OSU-Michigan Game 2: Wolverines Cannot Sustain Early Success in 31-7 final .:. grubbykid.com

OSU-Michigan Game 2: Wolverines Cannot Sustain Early Success in 31-7 final

This is a continuation of my friend, crazed-OSU fan ~~Ben B's~~ THEbenbowser's, simulation of the OSU-Michigan match up (this weekend) on NCAA 2007 on his Xbox 360. We will be bringing you daily updates of each game, filled with highlights. Check back every day, for new games.

You can see the first game, Michigan D Gets Run Over in 49-24 final, and all the other games using the tag: 2006 OSU-Michigan.

Columbus, OH. – The Michigan Wolverines followed the script perfectly in the opening quarter of "The Game," as they silenced 105,566 with a quarter-eating, 12-play drive, culminating in a Chad Henne to Steve Breaston touchdown pass and the early 7-0 lead.

Breaston gets the Wolverines on the board early.

Troy Smith wouldn't allow the Buckeye faithful to wallow for long in his last chance against their arch rivals. He came out firing, finding Tedd Ginn for 19 yards, Brian Robiskie for 30 yards, and finally a wide-open Jake Ballard for a 16 yard touchdown pass to pull even in just 6 plays.

"It was kind a quiet in the huddle," said Smith of their opening drive, "so I told my guys a joke, one I can't repeat here. Then I told them we're marching this thing down their throats." Smith did just that with quiet efficiency all day, throwing just 11 passes, but completing 10 of them for 221 yards.

The Buckeyes get rolling with Ginn’s catch.

Michigan began again to move the ball on the Buckeye defense, before stalling at the Buckeye 35 yard line. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr decided to play it safe, on the road, in a hostile environment on 4^th and inches. Zoltan Mesko's punt bounced into the end zone for a touchback.

Troy Smith then engaged in his own version of anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better, and took only two plays to find paydirt. Ginn again moved the chains with a 28 yard reception before Brian Robiskie turned a 10 yard hook-pattern into a 52 yard touchdown, splitting the Michigan secondary and breaking two tackles to give the Buckeyes a 14-7 lead.

Ohio State would add a field goal to open the third quarter and open their lead to 17-7. Chad Henne then embarked on Michigan's third sustained drive of the game assisted by Mike Hart on two screen passes, and a tough catch by Mario Manningham to move into Buckeye territory again. However on the seventh play of the drive, Henne checked off Manningham and looked right to senior Breaston. Buckeye cornerback Malcolm Jenkins wasn't fooled and jumped the route and the picked the ball off in front of Breaston. Jenkins had a clear path on a 64 yard jaunt to the end zone. The Buckeye pick and return gave them a little breathing room at 24-7.

An inspired Buckeye defense then kept the pressure on Henne, hurrying him and hitting him after nearly every throw. In the 4^th quarter after a vicious sack by Quinn Pitcock, Henne tried to force a pass again, only to have Jenkins again come away with the ball. Jenkins had to sidestep some would-be tacklers and run east and west before he found the end zone for the second time on the afternoon. Jenkins second pick-6 was not only an OSU game record for interceptions returned for touchdowns, but also tied the Buckeye career record.

Jenkins first interception.

Ohio State used a steady diet of Chris Wells and Antonio Pittman through the 4^th quarter to grind out yards and minutes. Wells finished with 78 yards on 10 carries to which Pittman added 52 yards on 8 carries.

Pitcock splits the line for a sack.

After the game, several Wolverines were asked about what many thought was the real national championship game. "They're the real deal," said Henne. "They are fast, strong, and at least on 'D', they're rarely out of position." Manningham conceded that the Buckeyes were the best the Wolverines had faced all year and did a little politicking when asked about the possibility of a rematch said, "yeah, they are the best we've played, but I like our chances if we had another shot."

Jenkins second interception.

The Buckeyes punched their ticket to Glendale today, the Wolverines will need a lot of help if they want to reschedule these teams' 104^th meeting for January 8th.

Comments

Brutus B says:

Please don't make me continue to correct you. The proper name of our video game playing friend is "The Ben B" not "Ben B". Go Bucks.