COLUMBUS, OHIO ? Vince Young connected in the clutch and won it for Texas with his arm, instead of his legs – just like a star quarterback is supposed to.

Young, best known for his

highlight-reel runs, threw a 24-yard go-ahead touchdown to Limas Sweed with 2:37 left, and No. 2 Texas defeated No. 4 Ohio State, 25-22, Saturday night in the much-anticipated first meeting between two of college football’s most storied programs.

Young’s floating TD pass over a defender capped a 72-yard drive during which his biggest plays were through the air, including a third-and-six completion of nine yards to Jamaal Charles. His second TD pass of the game made the score 23-22.

“Sweed came off the ball real good, and I threw the ball to the outside so he could go out of bounds or make the great play and Sweed made a great play for us,” Young said.

The Longhorns’ ‘D,’ which time and time again toughened after turnovers and special teams gave Ohio State good field position, had the biggest takeaway of the game when Drew Kelson stripped a scrambling Justin Zwick and Brian Robison recovered and returned it inside the 20.

Ohio State (1-1) held the Longhorns (2-0) out of the end zone, but Larry Dibbles sacked Troy Smith for a safety and Texas coach Mack Brown had his second straight huge victory over a Big Ten team.

The Longhorns defeated Michigan in the Rose Bowl, when Young launched his 2005 Heisman Trophy campaign with 192 yards rushing.

Young proved against the Buckeyes he can pass it when he needs to as well.

“Obviously, he’s a great runner,” Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk said. “Tonight he showed us he’s a great passer.”

One Ohio State player had said the Buckeyes’ goal was to put an end to Young’s Heisman campaign. And while Bobby Carpenter and Ohio State’s swift linebacking crew hemmed in Young after some good runs early, they couldn’t keep him from passing for 270 yards.

“When you have to play extra people in the box to stop his run it’s going to leave you a bit vulnerable to the pass,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. “I thought he played hard. He kept getting hit and beat up and kept coming back. And his team won.”

Young also had made a couple of those poor decisions and bad throws – he was intercepted twice – that have caused him to be labeled a tailback playing quarterback.

But he finished 18-for-29 and ran 20 times for 76 yards.

Tressel was true to his promise, playing both Zwick and Troy Smith at quarterback. Neither distinguished himself, and it looks like the quarterback competition will resume for the Buckeyes.

Smith ran for 27 yards, threw a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes and led Ohio State on five scoring drives.

Zwick was 9-for-15 for 66 yards and led Ohio State to one of Josh Huston’s school-record tying five field goals.

Ohio State came up with three turnovers in Texas territory, but the Buckeyes could only manage three field goals against defensive end Tim Crowder and the Texas defense.

And when Ted Ginn Jr.’s 46-yard kickoff return got the Buckeyes to around midfield in the third quarter, they again drove inside the 20, only to stall when Ryan Hamby let a sure TD pass pop off his chest.

Huston knocked his final field goal of the game through to tie a school record last accomplished by Mike Nugent, the All-American he replaced this season, and give Ohio State a 22-16 lead with 5:12 left in the third.

Ginn, Ohio State’s big play specialist, was only a factor on special teams. He caught two passes for nine yards.

For Brown, the ballyhooed matchup was another opportunity to try to prove to critics that he can, indeed, win the big games.

It’s a reputation mostly built on five straight losses to rival Oklahoma and no Big 12 titles, despite winning at least 10 games the past four seasons.

Brown took a step toward shedding that tag by beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl to end last season and another big one Saturday night.

On the other sideline, Tressel dropped to 6-2 against opponents ranked in the top 10.

The big question in Columbus leading up to game day was which quarterback would start for the Buckeyes – Zwick or Smith, returning from an NCAA suspension.

Zwick got the start and played the first two series with little success as Texas built a 10-0 lead behind Young.

Smith, who’s kind of a Vince Young-lite, gave the Buckeyes a lift with his running ability, and tossed a beautiful 36-yard TD pass to Holmes that tied the game at 10.

Hawk, the leader of Ohio State’s linebackers, then came up with an interception and fumble recovery on consecutive series to give Ohio State the ball deep in Texas territory.

Both times the Longhorns’ defense stiffened and made the Buckeyes settle for field goals of 37 and 25 yards by Huston.

Texas got a 37-yard field goal from David Pino with 2 seconds left in the first half to make it 16-13.

The most-anticipated nonconference game played in Ohio Stadium in at least a decade – and maybe ever – started with flash bulbs popping and the Horseshoe-record crowd of 105,565 in a frenzy that had been building for months.

The raucous atmosphere left the Longhorns, who have won 22 of 23 on the road, unfazed. They calmly scored on their first two drives with Young running and passing like a pro.

The 230-pounder swept around left end for 32 yards on the Longhorns’ fifth play from scrimmage to help set up a 42-yard field goal by Pino.

Young was 4-for-4 for 57 yards on Texas’ next drive, including a 5-yard strike to a slanting Billy Pittman for a touchdown.