Ohio State (11-1) vs. LSU (11-2) Monday, Jan. 7 | 8 p.m., FOX Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans Bowl Web site

PREGAME KNOWLEDGE

Laughable and/or unknown title sponsor: Allstate

Announcers subject to our devastating witticisms: Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis

Conventional wisdom: In lieu of actual analysis, talk has focused on Ohio State’s performance in last year’s title game (against another team) and LSU’s supposed home-field advantage (diluted by big-game ticket procedures and the Buckeyes’ ability to “travel”). The Tigers are a great team, but they’re not the 2006 Gators. OSU doesn’t plan to roll over and play dead.

All-star to watch: LSU LB Ali Highsmith (#7)
93 tackles

Read up: Check out The Lantern and The Daily Reveille.

Best counterprogramming: “Johnny Cash in San Quentin”
This 1969 concert at California’s notorious prison is worth looking up what channel CMT is on your cable guide. CMT, 9-10 p.m.

GAME BLOG

Bender Standings
through Orange Bowl (88:00 hrs)
NAME	HOURS
Jim	67:30
Zach	23:00
Gerald	20:45
Ryan	18:30
Adam	12:00
Hailey	5:00
Hahn	3:30
Gavin	3:00
Mike	3:00
AY	3:00
Lee	2:00
Jon	2:00

Who’s watching — Jim Reedy, UWIRE, closing strong with the inaugural Bender … Jon Crowl, Daily Nebraskan, couldn’t be more of a chump … Gerald Nicdao, Daily Californian, glad to finally see a (competitive) BCS game … Zach Osterman, Indiana Daily Student, projected to hold on to second place … Peter Simones, Daily Trojan, welcome at last … Ryan Killian, Daily Texan, late because he was playing Call of Duty 4 … Andrew Young, UWIRE, back from the dead.

8:09 Gerald — Wow, Urban Meyer in the pregame and halftime shows?

8:09 Jim — The networks are obsessed with bringing on current players and coaches — NFL playoffs too — because they’re famous, but they almost always suck because a) they’re new; and b) being still in the game, they don’t want to offend anyone or give away too much.

8:10 Jim — The key to the game, apparently, is whether or not Chris Wells can run the ball.

8:10 Jon — Do you agree with that?

8:10 Jim — I don’t know what the key is — if anyone knew, we wouldn’t tune in.

8:11 Jim — I generally dislike projections of what will be important. I mean, what if OSU comes out throwing, to shake things up?

8:11 Gerald — Then they’ll say they used the pass to set up the running game. They’ll find a way to make their “keys to the game” right.

8:12 Jon — I agree somewhat with keys to the game. You can twist the “if thens” to fit whatever you said, and games aren’t played as neatly as statistics and analysis would suggest.

8:14 Jim — It’ll be interesting to see if FOX is forced to toe the line and ignore the idea of a national champion coming from outside this game.

8:14 Gerald — They will.

8:14 Jon — Yeah, I think they will. If this isn’t a national championship game, it loses a lot of luster.

8:15 Jim — It’s probably in their BCS contract. But title game or not, i think this is the best matchup of the bowl season.

8:24 Jim — Tony Dorsett, for some reason, does the coin flip, and we’re underway!

8:25 Zach — I don’t care what anyone says, there is no way Ohio State has any sort of equality when it comes to fans. Make no mistake, this is an LSU home game.

8:25 Jon — I do have to give OSU credit for having a strong, stable system that replaces talent year after year.

8:27 Jim — Boom! A couple passes from Todd “Matt Saracen” Boeckman and Chris Wells explodes 65 yards for a touchdown, running over left guard and cutting back to the right. Good breakaway speed from the Bean.

8:27 Jon — I did not see that coming. Right up the middle?

8:28 Gerald — That happens when you put 8 men in the box. If the RB gets past the linebackers, it might be over if the deep safety takes a bad angle to the ball.

8:28 Jon — I suppose, but you could argue that about pretty much any run.

8:29 Jim — Yeah, but 2 safeties is, uh, safer than 1 safety.

8:29 Zach — Prediction: That’s as good as it will get for the Buckeyes.

8:34 Jon — Well, for the second year in a row, OSU takes a quick 7-0 lead in the “title” game. … And the Tigers are kind of stumbling around, as Matt Flynn loses beaucoup yardage scrambling to recover an errant snap.

8:37 Jim — Oh look, a wheel route out of the backfield and LSU entirely fails to stay with the back down the left sideline.

8:37 Peter — Prediction: Zach, you are wrong.

8:37 Zach — Man, I suck at predictions.

8:37 Jon — I’m disappointed in Bo Pelini thus far.

