THE TRESSEL 'MAGIC' SHOW FINALLY ENDED as Michigan's offense completely dominated a strong Ohio State defense on their way to a 35-21 victory. Michigan started strong as they jumped out to an early 21-0 advantage that turned out to be too much even for this Tressel led team that had always seemed to found a way to win a close game.

MICHIGANS RUNNING GAME THE KEY. Michigan quarterback John Navarre had been doing his best impression of former OSU Quarterback Steve Bellasari as he came into the game 0-2 vs Ohio State with 7 turnovers contributing greatly to the losses; however, OSU was never able to pressure him - he was never sacked - as Michigan's Chris Perry ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns to open up the passing game. Navarre gave us a hint of how he responds to pressure as he threw an interception after Ohio State had scored to make the game 28-21. Unfortunately, Ohio State could not respond with another score.

THE MAURICE CLARETT FACTOR finally caught up to Ohio State. Anyone rememember last years game against Michigan? The team, in spite of their succes, seems to have lost some of it's "swagger" without Maurice playing.......don't forgot the stats from last year's Michigan game - Maurice Clarret ran for 122 yards while the backups ran for 40 yards.

QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY.........not really but........with 4 minutes left in the third quarter Scott McMullen replaced an injured Craig Krenzel and led the team to a score on a beautiful 10 play drive that resulted in a touchdown with 13 minutes left in the game to pull Ohio State within 28-21; however, Ohio State got the ball back two plays later on an interception by Chris Gamble and after a "3 and out series" by Scott McMullen Coach Tressel put Craig Krenzel back into the ballgame.

TWENTY FOUR WINS AND TWO LOSSES........is still pretty darned good as Coach Tressel is now 24-2 over his last 26 games.

NEXT GAME.......a yet to be determined bowl game.....with a little bit of luck we can still get invited to a BCS game so root for some upsets!

NOTES

1. OFFENSIVE NOTES....
a. Ohio State quarterbacks were 29-44 for 330 yards and two touchdowns.
b. Lydell Ross only ran for 23 yards on 9 carries.
c. Mike Nugent did not attempt a field goal for Ohio State.
d. Michael Jenkins caught 10 passes for 131 yards and Freshman Santonio Holmes caught 8 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
 

2. DEFENSIVE NOTES.........
a. Ohio State punter B.J. Sanders was a busy man for the second week in a row as he punted 9 times for a 48 yard average.
b. Ohio State, which was leading the nation by allowing only 50 yards rushing per game, was burned for 160 yards rushing by Michigan. This marked the second game in a row where Ohio State's defense gave up over 100 yards rushing as Purdue rushed for 106 yards in the previous game.