Glendale, AZ - Colt McCoy's 26-yard touchdown pass to Quan Cosby with 16 seconds remaining lifted third-ranked Texas to a 24-21 Fiesta Bowl win over No. 10 Ohio State, as the Buckeyes were dealt another crushing defeat in a BCS postseason contest.

McCoy, named the game's offensive MVP, finished 41-of-59 for 414 yards through the air, while Cosby had a spectacular performance in his last collegiate game, making 14 catches for 171 yards and a pair of scores for the Longhorns (12-1). Texas' only blemish on the season was a last-second 39-33 loss at Texas Tech on November 1.

"There's not too many people who can experience a night like this," said Cosby. "We're very fortunate to do so. Our defense kept us in it all night long."

Daniel Herron ran 15 yards for the go-ahead score with 2:05 remaining for the Buckeyes (10-3), until McCoy's heroics turned the game around.

The Longhorns were left out of the national championship equation despite a one-loss season. They had a gripe after losing out on a three-team tiebreaker for a chance to play in the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma was the beneficiary of the tie-breaking system and faces Florida for the BCS crown, though the Longhorn faithful remember when Texas rolled to a 45-35 victory over the Sooners at a neutral site earlier in the season. Monday marked Texas' fifth straight bowl victory.

The Buckeyes were in a BCS bowl game for a fourth straight year and seventh time overall. They had lost the national title game the previous two years.

Todd Boeckman and Terrelle Pryor worked Ohio State's two-quarterback system. Boeckman hit Pryor with a scoring pass and the Buckeyes scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter before faltering.

Chris "Beanie" Wells ran for 106 yards for Ohio State, but a concussion forced him out of the game most of the second half.

Boeckman finished the game 5-of-11 passing for 110 yards. Pryor went 5-of-14 for 66 yards and also ran for 78 yards. Brian Robiskie had five catches for 116 yards for the Buckeyes.

"It's been an amazing career for all of us," said Ohio State star senior linebacker James Laurinaitis. "We've done a lot of special things. Obviously it's not the way you want to go out."

Miami, FL  - Ed Reed had two of Baltimore's four interceptions, running one back for a touchdown, and the Ravens defense stifled Miami to record a 27-9 win over the Dolphins in an AFC Wild Card contest.

With the victory, Baltimore advances to play the Tennessee Titans next weekend.

The Ravens forced five turnovers and limited Miami to 276 yards, continuing their remarkable turnaround from last season. Baltimore went 5-11 in 2007, finishing last in the AFC North, but under first-year head coach John Harbaugh, they went 11-5 in the regular season.

Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco threw for 135 yards, completing only 9-of-23 passes, but did not have an interception and ran for a touchdown to help Baltimore win its first playoff contest since 2001 -- when the Ravens also beat Miami in a Wild Card-round matchup.

LeRon McClain ran for 75 yards and a score, while Willis McGahee compiled 62 yards on the ground in Baltimore's win.

Miami also came into Sunday's contest having completed a massive turnaround under a first-year coach. After a franchise-worst mark of 1-15 last season, Tony Sparano helped the Dolphins go 11-5 this year, giving the team its first division title since 2000 and its first postseason berth since 2001.

But Chad Pennington threw an uncharacteristic four picks, having been intercepted only seven times all season, while passing for 252 yards and a TD on 25-of-38 completions.

Miami was held to just 52 yards rushing, as Ronnie Brown had a team-high 19 yards on the ground, in addition to catching Miami's sole touchdown pass.

With the score tied at 3-3 after one quarter, Miami was driving early in the second and advanced to midfield before Pennington's pass to Ted Ginn, Jr. was intercepted.

The Ravens were forced to punt, and the Dolphins took over deep in their own territory, but managed to advance out to the 19. But facing a 3rd-and-8, Pennington tried to go again to Ginn, deep to the left side. But Ginn fell down on his route as the ball was off the mark, and Reed was there to grab it and run the 64 yards back through traffic for a TD.

The score put Baltimore up 10-3 with 2:30 left in the half, and after Miami needed to punt, the Ravens added a 31-yard field goal from Matt Stover with 16 ticks left to take a 13-3 lead into halftime.

New Orleans, LA  - Brian Johnson threw for 336 yards and three scores, as seventh-ranked Utah polished off an undefeated season with a 31-17 win over No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Johnson completed 27-of-41 passes for the Utes (13-0), who notched their eighth consecutive bowl win. In that streak is another BCS bowl victory, a 35-7 pounding of Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.

Freddie Brown recorded 12 catches for 125 yards for Utah, which stormed Alabama with a 21-point first quarter and held on for the win to complete its third undefeated season -- one in which the Utes won the Mountain West Conference title and rose to sixth in the BCS standings.

Bradon Godfrey, David Reed and Brent Casteel caught a touchdown each for Utah, which not only was sharp offensively, but used a suffocating defense to beat the Crimson Tide. The Utes held Alabama to 208 total yards, and recorded eight sacks of Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson thanks to terrific pressure from the defensive line.

While Utah completed its season in undefeated fashion, Alabama (12-2) ended its 2008 campaign with two consecutive losses. The Crimson Tide were in position to play for the national championship at 12-0 before losing, 31-20, to Florida in the SEC Championship game on December 6.

"We didn't finish the season like we wanted, and I'm sorry for that for them. I think they deserved better," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said of his players. "We wanted better for them. And we failed them in not being able to help them get where they needed to get so they could have a chance to be successful in this game."

Wilson threw for 177 yards and one TD on 18-of-30 passing but was intercepted twice in the loss for Alabama, which played without star offensive lineman and Outland Trophy winner Andre Smith, who was suspended for the contest.