8:38 Peter — But here’s the thing, since when did Pelini do such a great job this season? I don’t deny he’s a great coach, but LSU’s defense is nowhere near the level of Ohio State’s, at least when you refer to the season’s score sheet.

8:39 Gerald — But you have to remember that the Bucks play in the Big Ten, which isn’t so offensively blessed.

8:39 Peter — Right, but it’s still 10 points a game.

8:40 Jon — Well, first off, LSU did do pretty well early in the season, and they did suffer multiple injuries on their defense. Second, the SEC and Big Ten are of no comparison, not to mention LSU whooped VT in nonconference play. Third, I covered Nebraska this season, so from where I hail, if you hold ‘em under 40, it’s been a good day

8:40 Gerald — That sounds like a Cal philosophy.

8:41 Peter — And being from USC, the injury excuse doesn’t hold water with me.

8:43 Peter — Anybody who predicted a 10-0 Ohio State lead at this point in the game, step forward. … Roger Clemens, I don’t believe you.

8:45 Gerald — “Laurinaitis” is a great name for a football player.

8:45 Jon — It sounds mythical.

8:46 Jim — The village must feed him a dozen virgins every weekend or incur the wrath of the mighty Laurinaitis!

8:46 Jon — Good Lord, that’s a lot of virgins.

8:48 Gerald — Great pass by Matt Flynn and an even better NFL-quality catch.

8:49 Peter — Doucet does what a true NFL prospect would, getting both feet down.

8:53 Jon — Matt Flynn is from Tyler, Texas, where last night a man was arrested and charged with killing his girlfriend, cutting steaks from her flesh and boiling body parts.

8:53 Jon — Just a little FYI.

8:53 Peter — Touching.

8:54 Jim — I’m not sure I can take Budweiser telling us about its complicated brewing process.

8:54 Gerald — I hate them. It’s like, “Hey, look at us — this is how we make shitty beer!”

8:55 Jon — I hate the “mirrors” girl more.

8:55 Jim — I hate these Allstate buffoons more.

8:57 Jim — Ohio State stiffens and forces a Colt David field goal. 10-3, Buckeyes, with 2:21 left in the opening quarter.

9:04 Zach — Chris Wells is playing his way to the top of several preseason Heisman lists, including mine.

9:08 Peter — LSU moves back into Buckeyes territory on a supposedly out-of-bounds hit. … You know what, they need to stop with these wussy late hit calls in college football. It seems more than half of them are unintentional.

9:09 Gerald — That wasn’t a late hit.

9:09 Peter — And in the pros, that is the deciding factor: Whether it was intentional or not. These “kids” don’t need to be babied.

9:11 Gerald — Ooooh, Laurinaitis going WWF with the face mask.

9:11 Peter — Flynn hits Demetrius Byrd for a big play across the middle, the refs tack on a 15-yard face mask penalty, and on the next play Dickson catches a pass for 7. Too easy. Tied at 10. Repeat of last season, anybody?

9:12 Gerald — I haven’t seen so many “deceptively fast” people on one team before. LSU is quick.

9:12 Jon — If this were a video game, LSU’s momentum meter would be thumping.

9:12 Peter — OSU needs the hit stick, bad.

9:16 Jim — Great blocking by Alex Boone and the left side of the Buckeyes line, and Wells gets a nice run after slamming CB Chevis Jackson to the ground.

9:16 Gerald — That’s a man’s stiff arm.

9:18 Jim — Another open receiver for Ohio State. Why are these offenses getting guys so wide open?

9:20 Jim — Great third-down throw by Boeckman and Brian Robiskie has it for a moment in the end zone — but a nudge from Chevis Jackson and Robiskie drops it!

9:20 Zach — When did Todd Boeckman turn into a good quarterback?

9:20 Jim — He’s been good all season, from what I’ve seen.

9:21 Zach — Yeah, but he’s making throws that All-Americans make.

9:23 Jim — 38-yard FG attempt by the South Afrikkaner and Ricky Jean-Francois bullies through the line and swats it down. Ohio State could have had 7 points and winds up with none.

9:23 Jon — I know it’s easy to say this after the fact, but watching them line up, I felt like that was a likely block.

9:30 Jim — LSU on the move yet again … and here’s the big blow. With 5 wide receivers, Flynn looks left on third down from the 10-yard line and hits Brandon LaFell for the score. 17-10 with less than 8 minutes left before halftime.

9:31 Gerald — How do you prepare against an offense that does everything? LSU can go from the power-I to the option to spreading it five-wide in a blink of an eye.

9:31 Peter — Well, if you are Ohio State, apparently you just don’t show up. Everyone who bet the under collectively sighs.

9:33 Peter — That Scooby Doo commercial SUCKS. Enough already.

9:33 Ryan — Well that earlier drop killed OSU’s chance of reclaiming the momentum and they’re in trouble now.

