Game Thread THE GAME: #1 Ohio State 42, #2 Michigan 39 (11/18/06)

[BUCKYLE]

Dammit XC, I know I'm showing my age but that talk of Michigan going to the Rose Bowl gets me to do a double take every time :)

I'm only 27, and I did a double take also...

 

[Buckskin86]

Eyes on the prize
Tressel, Smith have owned Michigan with focus, drive
Posted: Thursday November 16, 2006 12:31PM; Updated: Thursday November 16, 2006 7:11PM

It had been four hours since Jim Tressel took the Ohio State job when he walked out onto the Schottenstein Center court during a Buckeyes basketball game and set off a frenzy.

"I can assure you that you'll be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community -- and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field," he announced on the night of Jan. 18, 2001.

Lloyd Carr's life has never been the same.

Tressel has become the Michigan coach's personal Rubik's Cube, winning four of his five games against the Wolverines, including the last two -- and that first one, 310 days after he succeeded John Cooper.

So what's his secret? Why has he had so much success against the Wolverines?

"Troy Smith spins and runs 46 yards -- now come on," Tressel said. "I don't have any answers ... if anyone pretends to think they have the answer, they've got problems."

Tressel has caused plenty of problems for Carr. The Michigan coach has won more than 76 percent of his games, but a loss on Saturday against the top-rated Buckeyes will give him a 1-5 record against Tressel. Cooper, who won 72 percent of his games but was 1-5 against Carr, and was driven out of Columbus for his inability to beat the Wolverines.

The running joke has become: What kind of a car does Tressel own? A Lloyd Carr.

Carr, for one, is quick to put the past in the past. He's escaped the heat that arose after going 7-5 last year -- UM's worst season in 21 years -- but there's still that nagging thorn in his side: Jim Tressel. One-and-four isn't in Carr's vernacular heading into the clash in the Horseshoe, and he pushes aside any line of questions regarding the Buckeyes' domination of the series since Tressel has taken over.

"Really we're trying to get ready for this week and those are the things that we have to focus on," Carr said.

The Wolverines' focus will largely be on Smith, the Heisman frontrunner who has burned Michigan the last two years. In 2004, the Ohio State quarterback had his coming out party, amassing 386 yards of offense and three touchdowns in a 37-21 upset. Last season, he went 27-of-37 for 300 yards and a TD (and rushed for another score), leading the Buckeyes back from a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win 25-21 in Ann Arbor.

"He wants to have the ball in his hands. He wants to make a difference," Tressel said.

And he's saved his best for the Wolverines. The 145 rushing yards Smith had against Michigan two years ago were just 50 less than he had the entire season coming into the game. His 300-yard passing day last year was his first and only as a Buckeye and he completed 73 percent of his passes, a career best at the time.

Ohio State running back Antonio Pittman says there's a marked difference between the Smith who suits up for the season finale against the archrival Wolverines and the one who is at the helm of the Buckeyes offense during the rest of the year.

"He's more alert and more ready than ever," Pittman said.

Despite the success he's had against the Wolverines, Smith says it isn't going to make things any easier when they meet Saturday afternoon in Columbus for the Big Ten title, and more importantly, a spot in the BCS title game on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.

"I think it makes it even more tough," said Smith, who with a win would be the first OSU quarterback to beat Michigan three times since Tippy Dye (1934 through '36). "Once you have a great game against somebody, when you get the chance to play them again, everybody is going to be looking to see what you do."

Together Smith and Tressel have caused a seismic shift in college football's biggest rivalry, and their secret to controlling the Wolverines lies not in some flawless strategy, but simply in the intangibles. The duo gives the Buckeyes a quarterback and coach who may be the best in the country when it comes to big game performances -- just look at the last two Michigan games, the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame and this year's games against Texas and Iowa. Smith has grown into an on-field version of Tressel, sans the sweater vest. It's evident in his cool, calm leadership as well as the customary, team-first answer to every question.

"My success is credited to everyone around me," Smith said. "It is not just me who is 2-0 versus Michigan. It is everyone who was on the field."

How has Ohio State been able to dominate the series lately?

"I think one thing would have to be our added emphasis on ending the season on a positive note for our seniors," Smith said.

Coach and quarterback may churn out more vanilla than Breyers, but they've brought an unflappable and nearly invincible demeanor that has kept the Buckeyes on target during their 18-game winning streak.

"Coach Tressel and Troy do a great job of keeping us focused," defensive tackle Jay Richardson said.

