Part 3

Wisconsin Badgers

Pregame Hype:            Wisconsin is the only Big Ten team Coach Tressel has a losing record against and you could tell by his press conferences leading up to the game that he wanted this one badly.  At the beginning of the season, back to back Penn State and Wisconsin games gave many fans cold sweats but after the disposal of Penn State coupled with P.J. Hill being banged up, things were looking bright for the Bucks.

The Game:                   OSU 38 – Wisconsin 17 Wisconsin gave the Buckeyes everything they had but eventually they couldn’t keep up with the explosive Beanie Wells.  Beanie ran for 169 yards and three touchdowns on a good Wisconsin defense while James Laurinaitis tallied a Chris Speilman like 19 tackles for the day. 

The Verdict:                Even when Wisconsin was up 17-10, the Bucks didn’t blink and stuck to their gameplan.  It was a veteran performance from a blossoming team.  The buckeyes were still #1 in the country and fans were looking forward to the season ending match-up with the Wolverines.

Illinois Fighting Illini

Pregame Hype:            Some reporters warned the masses about the potential for an upset here.  Few listened as preparations for house parties or trips to Ann Arbor were being organized.  Juice Williams can’t throw, their running game is average and the defense hasn’t been the same since Simeon Rice played there in the 90’s. 

The Game:                   Illini 28 - OSU 21 In the past few years, scrambling quarterbacks have given the Buckeyes fits and Juice Williams is a heck of a scrambler.  His arm has been in question all year but he was spot on this day.  The Buckeye defense didn’t make any adjustments for him of the brilliant Ron Zook gameplan.  Three turnovers helped the Illini solidify the victory and we saw the worst out of Todd Boeckman’s decision making surface.

The Verdict:                You might talk about the referees being questionable but the fact of the matter is that the Buckeyes were out played by an inferior team.  The Illini played the Buckeyes down to the wire in 2006 and it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that they were ready to play.  The Buckeyes seemed to be buying into the fact that they were good and thought they could sleepwalk through the game into Michigan undefeated.  A lesson earned I hope.

Michigan Wolverines

Pregame Hype:            Nothing will ever live up to last years #1 versus #2 match-up in Columbus but this is still The Game and Ohio State goes for a rare four game winning streak against their biggest rival.  Michigan seniors Jake Long, Mike Hart and Chad Henne try to salvage their collegiate careers with a victory over the Buckeyes while the impending retirement of Lloyd Carr looms over the program.

The Game:                   OSU 14 – UM 3 Bitter cold and high winds didn’t help either offense to succeed, overall a pretty sloppy game by both offenses.  The Buckeye defense held Michigan to 91 total yards and Todd Boeckman was effectively benched in the fourth quarter as Tressel wouldn’t let him do anything except hand the ball off to Beanie Wells.  Victory was sweet but Boeckman looked to take a step back in the game.

The Verdict:                Four in a row!  Henne, Hart and Long will never know what victory feels like against the Buckeyes.  Carr retires on Monday after the game and the Buckeyes are headed to the Rose Bowl to play Arizona State or USC.  There are 50+ days of waiting before the next Ohio State game.  Something has got to be done about the long layoff.

LSU Tigers; BCS National Championship Game

Pregame Hype:            While the Buckeyes were waiting at home to see who they were going to play in the Rose Bowl, a funny thing happened; LSU, West Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and USC all LOST.  So the Ohio State Buckeyes leaped from #7 to #1 in three weeks of being idle.   

The Game:                   LSU 38 – OSU 34 Up 10-0 early in the first quarter, the Buckeyes seemed worthy of their station and seemingly had LSU on the ropes.  LSU proceeded to pop off 31 straight points as the powerful SEC embarrasses the Buckeyes again.  Was Tressel out coached?  Was LSU that much better?  Did the Buckeyes over prepare?  I think it was simply a butt kicking of grand proportions.  The Buckeyes were not prepared for the Mac truck that hit them.

The Verdict:                Should the Buckeyes have been there in the first place?  Probably not.  USC, Georgia and West Virginia all were worthy and likely better teams than the Buckeyes but Ohio State did everything the BCS asked them to do; win a lot and lose few.  In the end there were only two one loss teams and one undefeated team before the bowls in 2007.  Who is to say that LSU, with two losses, should have been there over Kansas or Hawaii?  Was Georgia the best team in the SEC?  The finale of the 2007 season was a surprise and a letdown at the same time.  No one expected the Buckeyes to get this far but getting there is no fun if you can’t finish, just ask the New England Patriots.  For the foreseeable future, we may have many more of these kinds of seasons and scenarios that is until the conference presidents get their heads on straight and come up with a Division-1 playoff.  But hey, it’s been almost two months and we’re still talking about the 2007 season and we’re certainly looking forward to 2008.  Wasn’t it Walt Disney that said, “Always leave them wanting more?”