COLUMBUS — “The Game” wasn’t much of one.
Though records are usually tossed to the side when Ohio State and Michigan get together, that wasn’t the case in the 105th installment of college football’s greatest rivalry as the 10th-ranked Buckeyes (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten) thumped the unranked Wolverines (3-9, 2-6) 42-7 at Ohio Stadium.
It was a result many expected, but one that still held special significance for Ohio State players, who beat their archrivals for the fifth straight time to clinch their fourth consecutive Big Ten title.  
“That means everything,” said outspoken Ohio State tackle Alex Boone. “What makes it such a great rivalry is we hate each other. It will never haunt me that we lost to them.”
Though the victory — by the largest margin in the series since OSU’s national championship year in 1968 (50-14) — allowed the Buckeyes to finish the regular season on a positive note, it won’t help them much in the race for a BCS Bowl bid.
Penn State’s 49-18 victory over Michigan State on Saturday assured that the Nittany Lions would go to the Rose Bowl ahead of the Buckeyes on the strength of their 13-6 win over OSU in Week 9. OSU could still slip into a BCS berth with some help.
“I’m not even thinking about that,” OSU senior cornerback Malcom Jenkins said. “I just want to win a bowl game, since we’ve lost the last two (in national title games to Florida and LSU).”  
Jim Tressel’s dominance of the Wolverines continued with Ohio State’s head coach improving to 7-1 against Michigan.
Meanwhile, Rich Rodriguez added another negative entry to his disastrous debut at Michigan by becoming just the second Wolverine coach to lose his debut against Ohio State — the first since 1929.
The five consecutive victories over Michigan are the most ever by an OSU team.
“It’s hard to believe because it’s so difficult,” said Tressel of the Buckeyes’ string of wins over the Wolverines. “It’s a great job for our people. It was a great day for those 28 seniors.”
OSU scored the first 14 points of the game, yet still took a tenuous 14-7 lead into the locker room at halftime after Michigan moved the ball for the first time and found the end zone with 2:51 left in the second quarter. The Wolverines finished the first quarter with -1 total yards.
The Buckeyes, namely freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor, gave Michigan the opportunity to grab the early momentum when Pryor was intercepted on OSU’s first possession, the Wolverines returning it to the Ohio State 13.
The Buckeye defense stiffened and a missed field goal ended the scoring threat — and set the tone for the rest of the day.
Pryor, who shunned Michigan to come to Ohio State, went on to throw a pair of touchdown passes — the second to put the Buckeyes up 28-7 in the third quarter on an 8-yard reception by Brian Robiskie.
“That calmed me down,” said Pryor of the interception.
In a somewhat unproductive day outside of the two TD passes, Pryor completed just 5 of 13 passes for 120 yards, while rushing for negative yardage (-7) on eight attempts.
Ohio State was a different team in the second half, scoring 28 unanswered points to put the game away.
After stopping Michigan on its first possession after intermission, the Buckeyes needed just two plays to open a 21-7 advantage. Junior running back Chris “Beanie” Wells, playing in possibly his last regular-season game for OSU, broke free for 42 yards on the Buckeyes’ first play of the second half, with Dan “Boom” Herron scoring on a 49-yard sprint.
Wells, who has made a career of big-time performances against the Wolverines, left the game after the long run and didn’t return, rushing for 137 yards and a 59-yard TD on just 15 carries. In each of his three games against Michigan, Wells has run for a touchdown of more than 50 yards.
The big-play strike was a day-long theme for the Buckeyes, who used a plethora of large gainers to break the Wolverines’ spirit.
Wells’ 59-yard sprint opened the scoring, with Pryor connecting on a 53-yard bomb to Brian Hartline for OSU’s second first-half TD. The Buckeyes also recovered two fumbles and got an 80-yard punt return from Ray Small, which set up Robiskie’s touchdown catch.
OSU’s defense rarely buckled.
Michigan was held under 200 yards in total offense — 11 on the ground — rarely venturing into Ohio State territory behind backup quarterback Nick Sheridan.
“I think it went about as well as you can expect,” Jenkins said of the Buckeyes’ defensive effort.
Along with Boone and heralded linebacker James Laurinaitis, Jenkins was one of a stellar group of seniors that returned in hopes of getting one last chance at a BCS title-game victory.
An early season loss to USC and the Penn State defeat will prevent that from happening, but the Buckeyes’ senior class still has something to celebrate.
“We lived the dream,” Boone said. “We won Big Ten championships and we beat Michigan. We lost some games, but that’s football.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. 

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