LSU Defeats OSU, 38-24

The College Football National Championship Game between Louisiana State and Ohio State was in question for about 17 minutes. Those first fifteen minutes came in the first quarter where Ohio State got off to an early lead due to a 65-yard by Chris Wells that gave the Ohio State Buckeyes the lead on their first drive of the game. Following a bad snap by LSU, Ohio State got the ball back on their own 49 and ended up scoring a field goal, thereby establishing a 10-point lead with only 5:48 having elapsed in the 1^st quarter. But LSU responded with 10 points of their own in less than 12 minutes, with only 5 minutes between scores. From there, the game was pretty much over and LSU went on to win 38-24.

After the first two scoring drives by OSU, the pressure that the LSU Tigers put on the Buckeyes was undeniable. At the out start of the game, it looked as if OSU was going to be able to establish a balanced attack, but for whatever reason, Coach Tressel, the OSU coach, elected to opt in favor of the pass, and Chris Wells only had 9 carries in the first half, despite having 119 yards in the first half alone.

OSU’s decision to opt for the pass was confusing, especially since LSU did a great job of man-to-man coverage on the Buckeye’s receivers. LSU took advantage of their great coverage and used it pressure QB Todd Boeckman, which resulted in several big stops on defense. One stop lead to a blocked field goal, which helped fuel the Tigers’ big 2^nd quarter. The LSU offense was dominant throughout the quarter, with three touchdowns and went into the half with a 24-10 lead.

Penalties probably sealed the Buckeyes’ fate in the second half. Two personal fouls on LSU’s opening drive, including a roughing the punter call on 4^th and 23, resulted in an LSU touchdown that probably would not have happened with out the help of those penalties. That gave the Tigers a 31-10 lead, and while OSU tried its best to get the momentum back, they never had the Tigers on the ropes at any point after that opening drive of the 2^nd half.

The key to the game came in the trenches, where LSU was able to dominate the line of scrimmage for the better part of 3 quarters. After the first two OSU drives, OSU never really established anything on the ground throughout the first half. Chris Wells did have a couple of good runs in the second half, but he was only 11 for 27 yards after the halfway mark. LSU dominated the OSU offensive line, led by Glenn Dorsey, and they were just too dominant for the Buckeyes to get anything going outside of Chris Wells 65-yard run.

LSU also had too many talented skill players on the field for OSU. Wide receivers Early Ducet, Richard Dickson, and Demetrius Byrd were better than any of the Buckeyes defensive backs, and QB Matt Flynn was very adept at finding those mismatches going 19-27 for 174 yards and four touchdowns.

LSU is now the first ever 2-time BCS champion. That is a strong credit for a team coming from the best conference in the college football, and it looks like they are set to keep winning for a few years.

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