8:14 PM: Or let’s just call it the BS game since that’s what it really is. Does anyone in the country really care about this game between the Buckeyes and Tigers?

I mean aside from the students who probably will get completely wasted when this concludes on Fox, who else is going to watch?

Heck. I still can’t seem to get used to a national title game being played on the same dopey network that once thought it was a great idea to have an annoying glow puck which looked like a comet and robots everytime an NHL team scored.

Just what you think of when you watch hockey. The Road Runner and freaking robots that burp! No joke either. Polite, huh?!?!?!?!?!?!

8:20 PM: It took a whole two freaking minutes for the dopey official to explain the coin toss for this game. Are you freaking kidding??? And he congratulated them for “being here.” If I were one of the players, I probably would’ve yelled, “Shut up!”

Nobody cares what the refs think and the last thing these players want to hear is them wishing them luck.

The national anthem was kind of cool. It’s in New Orleans and they had some cool band play it. But just imagine how much better it could’ve been if President George W. Bush came onto the field suddenly to interrupt it. Now that we’d like to see.

8:23 PM: Anyway, the Buckeyes have the ball first here at their own 22. They got freaking humiliated by Urban Meyer and the Gators in last year’s title game. So they’re out to prove that the Big Ten can beat the SEC when it actually counts.  

So far, they have five yards on two plays after a decent run on second down. So here comes the first key third down. LSU is supposed to have a monster on their D line.

OSU converts with a quick out throw to their own 35.

On first down, Chris Wells picks up a couple of great blocks and busts it going the distance for a 65-yard touchdown.

They couldn’t ask for a better start. But heck. Last year, Ted Ginn, Jr. returned the opening kickoff for a score and then the Gators destroyed them.

8:30 PM: LSU gets maybe a yard on first down. Is it a little weird to anybody else that the best linebacker in the country is the son of former wrestling star Animal from the Road Warriors? His kid’s name is James Laurinaitis.

Where’s Hawk when you need him? RIP. My brother’s all-time favorite tag team and for good reason cause they totally kicked ass. Bad or good. They ruled wrestling. Don’t believe me? Pick up some old NWA tapes or better yet get their DVD.

As for that LSU possession from Hell, three-and-out and almost even worse as a dreadful snap went over QB Matt Flynn’s head. At least he recovered it allowing them to punt the ball.

8:36 PM: Another big play by OSU as Todd Broeckman hits a wide open Brandon Saine who beats the corner easily and gets near the LSU 20. Whoever he was bit on a fake short route.

You wonder if maybe LSU thought this would be easy cause they’ve looked brutal so far.

The good news is it could’ve been worse but the Tigers stopped Broeckman on third down forcing Ohio St. to settle for a Ryan Pretorius 26-yard field goal.

1st qtr score: Buckeyes 10  Tigers 0

9:19 remaining

8:43 PM: Jacob Hester gets only one on the ground. This could be a long night if they don’t get it going. He gets a few more which sets up their first first down of the night- a nice completion from Flynn to Early Doucet.

Could these names get any weirder if they tried?

8:46 PM: On second down, Hester gets about six setting up third-and-three from the LSU 40.

He then gets the ball and rumbles for over 20 yards all the way to the Ohio St. 40.

Excellent blocking there and strong running too by Hester who broke a couple of tackles.

His solid running on this drive sets up another Doucet first down off what else but play action. Smart football here. On first down, Doucet takes a handoff and gets about five to the Buckeye 20.

This is a pretty good response by the Tigers. Let’s see if they can get into the end zone.

They give it to Carl Scott, the fullback who is one yard shy of the first down.

Big play here. They delay it to Hester who runs to the left where the blockers are and picks it up without any trouble at the OSU 13.

8:52 PM: After two plays which went nowhere, the Tigers call timeout faced with a third and 10.

Note: They’ve converted all three third downs on this drive.

Okay. Back from a long timeout and Wynn is pressured by two Buckeyes and just wisely throws it away.

Here comes a field goal. David is good from 32 right down the tee.

1st qtr score: LSU 3  OSU 10

2:21 left

The cheerleaders for LSU’s side were looking aight. Why does this color analyst mention how “it’s looking like a football game.”

What kind of hard hitting analysis is that? Yep. He gets paid the big bucks for that awesome insight!

8:57 PM: My good buddy Brian Sanborn is already complaining. What else is new? He is sick of the SEC. Yet he hates OSU referring to them as the “Luckeyes.”

I can think of something else too. But yeah. Wells picks up another OSU first down with some power running. He looks pretty tough to tackle.

They then take a shot downfield in man-to-man but coverage is good. So it’s incomplete.

