Ohio State Beats Michigan, Ends Season Undefeated

Ohio State doesn’t get to play in a bowl game. But the Buckeyes have a sweet victory to carry them through a cold winter.

Carlos Hyde ran for 146 yards and No. 4 Ohio State’s defense shut out 20th-ranked Michigan in the second half to grab a bruising 26-21 win on Saturday, completing an improbable 12-0 season for the Buckeyes.

Almost no one – up to and including first-year head coach Urban Meyer – expected such a rapid turnaround for the Buckeyes, who were just 6-7 last season with a loss to their archrivals in a transitional year when they were facing heavy NCAA penalties. A month after Meyer took the job last November, they were socked with a bowl ban after this season – and still ran the table.

Ohio State (12-0, 8-0 Big Ten) is ineligible for a BCS national title but still has an outside shot at finishing No. 1 in the final Associated Press Top 25 if other contenders lose. Michigan (8-4, 6-2) will now await a minor bowl bid.

Drew Basil matched his season output with four field goals and the defense did the rest, forcing three turnovers in the second half.

It was played before 105,899, the largest crowd ever to witness “The Game” in Columbus.

Meyer and his players were mobbed by thousands of fans who flooded the field after the Buckeyes’ ninth victory in the last 11 years in the rivalry (the 2010 win was later vacated by the sanctions).

“It’ll go down as one of the great teams in Ohio State history,” Meyer exulted after the game.

Hyde also ran for a touchdown. Braxton Miller completed 14 of 18 passes for 189 yards and a score to Corey Brown, who had eight catches for 95 yards.

The Buckeyes had already clinched the Big Ten’s Leaders Division, but aren’t allowed to play in next Saturday’s conference title game. Michigan needed a win to capture a share of the Legends Division with Nebraska, which will meet Wisconsin for the championship.

Now, about Ohio State can hope for is every other top team in the nation – including the only other unbeaten, top-ranked Notre Dame – to lose and lose badly in the coming weeks. A team banned from the postseason has never finished No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll, and the Buckeyes are not eligible for the Bowl Championship Series rankings or coaches’ poll.

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