COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — 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.
Continue Reading: Undefeated: No. 4 Ohio State over No. 20 UM, 26-21
