OSU Wins 5th Straight Big Ten Title and 6th Straight Over UM!

 Needing a victory to become bowl eligible for the first time in two years Michigan had hoped they could come up with a performance like the famed 1969 team

 

Needing a victory to become bowl eligible for the first time in two years Michigan had hoped they could come up with a performance like the famed 1969 team under Bo who upset then #1 ranked Woody Hayes Buckeyes 24 – 12.  The 69 UM team led by Dan Dierdorf, Barry Pierson, and Jim Mandich were honored on the field at the game but even their presence was not enough to stop Ohio State from winning it’s sixth straight game in the famed season ending rivalry series.

 With five turnovers by freshman QB Tate Forcier the upset was not to be as #9 ranked Ohio State (10-2, 7-1) defeated Michigan 21-10 to earn the outright Big Ten Conference championship. On Michigan’s first drive Forcier fumbled in the end zone and Cameron Heyward recovered giving OSU a quick 7 – 0 lead which they never gave up. Buckeye RB Brandon Saine rushed down the sideline for a 29 yard touchdown with with 5:22 to play in the second quarter and OSU went into the locker room at halftime with a 14 – 3 lead.

 Forcier threw an 18 yard TD pass to Vincent Smith to cut the lead to 14 -10 with 10:05 to play in the third quarter but the Buckeyes came right back with a 89 yard 11 play drive culminated by a 11 yard toss from Terrelle Pryor to RB Dan “Boom” Herron making the score 21-10.  There was no scoring in the fourth quarter as any come back attempt by the Wolverines was foiled by three Tate Forcier interceptions.Â

Ohio State’s seniors went out with a perfect record against their rivals up north. Senior captain SS Kurt Coleman had two interceptions for a Buckeye defense that has now held Michigan to just 20 points combined in their last three games. OSU behind 96 yards from Boom Herron, 84 yards from Brandon Saine, and 67 yards from Terrelle Pryor outrushed Michigan 251 yards to 80.  After the victory the OSU players and band paraded in front of a large red clad crowd in the south end of Michigan Stadium. Eerily similar to the Ohio State victory over Michigan State in 2005 where red-clad Buckeye fans stood out among the home crowd, the fans from south of the boarder were again highly visible on this day.

“When you are undefeated in November, good things are going to happen over the holidays, said victorious coach Jim Tressel who has a dominant 8-1 record in the storied rivalry. Tressel soon after he was named Ohio State’s 22nd head coach in January 2001 proclaimed at a basketball game that, “we will make you proud” in the exact number of days leading up to the next game with Michigan.   Tressel’s 88.9% winning percentage against Michigan has indeed made Buckeyes proud and has turned the rivalry to a one sided affair compared with the 16-11-1 (58.9%) winning record of Ohio State icon Woody Hayes.

Michigan ( 5-7, 1-7) ended the season with five straight Big Ten losses and suffers it’s first back to back losing seasons since 1962-63.  Prior to Rodriguez coming to Ann Arbor the Wolverines had gone to 33 straight bowl games. This year it will be home for the holidays for the second year in a row as in just two years Rich Rodriguez has taken college football’s all-time winningest program to a tie for last place in the Big Ten.Â