Glen Coffee ran 13 times for 36 yards, and caught four passes for 40 yards and a score in the loss.

Utah forced an Alabama punt on the initial drive of the game, and started a series on its own 32 despite a fumble on the punt catch by Casteel. Johnson showed the effectiveness of Utah's offense immediately, as the Utes went downfield in five plays -- all passes, all of which were complete, and all of which went to a different receiver.

Tampa, FL  - Shonn Greene capped his Doak Walker Award-winning campaign with a 121-yard, three-touchdown performance in Iowa's 31-10 drubbing of the South Carolina Gamecocks, in the 23rd annual Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.

Greene, who had 29 carries and was awarded the game's MVP, announced after his heroics that he was forgoing his senior season and entering the NFL Draft.

Iowa's defense caused five turnovers and held the Gamecocks to 43 yards rushing, while Ricky Stanzi threw for 147 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions on 13-of-19 passing for the Hawkeyes (9-4), whose four losses this season came by a combined 12 points.

The blowout victory helped Iowa finish the campaign on a four-game winning streak, highlighted by a one-point upset over then-undefeated Penn State.

"I'm certainly very, very proud of our football team," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. "The credit goes to our players, they've done a fantastic job. The staff did a good job getting our guys prepared. We hoped we could execute and we did. The defense played hard and we were sound fundamentally."

On the opposite end of the spectrum, South Carolina (7-6) lost its last three bouts by a combined 118-30 margin. Stephen Garcia had a horrific first half, throwing three interceptions and losing a fumble before being pulled for Chris Smelley, who tossed for 179 yards on 16-of-31 efficiency and the Gamecocks' only touchdown, to Jared Cook.

The first four Gamecocks possessions ended in turnovers and Iowa jumped out to a commanding 21-0 lead at the break.

Nashville, TN  - Bryant Hahnfeldt's 45-yard field goal, and a late interception by Myron Lewis was the difference as Vanderbilt clipped Boston College, 16-14, at the Music City Bowl.

Larry Smith completed 10-of-17 passes for 121 yards for the Commodores (7-6), who won their first bowl game since 1955 in their first postseason appearance since 1982. Coming into the contest, Vanderbilt had lost six of its last seven games, but rebounded to post its first winning campaign in 26 years.

Chris Nickson rushed for 57 yards on eight carries and Sean Walker caught two balls for 68 yards in the win.

Dominique Davis threw for 190 yards and two touchdowns on 15-of-36 completions but was picked off twice for the Eagles (9-5), who ended their season with two consecutive losses.

Boston College also had its FBS-best eight-game bowl victory streak snapped, with its last defeat coming on New Year's Eve 1999 as Colorado drubbed BC 62-28, in the Insight Bowl.

Colin Larmond and Montel Harris each registered a TD reception in the loss.

After a seven-play, 48-yard drive, Hahnfeldt drilled a 45-yard field goal with 3:26 to play for a 16-14 Vanderbilt advantage. The series was helped along by facemask and roughing-the-passer penalties on Eagles linebacker Mark Herzlich.

Both sides failed to move the ball on subsequent series, then BC got the ball back at its own 20 with 2:01 remaining and no timeouts.

Davis hit Brandon Robinson for a 16-yard gain on first down, but on the next play, Lewis stepped in front of a Davis offering at the Vanderbilt 43 and got two feet inbounds to make the catch before falling to the sidelines.

Smith took a knee on three straight plays to run out the remaining 1:36 and lock up the long-overdue Commodores bowl triumph.

Vanderbilt took a 6-0 lead after one quarter thanks to a pair of Hahnfedlt field goals, from 42 and 26 yards, respectively.

Boston College did not get on the board until 1:27 left in the half, as Davis connected with Harris from four yards out to complete a 17-play drive.

San Antonio, TX  - Chase Daniel overcame a poor individual effort and a missed game-winning field goal on the last play of regulation to hit Jeremy Maclin for a seven-yard score on the first possession of overtime, lifting the Missouri Tigers over Northwestern, 30-23, in the Alamo Bowl.

Jeff Wolfert missed a 44-yard field goal attempt wide right that would have given Missouri (10-4) the win as time expired in regulation. Maclin started the overtime with an 11-yard run around the right side. Three plays later, he hauled in the pass from Daniel despite bobbling it briefly, and the Tigers had a 30-23 advantage after the extra point.

Northwestern (9-4) had its shot at the end zone, but the Missouri defense, which was gashed for 304 passing yards, came up with the big play when it was needed most. Sean Weatherspoon, who finished with 12 1/2 tackles, combined with William Moore to come up with a sack that jarred the ball loose from quarterback C.J. Bacher on 3rd-and-9 from the eight-yard line. The fumble forced a fourth-down play from the 31, and Bacher threw one up for grabs in the end zone on the game's final play, resulting in a game-ending interception.

Daniel was picked off three times and looked confused on several errant throws en route to a 200-yard, two-touchdown performance, completing 27-of-44 passes.

Maclin and Danario Alexander caught a TD pass each, while Maclin also helped brighten an otherwise disappointing first half. He returned a punt 75 yards for a score with a minute left before the intermission, tying the game at 10-10. Wolfert finished 3-of-4 on field goal attempts for Missouri.

Missouri was appearing in a bowl game for the fourth straight year and was expected to contend for a national title this season. Back-to-back losses to Oklahoma State and Texas, though, put an end to that talk -- and a later loss against Kansas to close out the regular season quashed any chances of a BCS bowl. They did earn a spot in the Big 12 title game by winning the rather weak North Division, but a meeting with powerhouse Oklahoma resulted in a 62-21 beating.