9:34 Jim — That drop and the subsequent FG block cost the Buckeyes 7 points.

9:36 Jim — Yeurgh. Boeckman looks left down the sideline, flinging it up as he gets leveled by blitzing safety Harry Coleman — who saved LSU with a fumble recovery earlier — and Chevis Jackson picks it off. The Tigers are in business again after a nice return.

9:36 Zach — My prediction is looking better and better.

9:37 Peter — That wasn’t a bad pass, just a great play.

9:37 Gerald — He ripped the ball out of the wideout’s hand.

9:37 Jim — Flynn finds Dickson all alone — is anyone covering anyone? — and the tight end takes to the 1-yard line.

9:40 Zach — Losing Steltz doesn’t help. Stingers are a different kind of pain. But I’m thinking Les Miles is REAL happy he stayed at LSU.

9:43 Jim — Three runs from the 1, and finally Jacob Hester gets in. 24 straight points and it’s a 14-point lead for the Tigers.

9:43 Gerald — No one can stop Hester. He’s like a bulldozer.

9:45 Peter — LSU is an otherwordly 8-of-10 on third down. That’s why it has a 24-10 lead despite being outgained.

9:47 Jim — Speaking of third-down conversions, nice one there by Ohio State. C’mon, Bucks. Let’s make a game of this, huh? … And I spoke too soon. Looks like another punt coming.

9:51 Peter — My guess is Tressel’s well-documented “motivational tape” of last year’s 41-14 drubbing at the hands of Florida is doing more to haunt his team at this point in the game than help them.

9:52 Jon — Well, halftime came out of nowhere for me. I didn’t even realize we were there.

9:52 Jim — Snuck up on you, huh? We’re having so much fun on the blog here.

9:53 Jon — Don’t even remember the end of the first quarter.

10:01 Ryan — I have a feeling these ratings are gonna suck.

10:13 Jim — Wow, that was bad news for ratings — every BCS title game has been won by the team leading at halftime.

10:14 Jim — Halftime chat with JaMarcus Russell and Troy Smith, and Russell’s technicolor sweater is straight out of 1994.

10:14 Jon — He looks absurd.

10:15 Jim — Smith on the sweater: “I think it’s an incredible representation of Alabama.” Heh.

10:15 Jon — MAD props for knocking both Russell and Alabama in one fell swoop.

10:18 Jim — These halftimes are interminable.

10:19 Ryan — These players will be over-the-hill by the second half.

10:20 Jim — Trinity wins the Pontiac whosiwhats big play of the year for its 15-lateral touchdown. What those exuberant kids on campus don’t know is they don’t get any of that scholarship money.

10:20 Gerald — WHAT?! Are you kidding? That play took like 6 minutes, and half of Millsaps was just looking around during it.

10:21 Jim — It had to be that play or the Appy State play.

10:21 Gerald — Yeah. Should have been Appy State.

10:23 Jim — OK, back to teams that are slightly better than Appy State (maybe) or Trinity (probably). The third quarter is underway, with the Tigers ready to go again.

10:25 Zach — Early Doucet is such a great name for an SEC football player.

10:25 AY — Hello folks, I’m here to pad my stats, Spurrier-style.

10:25 Peter — Didn’t you know the game is already over?

10:26 AY — It does appear that way. Ohio State needs to start scheduling 15-minute games against SEC schools.

10:26 Gerald — How about recruit faster guys?

10:27 Peter — Or find a way to lose multiple games a year and spare us this crap.

10:28 AY — Beanie Wells seemed to have enough wheels on his TD run — although he was outrunning Steltz.

10:28 Peter — 9-of-11 on third down and counting …

10:33 Jim — 9-of-12 now for LSU. Of course, it took a third-and-23 to stop ‘em. … Oh Lord, that was — wow, that was the LAST thing Ohio State wanted. Roughing the punter, first down Tigers.

10:33 Gerald — That makes me laugh. I almost feel sorry for them, but not quite.

10:34 AY — How did he not block that kick?

10:37 Gerald — Sneaky little screen pass … and somehow, he breaks two OSU tackles and gets into the end zone. I’m calling it. Time of death: 10:37. The BCS has flat-lined.

10:37 Jim — Good Lord. You’re all fired. 31-10.

10:37 Gerald — HOW DO YOU NOT TACKLE HIM?!

10:38 Peter — Is it bad that I’m embarrassed?

10:38 Gerald — What happened to the supposed brawn of the Big Ten?

10:45 Zach — Watching Todd Boeckman run is nearly as painful is watching Greg Maddux leg out a bunt.

