Jeff Gross / Getty Images

Texas players Vondrell McGee (2), Russell Carter (97) and Cody Johnson (31) celebrate after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday.

The Longhorns didn’t look like it early on. Texas brought Bevo, its steer mascot, but left its offense back in Austin, at least in a sluggish first half.

The Longhorns failed to score in the first quarter. Texas was shut out in only four quarters all season — and only once in the first quarter, in a 39-33 loss at Texas Tech on Nov. 1.

Ryan Pretorius’ 30-yard field goal with 5:39 left in the second quarter sent Ohio State to a 6-3 halftime lead.

Texas’ best chance came late in the second, when McCoy smartly marched the Longhorns from their own 9 to the Ohio State 16 in 47 seconds.

But on third-and-2 at the Buckeyes 16 and 9 seconds to go, McCoy threw perhaps his worst pass of the season. McCoy lobbed the ball toward Cosby at the goal line, but safety Anderson Russell picked it off to kill the threat.

Had McCoy thrown the ball into the seats, the Longhorns would have had time for a chip-shot field goal. But they went into the dressing room still down by three.

It didn’t take McCoy long to atone for the miscue.

On Texas’ first possession of the second half, he scored on a terrific 14-yard run to give the Longhorns their first lead. Taking a shotgun snap, McCoy bolted through the right side of the line, broke to the sideline and then spun past charging cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, who came up with nothing.

Seven minutes later, McCoy found Cosby in the back of the end zone to put the Longhorns up 17-6.

“He is strong-willed and he is a guy that’s very confident, and he never thinks he is going to lose,” Brown said.

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