The non-conference game of the millenium

The hype for the Ohio St./Texas game was at a national championship-game level. Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to a non-Michigan football game more than I looked forward to this game. As far as the quality of the game, it was better than advertised. That was simply college football at its best. I was disappointed with the ending because Ohio St. a). Clearly outplayed Texas for the majority of the game and b). Clearly was the better team. Ohio St. was one Ryan Hamby-run-of-the-mill catch from victory. In fact, Ohio St. had about five differenct opportunities to win the game. Namely, when a Texas kick returner inexplicably tried to go back into the end zone after leaving. Two Ohio St. defenders missed him as he looked bewildered at the referee. He then ran for 50 yards. I was shocked when Tressell trotted out Justin Zwick to run the last drive. Zwick was ineffective and inaccurate for pretty much the entire game. Troy Smith did a good job of moving the chains with timely scrambling. That’s what OSU needed. Instead, Zwick promptly fumbled on the first play of the drive which pretty much ended the game.

Also, Ohio St. had quite a few mental gaffe's at the end of the game. They would've been much better off letting Texas score with 2:00 to go. Instead, they let the clock run down to :29 seconds and got the ball at the one yard line. The chances of moving the ball 70 yards from the one yard line in 29 seconds are almost impossible. Additionally, they should've intentionally taken a safety at the end of the game. Instead, Troy Smith accidently took a safety. Ohio St. didn't have much of a chance after Zwick's fumble but they had even less of a chance after their clock strategy.

The OSU linebackers received a lot of pre-season publicity. I can honestly say that no amount of publicity could do them justice. For anyone who didn’t watch the game, I don’t think you’ll be able to understand just how dominating these players were. A.J. Hawk was simply unstoppable. He had sacks and interceptions and fumble recoveries in a video game type performance. Bobby Carpenter was not too far behind. Carpenter chased Young all over the field. Anthony Schlegel doesn’t get the same opportunities at middle linebacker but he was a force all game long. I don’t see Ohio St. losing again.

Vince Young is a mix between Daunte Culpepper and Michael Vick. Donte Whitner had Vince Young cradled for a sack but Young just stood there with Whitner on his back as he checked off to his 2nd, 3rd and 4th receivers. Apparently, Young had no idea that Whitner was even on his back! This looked amazingly similar to the Discovery channel videos of a lion trying to kill a buffalo. I got up at 2am to watch this game and it was well worth it. Although the ending was anti-climactic, the game featured college football at its highest level. I am convinced that these are two of the top three teams in college football.