November 21, 2006

They had their shot... and failed

The OSU-Michigan game was everything I thought it would be. I love the fact that since Jim Tressel had been at the helm they OWN the Wolverines with a record of 5-1.

What I am getting tired of hearing is that Michigan deserves another shot at my Buckeyes in the National Championship game. I don't believe they are that deserving. A recent Dan Wetzel article on Yahoo! Sports makes the most rational argument as to why USC, Florida, Arkansas even Notre Dame deserve to go to Arizona for the BCS title game:
Ohio State controlled this one, racking up 503 yards on what was supposed to be an airtight Wolverines defense. Troy Smith and his receivers had their way with Michigan's secondary. The Buckeyes running backs peeled off two touchdown runs of 50-plus yards. Yes, anything could have happened at the end, and yes, the final score is what it is. But if Ohio State doesn't commit three turnovers to Michigan's none and commit two third- and fourth-down defensive penalties (de facto turnovers) to Michigan's one, then this isn't that close. Two of Ohio State's turnovers were near their end zone (one on the nine-yard line, one on the 25). This isn't to say things wouldn't be different next time. But to call this a true back-and-forth, anyone's ballgame is dishonest. Only once in the second half did Michigan even have the ball with the chance to take the lead. There is just no definitive way to say that Michigan, after getting scorched on defense and kept in the game mostly because of Ohio State turnovers, is more deserving than those teams.

So factoring in if OSU didn't turn the ball over and allow Michigan to score on two of the three turnovers the score would have been 56-25. Any person on the street would tell you that is a blowout. And had that score been the final we wouldn't even be having this debate. So Mike Hart, quit whining and be content with your 143 yards of rushing and 3 TD's and recognize that you and your team were beat by a much better team (who only kept you in the game because of 3 turnovers) and let someone else get a shot at OSU!

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