10:50 Jim — LSU is playing really, really well. I mean, it became evident more than an hour ago that they’re just a better team than Ohio State, but the Tigers are doing just about everything right. For my money, this is a performance that earns them a legitimate national title.

10:51 Jim — OK, well, just as I say that, Flynn throws a pick right to Malcolm Jenkins. Buckeyes have the ball at the 11.

10:52 AY — Big play by the tackle-misser.

10:52 Peter — Wake up, people! Odds on Ohio State getting points here? I put ‘em at 3:1.

10:54 AY — If Ohio State kicks a field goal down 21 points with 17 minutes left, Tressel should walk back to Columbus.

10:54 Jim — Ohio State is INSANE if it gets to fourth down and doesn’t go for it.

10:55 AY — Fourth downnnnn … great catch.

10:55 Jim — Robiskie makes up, sort of, for his earlier TD drop.

10:55 Gerald — Does anyone have a defibrillator?

10:55 Peter — “Didn’t see that one coming” [/KFC commercial girl]

11:00 Jim — But here’s the thing, as LSU gets ready to punt on the first play of the fourth quarter: Does it matter? Ohio State trails 31-17. Its two touchdowns came essentially on 2 big plays — Wells’ run and Jenkins’ pick. On a down-by-down basis, the Tigers are dominating.

11:10 Gerald — What a huge passing play! Is that a heartbeat I hear from the OSU sideline?

11:15 Jim — The Buckeyes call time out. Fourth-and-7 from the LSU 35. Too far to kick, even if you wanted.

11:16 Jim — Geez … good initial protection against a 5-man rush, but the LSU pass coverage is great, as it has been for most of the night. Boeckman moves to his right and is immediately lambasted. Fumble! The Tigers swat it around and eventually get a nice gain out of it.

11:17 Ryan — It was over when …

11:19 Jim — This has been the best officiating job of the postseason — and not least because that was our first review.

11:20 Gerald — It’s been refreshing.

11:22 Zach — Ohio State fans will forever hate the SEC after this.

11:22 Jim — This will be 0-3 in title games in the past 2 years against Florida and LSU. Damn Southerners!

11:23 Zach — My prediction is looking waaaaay better now.

11:24 Jim — Oh, you’re so brilliant, picking LSU.

11:28 Jim — Fourth-and-1, and Chris Wells — remember him? — runs successfully over the left side. The Buckeyes are at their own 40 with 6 minutes left, down 14 points. They’re running Donovan McNabb’s puke-and-throw 2-minute offense.

11:31 Jim — Third-and-15 after a strip sack by Glenn Dorsey and Todd Boeckman throws high over the middle. An interception — Ohio State’s third turnover of the night.

11:35 Jim — LSU grinds ahead on fourth-and-1 and they should be just about able to kill the clock from here. More or less. 3:30 left.

11:36 AY — I want to see Dorsey get a Refrigerator Perry touchdown. He’s got the right jersey number: 72.

11:38 AY — If you’re Les Miles, go for style points here. 38-17 or 45-17 ends any argument for another team being No. 1 in the AP poll.

11:38 Peter — LSU will be almost unanimous, I think. People are done with this season. I’m not saying they deserve it, necessarily, but they will be.

11:39 Jim — And there’s the nail in the coffin. TD flip to Dickson and it’s 38-17 with 1:50 left. Congratulations, L-Tigers.

11:38 Peter — The poor BCS matchups ruined the validity of any other teams’ arguments.

11:38 AY — For argument’s sake, it would’ve been valuable to see a USC-Georgia game.

11:39 AY — Credit Dorsey for coming back. He risked a lot of money, and then got that Auburn chop block …

11:42 Peter — This game won on third down. LSU conversions: 11 of 17. Ohio State: 2 of 11.

11:42 Jim — Wow.

11:58 Jim — Ohio State tacks on a final touchdown, but it’s not enough. 38-24. Fin.

POSTGAME WRAP

Final thoughts
AY — It was obvious LSU was the better team. Boeckman showed a lot of heart staying in the pocket and taking that abuse. I wish we would’ve had better BCS games elsewhere to judge the title credentials of USC and Georgia.

Peter — We could have muted the media machine for an entire 40 days because the game turned out exactly as we expected. The real question is: How is the Big Ten going to recover from this? It’s now officially a crisis situation, if only Level Orange because of Michigan’s bowl win.

Zach — LSU controlled this game after a rough beginning. They overcame injuries and the stigma of being a two-loss team in the BCS, and in the process got to bathe their entire coaching staff in Gatorade. They have surely fulfilled all of their preseason goals.

Gerald — It must suck to be a Buckeyes fan right now. Two straight years in the title game against SEC teams and two losses. LSU did a good job of stopping Wells after he had those huge gains in the first, and the Tigers offense seemed to puzzle Ohio State.

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