This color analyst who I’ve never heard of is praising Jim Tressel for anything. I wonder if he wore his OSU pom poms.

On third-and-eight after a minimal gain by Wells, Broeckman’s throw isn’t even close and yet this idiotic analyst is still praising the first down call finding it necessary to repeat himself.

Somehow, the Tigers catch a huge break after Jones muffs the punt return trying to make a silly extra move to nowhere. They recover it luckily or it’s OSU ball inside the LSU 20 looking for more points.

The final play of the quarter is a Wynn completion to who else but Doucet.

End of 1st qtr: LSU 3  OSU 10

9:05 PM: On 2nd and 4, Hester gets about three setting up third and short.

Buckeyes in first quarter outgained the Tigers on the ground by a healthy margin (96-39).

The Tigers are starting to move the ball again with some more effective Hester runs and a nicely executed option to Williams and OSU late penalty for another first down.

They’ve got it inside the 50. And on second down, Wynn threads the needle to Byrd for another first down close to the OSU 20. Another personal foul puts the ball even closer setting up the inevitable tying score as Wynn hits a wide open Richard Dickson with a quick throw from 13 yards out.

Great call there. Where was Tressel on that one Mr. Buckeye pom poms color guy?!?!?!?!?!

In any event:

LSU 10  OSU 10

13:00 left, first half

9:13 PM: You have to give LSU a lot of credit. For as flat as they came out, they sure made up for it in a hurry. Now we’ll see if the Buckeyes can respond to the first adversity.

This replay is pretty cool cause it shows how all three receivers were bunched out to the right throwing OSU’s D off and then the TE Dickson broke for the end zone and Wynn hit him in stride for an easy six.
Tell ya what. Wells just ran over an LSU player Jackson with a great stiff arm bursting all the way into Tiger territory.

They pickup another first down and are now inside the 30. Two nice plays and they have a chance to regain lost momentum. But a silly 15-yard penalty- their third in the last two series pushes them bacl to the LSU 44.

Nice call here as Boeckman finds an open receiver for a 24-yard gain setting up a manageable third and three.

He had Robiskie for six but Jackson with a bad thumb got his hand in there to break it up just enough. The OSU WR still should’ve had that.

It’s fourth-and-three from the LSU 21. It would be about a 38-yard kick after the injury timeout.

9:21 PM: Pretorius’ kick is blocked by LSU. Man. They got great penetration. It never stood a chance.

On first down, Hester picks up over 10 and gets near midfield. What a fast pace so far. These backs are really good. Another nine-yard run by Murphy makes it second and short.

Following a shot down field, Wynn fakes the run and then finds an open Dickson in the middle for a first down near the OSU 25.

Despite OSU’s quick start, LSU has the edge in possession with over 11:00 and have run now 11 or 12 more plays. Not a good sign for the Buckeyes.

Beautiful pitch play as a misdirection run by Holliday picks up nine. Wynn then sneaks it for the first down at the OSU 15.

8:13 remaining, 2nd qtr

Larry Grant just batted down a ball. He has six tackles already. On second down, Wynn keeps it and gets to the OSU 10 for five setting up third down.

Wow. A great play there by the QB as he rolls away from the pressure and lobs a perfect pass to Brandon Lafell who makes the catch for the go-ahead score.

17 straight for the Tigers

LSU 17  OSU 10

7:25 left

9:31 PM: Flynn is now 9-of-13 with two TDs. Not bad considering how it began.

The Tigers are starting to take control now. Dorsey stuffed Wells on first down. Then Boeckman was incomplete on great coverage.

On third down, a huge mistake as he sees a corner blitz coming and essentially lobs it up for grabs. It’s easily intercepted by Coleman who then runs it all the way back to the OSU 25. Now the OSU D is back out there and they have to be getting tired. They have really been worked in this first half.

LSU picked up eight on a pass from Wynn. On second-and-two, Wynn rolls to the right and then finds an isolated Dickson who barrels to the 1. Man. They’re doing whatever they want right now. Somebody call a timeout for OSU cause they’re in big trouble here.

This is the nation’s best defense? Hester tries but doesn’t get in setting up third and goal from the goal line.

4:30 left.

Play action here? Well, first LSU wisely uses their second timeout to discuss things.

On third and goal, Hester gets in by leaning forward. Another LSU TD.

LSU 24 OSU 10

4:16 left

Boeckman looks rattled here. He nearly had another poor throw picked and one of his receivers nearly made a great diving catch.

Now Wells gets only a couple as the Tigers D seems more ready for him.

It’s third-and-long at the 21. Nice play there as Boeckman finds his receiver who picks it up for a huge first down.

