It was hard to imagine that any outcome could match the hype that preceded this game. Add in the emotional dimension of Bo’s passing and you’ve got an unbelievable cocktail. Well, the game did live up to the hype and had many twists and turns provided by the fact that neither team gave up, they both fought with all they had. The box score shows an uncharacteristic game in this rivalry, 81 points, 900 yards of offense, 600 yards passing. Woody and Bo probably had a good yell over that, but they both would have been proud of the effort displayed by both teams. On to the meat of this entry…..

The Good

• Offenses: Both offenses came to play. If you’d told me in the absence of other information that Mike Hart rushed for 140 yards and 3 TDs, and Chad Henne passed for 270 yards and 2 TDs, I would have said it had to be a blowout by Michigan. On the other hand, if you told me that Antonio Pittman rushed for 140 yards and 1 TD and Troy Smith passed for 320 yards and 4 TDs, I would have said Ohio State blowout. Both offensive units executed their game plans very well.
• Storyline of the game: Ohio State kept throwing the knockout punch and Michigan kept getting up off the floor. By all rights, the TD delivered before halftime should have done the trick. But, give Michigan credit, they did not give up, they did not surrender and were in a position mentally to take advantage of 3 turnovers, 2 unforced, to score 10 points in the second half. After that stretch, the Buckeyes could have folded too, but they refused and bounced right back up to take control of the game for good. The last Michigan touchdown was window dressing, the game was over at 42-31 in the middle of the 4th quarter.
• Troy Smith: Likely the first OSU quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy since Les Horvath in 1944. Great players show up in big games. Just what has Smith done to Michigan over 3 years? Passing, 69 of 101 for 857 yards, 7 TDs, and 1 Int. Rushing, 194 yards and 2 TDs. Smith not only secured the Heisman, he locked his team in the national championship game and won an outright Big 10 title, Ohio State’s first outright title since 1984.

The Bad

• Defense: What happened to these defenses? Were the offenses just that good? Neither of these units gave any clue throughout the season of rolling over to the tune of 900 yards combined in a game. Michigan, giving up just 30 yards per game rushing, was gashed for 187 and gave up two runs of more than 50 yards for TDs. Ohio State, allowing just 8 points per game on the season gave up 39 in this matchup? Amazing. At times, I felt like I was watching a WAC or Big East game yesterday. Entertaining, but weird. If Ohio State wants to win a NC, these issues on defense need to be addressed in the next 50 days. If Michigan wants to win their BCS bowl (most likely Rose – how weird is that, the loser likely goes to the Rose Bowl?) they’re going to have to address their defensive deficiencies too.
• Field: In a word, horrible. The only reason this isn’t in the ugly category is both teams played on the same field, they were both negatively impacted by the quality (or lack thereof) of the playing surface. It was not for lack of trying, this was the third field surface applied this season in the ‘Shoe. Could Field Turf be in the cards? It doesn’t take a genius to realize that November daylight + scads of rain = poor environment for growing new grass.
• Officiating: In a word, putrid. The only reason this isn’t in ugly is because it was pretty consistently putrid. Roughing the center? Give me a break. Phantom pass interference? Thought you actually had to interfere. No call 15 yard facemasks, continual holds on defensive linemen (holds, heck, they were tackles,) consistent missed offsides. It was a mess. The refs aided Michigan in 10 points directly and Ohio State in 7 points directly. That’s pretty much a push. But the NCAA had better do something about training these officials resulting in crisp, consistent, and correct calls before the game devolves into a laughing stock.

The Ugly

• Turnovers: Ohio State did everything it could to keep Michigan in the game, losing the turnover battle by 3 is a sure recipe for a loss. Nothing more to say, better ball protection is required.
• Hart: The media is constantly searching for controversy and as a result, shoves microphones in the faces of people who ought not talk. Yesterday, Michigan RB Mike Hart fit that category. After playing a very solid game and experiencing massive disappointment, he shouldn’t have been talking to the media. His comments did not reflect well on him or his university. That being said, I agree, if the game were played again, the outcome would be different, OSU would likely win by 3 scores.
• Rematch: It shouldn’t happen. It might due to the weirdness of the system, but we’ve already seen the game and a good game it was. The fact that it’s even being considered (and lobbied for) is a symptom of how screwy the system is. Simple rule, if you can’t win your league championship, you can’t play for the NC. If OSU had lost, I would say the exact same thing. There is a precedent, Oklahoma a few years back losing the Big 12 championship game then getting destroyed in the NC game.

Hats off to the players and coaches for playing a very good, very memorable, and very exciting game. Now let’s see who fills out the other half of the NC game. My money is on Arkansas. I know the computers love USC and Florida is favored to win the SEC, but Arkansas is playing the best football of the bunch right now.

Ohio State’s 2006 record: 12-0 Next up: ????? 1/8/07
Tune: We are the Champions by Queen
Technorati Tags: Ohio State | Michigan | Football | Mike Harding Blog