As key as the Tressel-Smith relationship has been to Ohio State's performances against Michigan, Tressel has also helped to bring an emphasis to a rivalry that Cooper wanted no part of. Cooper famously tried to downplay the importance of the rivalry, saying it was just another game on the schedule. But Tressel, an Ohio native who served as an assistant under former Buckeyes coach Earl Bruce from 1983-85, knew the importance of the rivalry, and he wasted little time letting the fans know what his focus was after returning to Columbus.

"Now they know and they can get ready for it," Tressel joked after giving the impromptu pep rally on that January night.

With four wins in five games, Tressel has turned the tables. But he's not letting that success affect preparation for what is arguably the biggest game in the rivalry's 103-year history.

"It has nothing to do with 2006," Tressel said. "That's the biggest feeling."

It's as plain an answer as you'd expect from a coach who's so calculated in his responses that people call him Senator Tressel. He's passed this approach on to a Heisman-worthy quarterback who brings that same levelheaded cool to operating the Buckeyes' offense.

There's no doubt about it: Smith and Tressel have made vanilla the flavor of choice in Columbus.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/cory_mccartney/11/16/tressel.smith/

 

[Cornerback6]

scUM sucks.


My one and only game prediction:
tOSU 31 scUM 13

 

[Onebuckfan]

I have one apprehension for this game and its nothing concerning the team or coach. The Home Crowd is going to have to prove it to me. They have sat on their hands all year. If -Ich can audible while tOSU is jumping around on D, I will be dissappointed. The fans have demanded perfection, while they got it, now its their turn. Don't dissapppoint PLEASE!!! GoBucks!

 

[sandgk]

I have one apprehension for this game and its nothing concerning the team or coach. The Home Crowd is going to have to prove it to me. They have sat on their hands all year. If -Ich can audible while tOSU is jumping around on D, I will be dissappointed. The fans have demanded perfection, while they got it, now its their turn. Don't dissapppoint PLEASE!!! GoBucks!

Be Loud - Very Loud!!

 

[smartone]

Everything seems to be on Troy's shoulders

I have one worry (which I hope proves to be a non-issue): That is, most of the sports media that has picked us to win the game is placing the difference between winning or losing on TS. They support their pick, for the most part, on the success TS had in the previous two years. On a side note, I'm not quite sure what the previous two games have to do with this game.

I know TS is a clutch player and think he is one amazing QB. But he is also a human being. As such, I worry that all this pressure may make him uptight enough so that he'll be unable to meet or exceed expectations.

I suppose one could argue that this "worry" is more of a "supertition" than a valid concern. That could very well be. In my opinion, he has not yet allowed pressure to affect his performance. But has he faced pressure to this degree?

While many believe that this matter will be decided between the Buckeye offense and the Michigan defense, I am hoping that this will not be the case. In order to relieve the stress this supertition or concern is causing me, I began thinking that the matter will be decided between our defense and their offense. That way I do not have to face this "worry" which stems from my perception that the degree of stress being placed on TS is too much for a young man to face.

Any help or thoughts on my confusion? By asking for your comments, I recognize that I am being selfish because I am asking you for comforting words to "help me feel better" about this. And I am unimportant.

 

[CarmanOhio]

My voice has been hoarse after every game I attended this year. I have been getting looks all year for yelling and screaming for the Buckeyes when others have not been. I love the looks on people's faces and how strange they thng I am for yelling and screaming. It is a blast to me and I can not wait till Saturday!

After Saturday's game I expect my throat will be raw with blood from the amount of yelling I will be doing!!!

Go Bucks!!!!!

 

[Alex Boone fan]

Tressel in his Talk show tonight is DEMANDING THAT EVERYONE WHO GOES TO THE GAME BE LOUD. NOT A LITTLE LOUD BUT I MEAN LOUD.

DON'T JUST SIT THEIR MAKE THE DIFFERENCE FOR THE TEAM AND BE LOUD!

 

[ytownbuckeye]

42 hours...

 

[Buckskin86]

A week like no other at Ohio State
Buckeyes: The Big Game has never been bigger

By STEVE HUMMER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/17/06

Columbus, Ohio ? It's not just plain Ohio State University: home to more than 50,000 students; the biggest college football game at least since Lee Corso lost his mind; a Nobel prize-winning physicist; a great political science program; a Jack Nicklaus Museum; and a band so good it spells out its name in cursive.

More correctly, it's THE Ohio State University: giant hormone cauldron ... football colossus ... eggheads in surplus ... a sousaphone star system ... yada ... yada.

