Welcome back to the Odyssey. As always, you can click here to read all parts of the journey covered so far. Last time, we took a look at Tennessee beating Florida in the Swamp as 17.5 favorites, clinching a spot in the SEC Championship. Today we take a look at the first of two Conference Championship Games, the Big 12 game in Dallas.

Introduction: Okay Cool, Hook ‘Em

Moments before the game kicked off, Texas fans found out that Florida had been upset by Tennessee. Sitting at #3 in the BCS rankings, their situation became simple, win against a tough Colorado, and they would be playing for the National Championship for the first time in the BCS era.

Colorado, on the other hand, was looking to prove the week prior was not a fluke. However, instead of playing in front of their fans in Boulder, they had to travel to Dallas and face a primarily pro-Texas crowd to do it. A win would get Colorado to their first conference title since 1991, and their first BCS bowl since 1992.

Game Recap: Texas’ Major Malfunction

The Colorado offense struggled to move the ball beyond midfield in their first drive, haltered by a key holding penalty on a Chris Brown rush. The Texas offense, led by Chris Simms at QB would not be denied. Simms threw passes to Roy Williams and Sloan Thomas to get the Longhorns inside the Colorado five yard line. RB Cedric Benson left no doubt, punching it in on the following play.

Colorado failed to respond, going three and out. On the punt to Nathan Vasher, the Texas CB almost turned the corner to take the punt back for a touchdown, but stepped out of bounds at the Texas 37. After another deep completion to Williams, the Colorado defense got their bearings and held Texas, forcing a punt. On the ensuing drive, Brown got his yards, but the Colorado offense once again stalled after QB Bobby Pesavento was sacked on third down.

Then, the wheels began to fall off for Texas. After Benson rushed for 31 yards on two carries, Simms threw an interception to LB Aaron Killion. Killion took the interception down from the Colorado 15 to the Texas 12 yard line, flipping the field. Chris Brown was the only Buffalo to touch the ball as he tied the game for Colorado. After a Texas three and out, Brown and the Colorado offensive line found their groove to give Brown his space. Ultimately, Colorado kicked a field goal to take the lead early in the second quarter.

Things would not get better for Simms and the Texas offense. On the next drive, after getting into Colorado territory, Simms was picked off once again by the Colorado linebackers. This time it was Joey Johnson getting the interception. Bobby Purify got the long run for the Colorado offense in this drive, going for 51 yards down to the Texas 3 yard line. Brown would finish it off for Colorado. The Colorado lead was 16-7 after the ensuing PAT was missed by Colorado K Jeremy Flores.

Texas, needing points on the drive to keep the game within a score, leaned on short yardage. Benson was the primary focus of the Texas drive, with intermittent short passes from Simms. Texas K Dusty Mangum kicked a 50 yarder to get Texas within a score. The Texas defense stepped up with 4 minutes to go as Vasher stepped in front of a Pesavento pass. However, on the ensuing play Simms was strip sacked by Deandre Fluellen, giving the Buffs the ball once again. Pesavento went back to the air on the ensuing play, hitting his big play target Daniel Graham. Graham waltzed in untouched to extend the Colorado lead. They attempted a two point conversion that was unsuccessful.

The quarter from hell continued for Simms, finally leading to his benching. Simms through a pick six to Medford Moorer, giving Colorado a 29-10 lead with less than 3 minutes to go. Major Applewhite stepped in under center for Texas to try and make a comeback for the Longhorns. On his second pass attempt, he did just that. Applewhite hit WR BJ Johnson in stride splitting the safeties for a touchdown. Applewhite, for his effort, let the Colorado bench know that he was here to play as Texas entered the halftime locker room down two scores.

The Colorado defense must have noted the swagger Applewhite was showing their team on his touchdown throw because they shut the Texas offense down on their first drive of the second half. Texas gained one yard on their three plays before giving the ball back to the Buffs. With the running game firmly established, Pesavento went for a home run ball. He hit Derek McCoy down the right sideline to get Colorado inside the red zone. Chris Brown, once again, took care of the rest of the work, scoring and extending the Colorado lead.

The rest of the third quarter was Colorado punting the ball to Texas, and the Texas offense struggling to chip away at the Colorado lead. Applewhite got the Texas offense inside the Colorado 10, but couldn’t get a touchdown. Mangum hit a field goal to cut the Colorado lead to 19 with a 26 yarder. The ensuing drive they got outside of the red zone, but Mangum missed his field goal attempt. In the final possession of the third quarter (that bled into the fourth), Applewhite once again got the Longhorns into field goal range, but could not get a touchdown. With time running out, the Longhorns needed a spark to get their offense back on track.

Turning Point: Must Be Sound in the Punting Game

Gary Barnett decided to give Texas a Christmas present on a trick play. On 4th and four around midfield, Robert Hodge threw a cross body pass to one of the gunners. However, the floating pass was intercepted by Roderick Babers, who rushed it back to the house, essentially untouched.

Colorado remained undeterred however and decided to milk the clock for all that they could. Chris Brown touched the ball for 9 plays on the final Colorado drive. The drive almost ended in a punt, until Phillip Geigger roughs the punter to extend the Colorado drive.  With 2 minutes to play, Flores had a 43 yard attempt to put the game essentially out of reach for the Longhorns. Flores hit the field goal inside the left upright.

Applewhite, playing against a prevent Colorado defense, marched the Longhorns down the field for a touchdown to cut the lead to 39-37. However, with 30 seconds left, the onside kick was unsuccessful as Colorado, a team no one thought would be in this game two weeks ago, were now the Big 12 Champions.

Players of the Game: Colorado Defense

Much like Colorado’s last game, I couldn’t just decide on one singular player. I thought about putting Chris Brown in this spot, who finished 182 yards on the ground and 3 TDs. Also, he was the primary ball handler in the second half, grinding the clock away from Texas. However, I wanted to go with the unit that made those offensive numbers possible. Colorado’s four first half turnovers immediately led to 26 Colorado points. Their offense needed the spark from their defense since they had trouble playing from the field position Texas was giving them in the special teams.

Look Ahead: A New Challenger Emerges

With Texas not eliminated from National Championship contention, the window for potential opponents of Miami (FL) has narrowed. Colorado, with their wins over Nebraska and Texas, now has a case despite their two losses. Oregon is a one loss conference champ at the top of the rankings looking for an opportunity. Then, there’s Nebraska. Their big wins early in the season still loom large in the BCS computers, and they are lurking despite losing H2H to Colorado. The team with the best shot to make the Rose Bowl is in Knoxville. Tennessee’s win over Florida will position them as a team with the best chance to make the National Championship with a win against LSU. That game will be covered next week. Until then, sound off below on the 2001 Colorado run or the 2001 Simms Era Texas teams below!