OK
OK siege. That's kind of what I thought you were talking about. I can't really agree that many of these wins are related to luck. I'll put it this way. Over the past 20 some years between Woody and Tressel, many of these close, "grind it out" games did not go OSU's way. I think many fans were conditioned to believe that IF OSU got into a dog fight that things would not go our way. Many times they did not. This became especially prevailant during the Cooper years and more specifically the Michigan and Bowl games. Most fans (through repitition) began to believe that in a close game we'd find a way to lose rather than finding a way to win. How can you blame them? Most times we did find a way to lose. Now people (when we get into a close game) attribute our style of play and close win with luck. What else could it be? We generally lose these games ... how could we keep winning so many?
The answer is good, hard-nosed, fundamental football. Woody took tons of flack for this very same philosophy. People say this will jump up and "bite" OSU. Well getting "bit" once in 2 years is OK in my book.
Play sound fundamental football. Limit mistakes. Punt well, play field position and great defense. These are the hallmarks of football. Of course you'll give up the fluke win to another team now and again, but the strategy is sound. When you have the better talent and follow these principals only teams with more talent will prevail after 60 minutes. The key here is not to "give" weaker opponents a game with your mistakes. If you can do this for 60 minutes and the other team still wins, then you've just lost to a better team ... period.
When you face a team that is more talented, then you change things up a bit and take more risks. It's really that simple if your team executes.