3:10 left

10:00 PM: This first half got so boring that I stepped away for a granola bar and Gatorade. I think the Buckeyes could use a lot of that right about now. Especially after how well they started.

Their pour QB took a pounding getting sacked and losing the ball. But at least a teammate recovered or it could’ve been even more unanswered points for LSU.

Halftime score:  Tigers 24   Buckeyes 10

Getting back to my point about my friend Brian and being sick of the SEC, hey man. Is it their fault they have the most competitive conference in college football from top to bottom? You can’t penalize them for that in what’s been an odd year to say the least.

To all those who are rooting for their conference, can I ask why???

Who the hell wants to root for a bitter rival to win this meaningless game. That’s like me rooting for the Mets to win the World Series or the Islanders the Stanley Cup. It just isn’t going to happen.

Hey. This fan just made a field goal dring this weird half time kicking competition. It’s a kick off and the OSU fan is winning. Well, they got to win at something.

Man, is this dumb or what? The LSU fan makes the second kick from 43 to tie setting up a dramatic kick off. The OSU guy nails his from 45. Now the LSU guy goes for the win from 46 but sails wide right. Where’s Bobby Bowden when you need him?!?!?!?!?!

So between eating, I also happened to come across this pic of one of the new Bond girls:

Yeah. That’s a lot nicer than this game. Wouldn’t ya say? I hope I’m not offending any female readers. But hey…as a fellow blogger and single guy, we try our best to entertain here.

Her name is Olga Kurylenko and it’s pretty easy to tell that she’s Russian since I took it back in HS. Those were the days. Wonder what Gocpadun Callahan is up to these days anyway?

And another small photo with her clothes on where she looks very nice as well:

The one on the right is Gemma Aterton.

I prefer Kurylenko’s look. There’s something about it that just is real nice. Though Aterton has nice eyes.

10:19 PM: So, now that this half is over, did the Buckeyes band at least win?

Halftime is mercifully over. Did anyone see the outfit JaMarcus Russell had on? He looked like a Bible God! The chain was ridiculous too. Meanwhile, Troy Smith looked like a player with his red Buckeyes’ hat backwards and Izod red shirt.

The interview was a waste much like the analysis as Jimmy Johnson figured out that LSU played in a better conference. Woo! So that’s why they never panicked.

This game is going to probably be over. Already a first down on the first play for the Tigers who get the ball first with tons of momentum.

The 24 points OSU gave up were the most they have in any first half. No shock there.

Brennenan or whatever his name notes that the first down pickup for Hester from a yard out converting on third down is “Money in the Bank.” It’s a rap song.

The Tigers continue to spread out the overmatched OSU D which looks very slow. Where’s Animal’s son? He’s done nothing. Part of it is LSU’s strategy which has gone away from him.

“Ohhhhhhh…what a rush!!!!!!!!”

Yet another first down as Flynn dives ahead past midfield. Can they just end this already? It’s so over. The Big Ten sucks.

OSU could’ve been up two TDs and then let the Tigers off the hook and they’re killing them ever since. It’s like they want to try to put up more points than the Gators lost year with Urban “Earth Wind And Fire” Meyer on the sideline.

Flynn finally makes a mistake getting an intentional grounding which means the Buckeyes should get the ball back. It’s third and 23 as the Tigers spend a timeout.

That was LSU’s first penalty of the game.

10:30 PM: So of course the Tigers didn’t convert but the Buckeyes in their attempt to block the punt got a silly roughing the kicker penalty for their fourth 15-yard penalty of the game. Automatic first down.

Pathetic. I don’t know how he didn’t block it. But man. The Buckeyes can’t catch a break. Now the players are getting antsy. The Buckeyes just took a fifth personal foul. Man. Do these guys all go to the Maurice Clarett school of philosophy?!?!?!?!?!

10:38 PM: So this game is all but over thanks to those dumb ass penalties by the Clarett clones who obviously didn’t study for this big game much.

The last TD was all Doucett as he took a simple Wynn screen to the right and duped two Buckeyes breaking tackles and walking into the end zone. It was about as pathetic a display of wrapping up a player as possible.

31 unanswered.

Tigers 31  Buckeyes 10

8:43 remaining, 3rd qtr

10:43 PM: Ohio St. is facing a critical third down inside LSU territory. Really, it’s four downs now cause even if you don’t make thid third-and-seven, you can’t give the Tigers the ball back.

LSU came on all out rush and sacked Boeckman, who couldn’t locate his receivers.

They’re punting. Man, this is a joke. They haven’t stopped them since that opening series.

The fat lady is already warming up and we’re not even in the fourth quarter.

On second and 10, Hester gets five to make it a manageable third down. The Buckeyes must get the stop to give themselves one last chance.

