from there.”

Texas responded nicely with a drive for a field goal attempt, but the Gator special teams denied the Longhorns the three points with a block by lineman Carlos Dunlap.

Three-and-outs ruled the majority of the second quarter as the defenses stepped up again.  Neither team achieved a first down for nearly eight minutes as the defensive squads seemed able to handle every wrinkle thrown at them.

“We were well prepared and they were well prepared,” Florida head coach Urban Meyer said after the game.  “When you have the amount of talent both of us have with the preparation these kids put in, you’re going to have a tough game.”

Courtesy of daylife.com

Texas finally broke through with 10 points in the last five minutes before the half to take a slim 10-7 lead into the locker room.  The score remained that way all through the third quarter after Texas missed two more field goals before finally hitting one at the start of the fourth quarter.

With the score 13-7, Florida’s Tim Tebow had a chance to add to his legacy with a fourth quarter comeback and with less than a minute left, it looked like that would happen.

Tebow drove the Gators down to the Texas 14-yard line with 42 seconds left in the game.  After using a time-out, Tebow stepped back to pass and fired one towards Moody in the endzone.  But Texas safety Earl Thomas had seen this play before.

“They ran it earlier in the first half, I think,” Thomas told reporters.  “I don’t really remember where I saw it but it looked familiar so I just broke towards him [Moody] and kept my eye on the ball.”

The result was a game sealing interception in the endzone to give Texas the dramatic win and send the Longhorns to the National Championship game.

“It was a great feeling,” Thomas said.  “I’m still on a high from it.”

The Championship will be an all-Texas affair with undefeated TCU facing the unbeaten Longhorns in Pasadena.  The game will be Thursday, January 7 and kickoff will be around 8:30 pm EST.