There's been a lot of talk lately about the increasing fan apathy when it comes to the BCS bowls.
You'd be hard pressed though to tell that to the Ohio State and Arkansas fans who not only flooded New Orleans last week for the Sugar Bowl, but also packed the Louisiana Superdome past capacity to view the Buckeyes' 31-26 victory over the Razorbacks.
Other than for the Rose Bowl (92,542) and Orange Bowl (75,192), the Superdome has the largest BCS bowl game venue, seating 72,968, but for the OSU-Hogs battle drew 73,879, filling the indoor facility all the way to the rafters. That was surpassed only by the BCS national-championship game with 78,603 and the Rose Bowl with 94,118.
In fact, the 73,879 was the largest Superdome attendance since the last time the Buckeyes were in town for the 2007 BCS national-championship game against LSU. That game drew 79,651.
But Ohio State vs. Arkansas was a natural draw - having never played each other before, Arkansas in its first BCS bowl and a neighboring state to Louisiana, and Ohio State favored to break its 0-9 bowl jinx versus the SEC along with its penchant for traveling well with its large alumni and fan base.
Now admittedly, there were more Razorback faithful with their ''Pig-Sooie'' cheers than Buckeye fans with their ''OH-IO'' chants in the Big Easy, but then again, there ought to be, since Arkansas is half the distance to New Orleans that Columbus is.
Nevertheless, the game was entertaining - if you weren't rooting for one team, so bag that idea in my case. OSU looked so good on both sides of the ball in the first half - especially employing an effective up-tempo, no-huddle offense - that you never thought the outcome would come down to the final minute.
I think what I was impressed with the most was the Buckeye defense. You knew Arkansas was going to score, but the job the ''D'' did on Hogs' quarterback Ryan Mallett - a prime-time player who declared for the NFL draft two days later - pressuring, harassing and sacking him was remarkable. Sure, the Michigan transfer threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, but I thought was held reasonably in check most of the night, even with OSU's best DB, Chimdi Chekwa, going out late in the first quarter with a dislocated right wrist and having surgery to repair it the next day.
Another key to the win was Sugar Bowl MVP Terrelle Pryor, who ran into the Ohio State record books in the game as the top rushing QB in school history, picking up 115 yards on 15 carries to pass previous leader Cornelius Greene (2,066 yards from 1973-75) with 2,164. Ironically, the record came on Pryor's first run - a 34-yard, 3rd-and-9 scramble that ended with a fumble at the Hog 3 that fortunately was recovered in the end zone by wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher for a touchdown anda 7-0 Buckeye lead just 3:19 into the game.
The 115 rushing yards were the fourth-most by a quarterback in a BCS bowl game as well as the fourth-best by a QB in the Sugar Bowl's 77-year history.
Pryor too, with a pair of first-half TD tosses to Sanzenbacher and fellow wide-out DeVier Posey, tied Bob Hoying's OSU career touchdown pass mark of 57 from 1993-95.
Contact Steve Hemmelgarn at shemmelgarn@newsandsentinel.com
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