Game Thread BCS National Championship Game: tOSU 24, LSU 38 (final)

[osugrad21]

Lima

Can OSU capitalize on its second chance?

Jim Naveau | [email protected] - 12.03.2007


[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Crazy. That?s the first word that comes to mind when you talk about this college football season.
Some years are remembered for the big blizzard, the heat wave or the drought. The 2007 college football season will be remembered for all the crazy things that happened, all the twists and turns that had the highest-rated teams falling week after week like defenseless trees under siege by a battalion of chainsaw-wielding lumberjacks.
But Ohio State rode out the borderline insanity to earn a return trip to the Bowl Championship Series national title game against LSU on Jan. 7 in New Orleans.
Only a few were brave enough ? or crazy enough ? to go out on a limb and predict OSU could get to the national championship game after it lost 28-21 to Illinois three weeks ago and dropped from No. 1 to No. 7 in the BCS standings.
But the pieces began to fall into place when the Buckeyes beat Michigan, then Kansas and LSU lost last week, bumping Ohio State up to third in the BCS rankings. After that, all they needed was for Oklahoma to beat Missouri or for Pittsburgh to win against West Virginia on Saturday and they were in.
As the only once-beaten team remaining among the top BCS contenders, Ohio State (11-1) underwent somewhat of an image makeover.

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[osugrad21]

lima

Buckeyes say they?re hated as they prepare another title game

Associated Press | - 12.03.2007

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]COLUMBUS ? Ohio State is No. 1 in the polls and headed for the national championship game against No. 2 LSU in the Tigers? den at the Superdome. Still the Buckeyes say they get no respect.
?In all likelihood we will be the underdog because pretty much everyone on earth hates us,? offensive tackle Kirk Barton said on Sunday night shortly before the Buckeyes and Bayou Bengals were confirmed as the opponents in the Bowl Championship Series title game. ?That?s cool. We?re going to be playing in Louisiana against LSU and SEC Nation. So, it?s just one of those things we?ll probably end up being the underdog, but that?s fine with us. We?ve played in hostile games before. It?ll be a lot of fun.?
The Buckeyes have used last year?s title game ? a 41-14 thrashing to Florida ? as incentive ever since the final seconds melted off the clock in Glendale, Ariz.
Now they?re motivated to right that wrong by proving that they belong in this title game and erasing the memory of that ugly defeat.


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[osugrad21]

MJ

Buckeyes back where they left off
By JASON LLOYD, Morning Journal Writer
12/03/2007



COLUMBUS - For as long as the BCS exists, no team will ever again feel like it is out of contention for the national championship.


Not after the record pole vaults pulled off by Ohio State and LSU yesterday.
The Buckeyes were ranked as low as seventh in the BCS just three weeks ago in the days after a loss to Illinois. Even more remarkable, that's where LSU sat Saturday prior to kickoff of the SEC championship game. Yet here they both are, ranked first and second in the BCS and prepared to meet for the national championship in just over a month.

The Tigers vaulted over Virginia Tech, Kansas, Georgia, West Virginia and Missouri to claim the No. 2 position in the BCS rankings. Ohio State moved up to No. 1 following the upsets of both West Virginia and Missouri.

Despite being the higher ranked team, a number of the Buckeyes realized yesterday they'll probably be the underdogs against LSU. Thank the tank job last year against the SEC and Florida for that.

"We know pretty much everyone on earth hates us," senior Kirk Barton said. "That's cool. And we're going to be playing in Louisiana against LSU and against SEC nation. That's fine with us. We've played in hostile games before."

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[osugrad21]

Dispatch

College football
Good things come to Buckeyes
Ohio State to meet SEC champ LSU on Jan. 7
Monday, December 3, 2007 5:30 AM
By Ken Gordon


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

NEAL C. LAURON | DISPATCH
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel says his team is looking forward to facing this year's Southeastern Conference champions, Louisiana State.




The Ohio State University football team expects a tough time in the Big Easy. As expected, the Buckeyes (11-1) landed a spot yesterday in the Bowl Championship Series title game. They ended up ranked first in the final standings, announced last night.



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[osugrad21]

Dispatch

OSU fans clamber to plan travel to game

Monday, December 3, 2007 5:29 AM
By Steve Stephens


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

• BCS packages
  
• While some local travel agencies were still working out details yesterday, most are offering some kind of BCS Championship Game package. For a listing of various travel agents' packages for land and air travel to New Orleans, click here.

The Ohio State football team's traveling fans finally know their bowl game -- and not a day too soon for local travel agents who are scrambling to find and book packages to the BCS Championship Game in New Orleans. Two weeks ago, most fans and travel agents assumed the Buckeyes were traveling to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl. Several teams were ranked ahead of OSU, whose rise to a top-two ranking and the championship game seemed unlikely.
But in a season filled with unlikely upsets, the improbable happened. And now travel deposits for the Rose Bowl are being refunded while fans ponder a trip to New Orleans.
The craziness hasn't dampened enthusiasm for following the Buckeyes, said George Kun of George Kun Travel.



