Texas and Ohio State played a home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006, with both teams winning on the road. A thrilling Fiesta Bowl closed out the 2008-09 season.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns will meet Friday night in a College Football Playoff semifinal showdown at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.
The Cotton Bowl matchup is just the fourth-ever meeting between these two titans of the sport — and coincidentally, it’s even a preview of next year’s season opener when Texas visits Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30.
Texas and Ohio State played a home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006, with both teams winning on the road. Vince Young’s No. 2 Longhorns beat the fourth-ranked Buckeyes 25-22 in September 2005 for the first landmark win on their road to the national championship, while the Buckeyes answered with a 24-7 win one year later in Austin.
The schools then met in a thrilling Fiesta Bowl to close the 2008-09 season. Colt McCoy threw a 26-yard TD pass to Quan Cosby with 16 seconds left in Texas’ 24-21 win.
Back in the Cotton Bowl
Texas hasn’t played in the Cotton Bowl in 22 years, but it will be making its record 23rd appearance in the bowl game, 10 more than second-place Texas A&M.
Ohio State will be in the 88-year-old bowl for the fourth time. The Buckeyes also played in the Cotton Bowl last year, losing 14-3 to Missouri in an anticlimactic finish to a season ruined in their previous game — a loss to archrival Michigan, the eventual national champions.
Back in Texas
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard also has a history with Texas — both the state and the school.
He threw three TD passes while leading Kansas State to the Big 12 championship at AT&T Stadium two years ago, shocking previously undefeated TCU in overtime in the league title game.
Ewers and the Longhorns won the Big 12 title in the same stadium a year later, beating Oklahoma State.
Howard also played for K-State against the Longhorns in three losses, including a 33-30 overtime thriller 14 months ago.
Ohio State itself even has fond history at the palatial home of the NFL’s Cowboys. Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes beat Oregon 42-20 on this field on Jan. 12, 2015, to win the first CFP championship game in the four-team playoff era.
Chasing THE Championship: Cotton Bowl Coverage
10TV’s Dom Tiberi and Nicole Shearin are in Dallas as the Ohio State Buckeyes prepare to take on the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl.
Be sure to download 10TV+, the free streaming app available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV, for the latest on the CFP semifinal showdown, including interviews with coaches and players from both teams.
On game day, 97.1 The Fan’s pregame show will air on 10TV and stream on 10TV+ from 2-4 p.m. — with live coverage from Dallas continuing until 7 p.m.