OSU LIKES ‘DOG ROLE
NEW ORLEANS – From the moment Appalachian State’s Corey Lynch blocked a Michigan field goal attempt in the Big House to tonight’s finish, the most inexplicable season in college football history has remained absurdly inconsistent.
Consider the storyline that has unfolded in a six-week saga leading up to the BCS Championship game.
Ohio State, the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, is perceived as such an overwhelming underdog (though the line is just 3 1/2 points) that 11-2 LSU has found itself in the awkward position of trying not to further diminish the 11-1 Buckeyes.
“I can tell you this: We respect Ohio State fully,” an exasperated LSU coach Les Myles said this week. “I can’t imagine that they feel disrespected. Certainly they’re playing in the finest college football game in the country. They’re playing in a national championship game. They’re the number one team in the country. Who is disrespecting them?”
Well, if you listen to the Buckeyes, everyone.
Ever since Ohio State lost last season’s national championship game to Florida, 41-14, and then lost at home to Illinois 28-21 on Nov. 10 this season, the Buckeyes feel as if they have had to explain themselves.
They have been questioned about their lack of speed in comparison with SEC teams.
They have been asked about their right to be here.
They have been warned about the pro-LSU crowd that should give the Tigers a home-field advantage in the rehabbed Superdome.
Nevertheless, it is Ohio State that has the rare advantage of having played in a title game paired with the motivation that only a humiliating loss can generate.
“As much as you try to put it on the back burner and try to forget about it, there’s no way of forgetting it,” said Ohio State linebacker Dionte Johnson of the loss to Florida in last year’s title game. “You still have that bitter taste in your mouth. I can close me eyes and go through the whole game I’m still there.”
No need for the Buckeyes to put on blinders. When they left for their Christmas break, each player was given a 10-minute video replete with clips of media types hating on the Buckeyes.
The Ohio State players, who claim to have gotten fat and happy before last year’s BCS title game, have had to weigh in every day in the city that celebrates Fat Tuesday. For much of the season the combination to their locker room door was 41-14 or variations of those numbers.
“We’re a bunch of nobodies and we don’t amount to anything,” offensive tackle Alex Boone said when asked to summarize the public opinion of Ohio State. “You hear that for a while and you just want to play so bad.”
This figures to be a bad-to-the-bone type game. The four-week layoff has allowed both teams to heal. LSU’s monster defensive tackle, Glenn Dorsey (knee) and Ohio State bullish running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (ankle) are ready.
The Tigers, who won the 2003 national title, probably are a little faster. Ohio State, which won the 2002 title, might be a little hungrier.
Because both squads are so good defensively – considering how the season has unfolded – expect a shootout.
“This is the biggest game on Earth,” Dorsey said.
Yep, it’s the big, bad Tigers of LSU against the nobodies of Ohio State. And Appalachian State had no shot at Michigan. Maybe the end of the season will be as good as the beginning.
KEYS TO THE GAME
Ohio State (11-1) vs. LSU (11-2)
Line: LSU by 3 1/2 O/U: 48
Ohio State’s O-line vs. LSU’s D-line
Probably the most important matchup of the game. If the Buckeyes can’t establish running back Chris “Beanie” Wells, their odds of winning go way down. While at Ohio State, coach Jim Tressel is 6-8 in games in which his teams failed to run for 100 yards. Last year, Florda embarrassed Ohio State’s line.
Edge: LSU
LSU’s O-line vs. Ohio State’s D-Line
You would think LSU’s DT Glenn Dorsey was the one elite defensive lineman in this game. But Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston (13 sacks) leads a defense that’s third in the nation in sacks (3.5 per game). LSU is 72nd in the nation in sacks allowed (2.23) and the Tigers have two fairly mobile quarterbacks.
Edge: Ohio State
Ohio State’s defense vs. LSU’s offense
The Buckeyes are No. 1 in scoring defense, total defense, pass defense, and pass efficiency defense. LSU has scored 40 or more points seven times. The Buckeyes can’t get into a shootout, especially in what is basically a road game.
Edge: Even
LSU vs. Ohio State,
Special Teams/Turnovers
Colt David (25-of-32 field goals) and Ryan Pretorius (17-of-21) have been very good, though Pretorius has had three attempts blocked. Neither team is statistically good in kickoff or punt returns, but LSU has burner Trindon Holliday, a 5-foot-5, 160-pound rocket who has legitimate 4.27 speed. LSU is second in the nation in turnover margin (+2.23). Ohio State is 64th (-.08).
Edge: LSU
Coaching
LSU’s Les Miles has gained a reputation for being the Riverboat Gambler. He went for it five times on fourth down against Florida. He ran a fake punt against South Carolina. He threw for it with seconds left in a win over Auburn. But he has never been the head coach in a national title game. Tressel is coaching his third BCS title game (1-1) and coached in six Division I-AA title games (4-2) at Youngstown State. He’s as conservative as khaki pants.
Edge: Ohio State
Prediction
LSU 38-36 3 OT. Ohio State outplays LSU, but the big-play Tigers get one more big play at home.