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[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Rob Oller commentary: OSU can't waste chance to regain lost stature

Monday, December 3, 2007 3:10 AM
By Rob Oller


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Few favors touch the tarnished soul as deeply as a second chance. Give a person a do-over to fix a mistake or right a wrong, and essentially you're rewriting history. Ohio State has been given that gift of time travel. It's as if the Buckeyes were rewinding to the moment before they
ran a stop sign and ... wham, Florida broadsided their national reputation.
Nearly 11 months later, OSU is approaching a similar intersection -- the most important crossroads the program has seen in Jim Tressel's seven seasons behind the wheel.
By playing Louisiana State in the BCS national championship game on Jan. 7 in the Tigers' back yard of New Orleans, the Buckeyes get a second chance to "get it right."



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[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Buckeyes hope different mind-set means different result

Monday, December 3, 2007 3:09 AM
By Ken Gordon


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH




At first glance, the upcoming national-title game matchup looks similar to the one last season: top-ranked Ohio State versus the Southeastern Conference champion. Last time, Florida. This time, Louisiana State. That doesn't bode well for the Buckeyes, who were drilled 41-14 by the Gators and are 0-8 against SEC teams in bowl games.
But take a closer look. There are major differences.
Last season, the Buckeyes were unbeaten and ranked No. 1 wire to wire. They had serious star power on offense, including quarterback Troy Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner.
They went to Arizona 10 days before the game, then basked in the sun and their favored status

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[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Miles feels Tigers earned move up

Monday, December 3, 2007 2:59 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
For Louisiana State, it was a roller-coaster end to a thrill ride of a regular season. Approximately 24 hours after beating Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference title game, the Tigers learned that they had gained the No. 2 spot in the final Bowl Championship Series ratings. They persevered on a weekend when upsets knocked out No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia, and they kept their fingers crossed as voters in two polls gave them renewed backing that sent them back up the chart and into the national title game Jan. 7 in New Orleans against No. 1 Ohio State.
LSU coach Les Miles had dealt with pressures of a different sort, spurning the courtship of his alma mater, Michigan, as he prepared his team to play in the SEC title game without its starting quarterback.



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[osugrad21]

Scout $

Discussion of the similarities between tOSU, LSU, and their seasons.

 

[cincibuck]

Just out of curiosity, is Tressel an offensive guy/defensive guy or a player manager kind of guy?

Tressel is the offensive signal caller, head coach and offensive coordinator from what I can tell.

 

[cincibuck]

I was wondering the same thing. Will we both be wearing home jerseys, or will we both be wearing away jerseys?

Tressell chose to wear white last year when it was OSU's call. It will be an away game any way you slice it, so look for Tressell to chose white again... or maybe go "throw back" and wear the jeresys from the 67 - 68 NC team.

 

[cincibuck]

While his playing in the game will still keep him under the ceiling of participting in no more than 20% of the season's games, the conference may look upon the fact he able to play later on in the season (albet the final game) as outside the intent of the medical redshirt option (to give back a season of eligibility when it is missed due to injury and not other factors), since virtually all who are granted medical redshirts miss the rest of their season after the injury. You would think common sense would dictate that 20% of game participation would cover playing in only the first and last games of the season, but unfortunately common sense isn't always applied by the powers-that-be...

Oh my God, by that logic Hart is still a sophomore! He could be the first Michigan player to lose 5 games to OSU.

 

[cincibuck]

Good question. Will JT turn him loose or play conservative? I for one hope we hold nothing back. We need to establish the run, that's a given...but I don't see us lining it up and smashing it down their throats until TB can hit some big ones. After all, LSU is no scUM.

I'd like to see Tress junk the long ball - jump ball to Robie... the one that led to three or four interceptions against Purdue and at least one against Illinois. Other than that, I look for him to try and pass a good deal on this defense, especially if Dorsey is back to being Dorsey. He can sure mess up an inside running game.

 

[Gatorubet]

Well, Nawlins is very fortune that Ohio State is in the title game, because we Buckeye fans travel very well, and we party and spend like few others...

I have to warn you - most of our couches are still damp...

 

[Zurp]

The callers on Rivals Radio are behaving as if the greatest injustice has just occured. It's pretty funny. But it's getting old. The host is doing a good job at staying neutral, but the callers are brutal. One guy said that last year's beat-down will look pretty tame compared to this year's. To which, I reply that this year's LSU offense will not score 41 points on this year's Ohio State's defense. So I don't see it.

And they had some guy on who claimed to be involved in Vegas betting. He said that believe it or not, LSU is "only" 6 point favorites at this point. He also said that he truly believes that Ohio State can win this game. I think I'd have to "all-in" with my vmoney at LSU (-6).