Okay, so maybe I may have overstated it, but the Buckeyes WIN! Six in a row, third full class of Michigan seniors that fail to notch a victory against the Buckeyes. That’s gotta smart.

It was obvious early on that Michigan was committed to stop the OSU run game (or conversely, to force Pryor to pass) and OSU came out early in a lot of pro sets. The early offensive game plan was to air it out, surprisingly, but it didn’t work out perfectly. Credit the offensive coaches to change up the formations back to a shotgun spread look, that forced Michigan out of stacking against the run. If you can put 250+ yards on the ground, you’re going to be in a good position to win.

More credit where credit is due: the red zone screen play. Whether it was the planned call or not, it still was executed perfectly at precisely the right time. Terrelle has been managing the game well, and plays like that are a good example of his growth.

Huge credit needs to be given to the offensive line for another good performance. We’ve been critical of the unit for 2+ years, but this unit has really grown the last five games. Brewster has been very good, Browning and Cordle are actually getting big pushes and Adams and Shugarts have been getting the job done. This was the line we had been hoping for when the Brew Crew came together, and now they are reaping the fruits of their recruiting labors.

Boom Herron and Brandon Saine are also becoming a strong one-two punch. We’re huge fans of Saine around these parts (read: me) but we have much love for Boom. He runs bigger than he is, and his production hasn’t been huge lately, but he played great today. Good to see.

And of course: The Defense. We haven’t bolded them lately, but five turnovers, one for a TD and the bend-not-break mentality has paid off once again. Michigan couldn’t establish a running game with spelled DOOM for their passing game. It seemed like Doug Worthington and Brian Rolle were everywhere, and of course one Hurt Coleman seemed to be the recipient of some ill-advised QB Force throws. As was Thaddeus Maximus.

A huge congratulations to the Buckeyes for earning the OUTRIGHT Big Ten Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

It’s good to be a Buckeye.

The Day is HERE! Most people are calling for a close one. All of those people are crazy (or stupid — you decide).

You have a couple more hours to get your score predictions in to win a copy of Rivalries: The History of Michigan vs. Ohio State. Throw in your two cents on the poll, as well.

Join in the in-game chat (starting around 11:30 AM) after the jump.

Update:
Can I just say how enjoyable it was to see LSU totally blow it at the end of their comeback try against Ole Miss? How can you not have your kicking team ready? SERIOUSLY. They probably didn’t have time to get the snap off either way, but man. That was a turd of turdic proportions.

So now LSU has no victories over a ranked team. Are we going to pretend they’re still a top 15 team?

Back to enjoying the Oregon/Arizona game. Scouting. Watching…

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All data from cfbstats.com:

I know I’ve been hard on Ohio State for their red-zone conversions but Michigan? Are you even trying?

So it appears that maybe it’s Michigan week? Don’t we play them this year? As you may have noticed around these parts, we haven’t really mentioned it too much. It may be that everyone is busy. Maybe we’re saving it up. And maybe, just maybe, we’re struggling to get the hate up. Our fellow blogging brethren are letting the hatred flow: 11W (lots of it, actually), Our Honor Defend, The BBC, WWAHT.

But not me. I’m not, as the kids say, feeling it this year.

Look, we hate Michigan just as much as everyone else. We’ve never pulled punches, even having a LLLLoyd Carr death watch, calling out Mike “0-4” Hart on his words. This year we did away with our “Memories” posts of yesteryear even though they brought us so much joy.

I think it’s that I’m getting used to beating Michigan. The sportsMonkey and I have had the discussion about when “enough is enough” as in “at what point does the pain from the 2-10-1 John Cooper era end?” Tressel is 7-1, winning FIVE straight. That means this is the third class of seniors that could potentially never beat Ohio State. Isn’t that enough? (Monkey says “No”, I say “Yes”.) Monkey is still waiting for an OSU RB to go Buckamania on Michigan to the tune of 300 yards.

But this year, it just isn’t really happening for me and up until today I didn’t know why. After a discussion at lunch, it all became clear. I don’t feel hate because you can’t hate something you pity. I right now, I think I pity Michigan. I pity Rich Rodriguez. I pity their fans. I pity their players. They have suffered. They will continue to suffer. And that’s just sad.

So I finish up this mini pondering with a little poll that I know has been floated to every Buckeye Fan worth their salt. Given the fact that this game has no bearing on the season (record-wise), if you could only pick one victory in the next to games, which one would it be: Beat Michigan or Win the Rose Bowl?

[poll id=”2″]

I’m going with the Rose Bowl.