In Week 13 of the college football season, we were treated to greatest rivalry in all of college football.
BIG GAME BREAKDOWN: The biggest rivalry in college football, and maybe in all of college sports, comes when the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines go head to head. The Wolverines took their 9-1 record and number seven national ranking on the road to Ohio Stadium to take on the Buckeyes, their 6-4 record, and all of the controversy surrounding Maurice Clarett. Going in it seemed as though Michigan would wrap this one up early.
That was before Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith stepped onto the field. After being beaten out of the starting job in the preseason and not playing in three of Ohio State's first five games of the season, Smith showed coach Jim Tressel what he could accomplish on the field. Sixty-three seconds into the game, Smith found Anthony Gonzalez across the middle for a 68-yard touchdown pass, putting the Buckeyes up 7-0.
Michigan bounced back easily, taking a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. But after those first fifteen minutes, it was all Ohio State. Smith rushed for a TD and field goal kicker Mike Nugent nailed two field goals in the second quarter, putting the Buckeyes up at halftime, 20-14.
After the half, Ohio State continued to take it to Michigan. Two touchdowns later, one on an 82-yard punt return by Ted Ginn Jr. and the other by Santonio Holmes on a pass from Smith, the Buckeyes were up by a commanding score of 34-14. The punt return was Ginn's fourth of the season, setting Ohio State and Big Ten records for most punt returns for touchdowns in one season. Final score: Ohio State 37, Michigan 21.
Smith stole the show with his arm and his legs and the numbers tell all. He was 13 for 23 passing with 241 yards and two TDs, and he managed to run for 145 yards and one touchdown on just 18 carries.
The loss was a tough one for Michigan, as a win would have assured it a place in the Rose Bowl. A loss by the Wisconsin Badgers to the Iowa Hawkeyes put the Wolverines back into position for a trip to Pasadena to represent the Big Ten.
Elsewhere across the country, the second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and third-ranked Auburn Tigers posted solid wins. The sixth-ranked Utah Utes busted up the BCS with a win over the BYU Cougars; the win brings the Utes one step closer to becoming the first team in a mid-major conference to be part of a BCS bowl game. The unranked Florida Gators knocked off the number eight Florida State Seminoles by a count of 20-13. Finally, the nineteenth ranked Boston College Eagles spanked the Temple Owls 34-17, putting the Eagles in the driver's seat to win the Big East.
BYE BYE LOU: This past week, Lou Holtz announced his retirement as head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks, effective at season's end. And he'll probably want to forget his last game as Cocks head coach. The game was played against the Clemson Tigers and featured a ten-minute brawl between the two teams, coming one day after the terrible brawl incident in the NBA. Holtz's most likely successor: Steve Spurrier. Look for the Cocks to improve next year.
PLATINUM PLAYAS OF THE WEEK: This week, the offensive platinum ball goes to true freshman RB Adrian Peterson of the Oklahoma Sooners. Peterson racked up 240 yards and three TDs, all on 32 carries, in Oklahoma's 35-0 stomping of the Baylor Bears. He may be the man to pick up the Heisman this year.
The defensive platinum ball goes to the Iowa Hawkeye D. The Hawkeyes were downright stingy, allowing Wisconsin only 41 yards on the ground and only 173 total yards in their 30-7 mutilation of the Badgers.