Just as you hear it whenever a former Buckeyes player introduces himself on "Monday Night Football," these folks really do refer routinely to themselves as followers of THE Ohio State University. As an offshoot of a trademark dispute with Ohio University a decade ago, they took to beating the world over the head with that unnecessary article. It's their own little three-letter truncheon of pride.

Call it silly. Call it affectatious. Get into a Clintonesque debate over what the meaning of the word "the" is. Simply, as senior Katie Patton explained, "It's because we're THE one and only Ohio State University."

Self-importance is in no short supply on the banks of the Olentangy River, especially now.

For there are big doings at the THE this week.

On the every other year that Michigan comes to town, it's always a best-two-out-of-three-falls kind of party. But now that Ohio State and Michigan enter Saturday's game ranked 1 and 2 in the nation, all eyes are cast towards the Buckeyes' cavernous stadium, known as the Horseshoe. These people don't want to disappoint anyone by doing anything halfway.

"Gonna be the biggest game this place has ever seen," said Laurie Watkins. She has not grown so jaded slinging beers at the Varsity Club to the game-day throngs that she doesn't know an epic blowout when it approaches. Located a short walk from Ohio Stadium, the place is at ground zero.

Columbus is not a college town in the mold of a Tuscaloosa or even a Knoxville. The metropolitan population reaches a million-and-a-half. There is major professional sport in town ? if you count the NHL's Blue Jackets. Yet, here as in college stations much smaller, there is every bit the feel of complete community absorption with the Buckeyes.

"This city throws itself into the college atmosphere more than Ann Arbor," said Joe Dascenzo, a salesman shopping for some Buckeye trinkets on his lunch break. His commitment is total. Having promised a friend from California a seat at Saturday's game, he ponied up $1,140 for a pair of tickets.

Take just the normal frenzy for the Ohio State-Michigan game, and square it for this one. Everything figures to be inflated ? from scalpers' demands to alcoholic intake ? for this virtual national championship semifinal.

At the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe, they were laying in supplies for what promised to be a hugely profitable weekend. "All year long we've had a higher volume [of customers]. And the hype of this game has been unbelievable. Everybody wants to be a part of it," general manager Johnny Dinh said. And his place, in the shadow of a billboard that advertises, "State Farm ? In Case You Hit A Wolverine," is almost a required stop on any true Buckeye's pilgrimage.

Granted, eggs, sausage and hash browns for $4.96 is a pretty good deal. But this? Dinh expected people to start lining up outside the cafe shortly after midnight Thursday for this morning's Beat Michigan Breakfast Club. Temperatures will be in the upper 30s throughout the long wait for the 5:45 a.m. opening.

"Obviously, we're going to provide beer," Dinh said. That being the official breakfast drink of OSU-Michigan Week.

"Ohio State fans are pretty wild," Dinh added, as if he really needed to.

Anti-Michigan sentiment

How much work is going to get done on the day before the big game is always a big question. The Friday before OSU-Michigan is seen here as a holiday, regardless of whether the bankers or mailmen recognize it. "People work," insisted a local sales rep, Bill Newton. "They may not be at work."

At the time, Newton had his hands full of talking Ohio State bottle openers and other paraphernalia at one of the many Buckeye shops that ring campus. It's a habit for him and his buddies to line up outside the Varsity Club at 4:30 on game morning to claim a seat when the place opens three hours later. Where a real life fits into that schedule is unknown.

For those with an edgier sense of humor, tonight will feature a scheduled "Hate Michigan" appearance by a punk band that dresses up like former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes (dark rimmed glasses, white shirts, ties, scarlet windbreakers) and calls itself the Dead Schembechlers. That's their way of sticking it to the Wolverines and their old-school coach Bo Schembechler, who is still among us.

Honestly, such a band exists, and it is getting an inordinate amount of pub this week. Songs on its play list that can be reported here are such old standards as "Bomb Ann Arbor Now," "We Don't Give A Damn For the Whole State of Michigan," and that touching ballad, "I Peed In Ann Arbor's Water Supply." If curiosity compels, you can find out more about their work on their Web site, deadschembechlers.com.

The lead singer spoke for his audience when he told the Ohio State school newspaper this week, "The thing I look forward to the most at the end of the game is all of us running onto the field and picking up [Michigan quarterback] Chad Henne's teeth."

