Woooooo!

Wow. Buckeye fans were all hoping for a win, many even expected one, but I don't think anyone expected it would come like this, in a 42-39 win. The Game certainly didn't play out the way I expected:

• Two of the top scoring defenses in the country gave up a combined 81 points.
  
• Michigan's vaunted run defense gave up 187 yards to the Buckeyes.
• Ohio State's turnover machine of a defense did not force any turnovers (though I don't think that interception should have been overturned. Big Ten officials use a screwy definition of "indisputable video evidence"). On a related note, Chad Henne actually looked pretty good most of the game.

I expected a defensive struggle, a battle of field position. I got a shootout. It doesn't matter to me, I'll take the wins as they come. Some more thoughts:

• From what I can gather, both sides feel ripped off by the refs, so I guess they didn't do too bad of a job (or, alternatively, they were bad, but at least the bad calls evened out).
• Speaking of the refs, don't let anyone tell you that personal foul call late in the game was controversial. You aren't allowed to lead with your helmet or hit with the top of your helmet. Easy call, and a correct one.
• One thing that did go as planned: the performance of Troy Smith. One of those fumbles was his fault, and he probably shouldn't have thrown that pass that got picked off (but he makes those plays often enough that I won't argue against his decision too much). Other than that, he was fantastic. I agree with those that say he locked up the Heisman with that game. He's definitely given the best performance of any OSU quarterback against Michigan, and I'd argue that he's the best quarterback we've had.
• Mike Hart also had an excellent performance. He doesn't make the exciting runs like a Steve Slaton, but he cannot be tackled by one man. I know our rush defense isn't exactly fantastic, but still, watching him shed tackles time and time again was impressive.
• That's not to say that our running backs weren't good. Antonio Pittman did better than anyone has against the Michigan defense. And is it just me, or did his long touchdown run look a little familiar?
  
  
• Beanie's touchdown run was even more impressive. A spin to get out of the backfield, splitting a couple defenders, then hitting the afterburners. It was great to watch
  
• Oh, and the field? Not very good. If they're confident they can get it up to par by the start of next season, great. But if there's any doubt, just go with FieldTurf. Grass is great, but crappy grass sucks.
  

So that's it. A lot of offense, not a lot of defense. Not that I'm complaining. We beat Michigan, and that's enough. But that's not all. We're going to Glendale!