Hester has 74 yards on 17 carries with a score. Instead, Wynn hooks up with Dickson on a perfect slant. Man, he’s been open all night and has killed the Buckeyes who apparently can’t identify No.82 in white, yellow and purple.

Finally the OSU D makes a big play as they int a Wynn pass which was intended outside but the receiver went the wrong way.

They’re on the verge of converting the turnover into six. Wells loses a couple to make it fourth down and four.

They are going for it. And why not? A field goal means nothing. Boeckman completes the pass to Rimaski for a critical TD and fourth down conversion.

It’s now a contest.

LSU 31  OSU 17

This dopey color guy is annoying, praising the Buckeyes calling it a “gutsy pickup.” Huh??? Three points would’ve meant little as they’d still be down three scores.

There’s nothing gutsy about it. It’s called smart strategy!

Wave the pom poms some more.

 

10:57 PM: The Tigers have the ball at their own 30. They get nothing done on first down. They get four on second down making it third and six as the third quarter winds down.

LSU 31  OSU 17. End of 3rd qtr

11:00 PM: At the very least, the Buckeyes can keep this interesting if they can get a stop when they comeback from the break. Two scores and an entire quarter left is plenty of time.

11:02 PM: The Buckeyes’ D get solid pressure on Wynn and he tries to run for it but comes up short. If not for that ill advised roughing the kicker penalty, it’s three straight stops for OSU and only a touchdown game.

The punt goes into the end zone for a touchback.

LSU 31 OSU 17

14:30 remaining

11:11 PM: The Buckeyes have picked up three first downs and driven inside the LSU 40 but they drive has stalled and now they’re facing the game’s biggest play- a critical fourth-and-seven.

Boeckman used a timeout. Let’s see what they come out with here.

Disaster for OSU as Boeckman gets flushed out by an all out rush and in trying to make a play loses the ball and LSU recovers the fumble all the way back at the Buckeye 34. The Tigers lose 15 for a silly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

10:00 to go.

The OSU does their part forcing a three-and-out but will the Buckeye offense be able to rally from two TDs down?

They’ll get the ball at their own 20 with 9:02 left.

Wells converts a key fourth-and-one to keep his school alive with 7:00 on the clock.

Another Boeckman completion for a first down gets them close to midfield with 6:40 remaining.

Boeckman nearly loses another fumble off a great rush by Glenn Dorsey. That’s what will make him a lot of money in the NFL. Following an incompletion, it’s third and long here.

5:50 left.

On third and 15 out of an LSU timeout, probably the final nail in the coffin as the pressure gets to Boeckman causing another interception.

LSU 31  OSU 17

5:43 left

11:47 PM: Fittingly before, Wynn threw another TD to his tight end Dickson which put the exclamation point on the victory. It was the QB’s first four touchdown game of the season. Not a bad night’s work against the nation’s top ranked defense.

The Buckeyes got a late TD as Boeckman found Brian Hartline from 15 yards out with under two minutes left.

LSU then recovered the onside kick and ran the clock out to capture the 2008 BCS national title.

That’s such a silly name. Just call it the national title. It’s much simpler than that ridiculous name.

Bottom line is that the Tigers were just a more athletic team on both sides of the football with very creative playcalling and boasted the more explosive D which created all sorts of chaos in a blocked FG, five sacks of Boeckman, two ints, three forced fumbles including one recovery by safety Harry Coleman who was all over the ball.

Congrats to the Tigers!

Final score: LSU 38  OSU 24

POSTGAME NOTES

-Flynn finished an efficient 19-of-27 with 174 yards, four TDs and one pick. He made all the big plays when his team needed them, showing great poise to take home Offensive MVP honors in his final college football game.

-Hester paced LSU with 86 rushing yards on 21 carries and a score.

-Doucet led the way with seven receptions for 51 yards including that awesome TD in which he dissed and dismissed two Buckeyes.

-Dickson had two scores and finished with four catches. Not bad for a TE. One day we’ll probably see him in the pros.

-In a losing effort, Wells led all rushers with 146 yards on just 20 carries for a whopping 7.3 average including that awesome 65-yard TD which opened the scoring during the opening possession.

-Boeckman finished 15-of-26 for 206 yards, a couple of TDs and picks while also being sacked five times and losing one critical fumble during a last ditch effort to put the outcome in doubt.

He was just overwhelmed by all the LSU pressure up front which was the difference in this game.

-As Chris Rose noted, the Tigers became the first team to win the BCS championship twice. Whatever that means.

 

And with that, I’m out. Wonder who’s going to sleep better tonight. Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee? Just asking. A topic for another day.