Students are throwing themselves, quite literally, into the madness. In those confusing hours when Thursday staggers into Friday, it was the intention of thousands of them to dive into the on-campus Mirror Lake, hypothermia be hanged. That is a blue-tinted tradition every year at this time, another that has fed off the importance of this particular game and grown fatter.

"You can't imagine how many people are into this," said Sabrina Rosentraub, a senior from Cleveland. "Students, members of the band ? with their instruments ? everything. And all of them screaming various obscenities about Michigan." Her freshman plunge ended with the flu the next day. That hasn't deterred her from jumping back in every year since.

SRO for the pep rally

As much as any of them plan, freshmen Justin Von Bargen and Brian Davis had their midnight swim all plotted. They'd get into their swimsuits and run as fast as they could in the cold the five blocks from their dorm to the lake. Jump in. Then run as fast as possible back to the warmth of their rooms. Certainly nothing could go wrong with that rock-solid scheme.

These two dedicated young scholars were speaking Wednesday night from a ballroom inside the Ohio Union, having just wiped the floor with two other kids in a game of cornhole. Remember, we are in the Midwest.

"The game is really big in Cincinnati," said Von Bargen, of his home territory. (OK, the rules: You toss a bag filled with unpopped popcorn at a slanted board with a hole in it, about 25 feet away. You get points for any bag going through the hole or staying on the board). Connected to Beat Michigan Week festivities, the cornhole tournament drew 128 two-person teams, with more on a waiting list.

It was just the biggest Beat Michigan Week ever. "People are just looking for ways to get involved," said the cornhole commissioner, Jake Gardner, a senior from ? where else? ? Iowa.

"It's been a cakewalk to get people to help out with this," he said. "Last year's pep rally was about half full. This year's [on Monday] they were standing all the way to the back of the room."

No question, this is The Week at The Ohio State. Get thee to a bomb shelter.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2006/11/16/1117ohiostate.html

 

[OregonBuckeye]

I have one apprehension for this game and its nothing concerning the team or coach. The Home Crowd is going to have to prove it to me. They have sat on their hands all year. If -Ich can audible while tOSU is jumping around on D, I will be dissappointed. The fans have demanded perfection, while they got it, now its their turn. Don't dissapppoint PLEASE!!! GoBucks!

Well, we haven't exactly had exciting home games this year.

NIU: Won by 23
Cincy: Won by 30
Penn St.(the only good game): Won by 22
BG: Won by 28
Indiana: Won by 41
Minnesota: Won by 44

 

[OmahaBeef]

Well, we haven't exactly had exciting home games this year.

NIU: Won by 23
Cincy: Won by 30
Penn St.(the only good game): Won by 22
BG: Won by 28
Indiana: Won by 41
Minnesota: Won by 44

I was just going to mention that. I thought the PSU crowd was the best (even though it wasn't great). Aside form that Penn State game (which wasn't really a thrilling game as a spectator) the rest of the games were really pretty boring, even if it was fun to see the buckeyes flex their muscles. I know someone who said she fell asleep while standing up at the game against BGSU. (I thought that was pretty sad/funnny, but I think one could understand how that could happen.)

 

[jlb1705]

I don't know if anyone else saw, but Cold Pizza just had a segment about what Michigan fans shouldn't do at the game Saturday. Including drive in cars that have Michigan plates, wear school colors, walk on high street and so on. I don't know the guys name, but somebody from the school paper said that the University was scared because of how bad Ohio State fans are. He said to watch out for empty glass bottles, as Ohio State traditionally throws them at people. Walk in groups, as you could get hurt if you walk by yourself.

In a nutshell he just pretty much said that Ohio State fans are the worst in the country, and they can't even be trusted so just watch out. Plus the guy was a weirdo. I don't know if anybody else saw this. At first I thought it was a joke, it was pretty offensive and biased.

scUM fans do have a habit of going to games dressed as empty seats. As long as they don't go to this game dressed like one of these empty seats, they should be safe:

 

[OmahaBeef]

In case you all were wondering, Mirror Lake was fantastic tonight. I'm a freshman so I guess I don't have anything to compare it to, but tons of people, and everyone was going crazy. It seemed like the whole school was a little subdued this week, but everyone was going crazy tonight. Can't wait for the game!

 

[buckeye247]

Only one more day
If anyone going to the game reads this im begging you to be the loudest you have ever been ever while scUM has the ball. Please if i was there i wouldnt have a voice for two weeks. DONT TAKE THIS FOR GRANTED SCREAM LIKE A MAD MAN EVEN IF IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE.