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Ben there, done that

Dan Kukla

Big Ben conjured up another big win for the ages Sunday night.

Former Miami University quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won his second Super Bowl ring with the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 27-23 thriller over the Arizona Cardinals. The victory makes him the second youngest player (26 years, 10 months, 30 days) in NFL history to win two Super Bowls.

Playing on football's biggest stage, Roethlisberger led a game-winning 78-yard drive to give Pittsburgh its record sixth Super Bowl title. The go-ahead score came by way of a six-yard Roethlisberger pass over the heads of three Cardinal defenders to an outstretched Santonio Holmes in the back corner of the end zone.

Keeping with true Roethlisberger form, the pass came at the end of a broken play in which the 6-foot-5-inch 250-pound quarterback scrambled to his right and pump faked twice. Roethlisberger created plays out of nothing like this all night with his ability to elude the pass rush and check down to open receivers.

Pittsburgh's epic two-minute drill negated what would have gone down as the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.

Roethlisberger completed 21 of 30 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown.

While at Miami, Big Ben laid claim to every major RedHawk passing record. In his final season for the Red and White he led the 'Hawks to an undefeated season in MAC play, a No. 10 ranking in the AP poll and a 49-28 victory over the University of Louisville in the GMAC bowl.


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