LSU vs. OSU BCS National Championship Liveblog (Second Half)

For those of you who stayed with us through the first half, welcome back. LSU leads Ohio State at the half, scoring 24 unanswered points after the Buckeyes opened the game with a 10-point lead. This has to be an all-too-familiar feeling for Ohio State fans. Boeckman's interception set up an LSU TD and the Tigers' swarming defense has negated the Ohio State ground game in the second quarter.

At least quarterback Todd Boeckman recovered his own fumble late in the second quarter. Had he failed, unmitigated horror would have rippled through the Superdome. For people wearing scarlet shirts, anyway.

LSU has dominated the line of scrimmage and they certainly appear to be a step faster and a bruising tackle stronger than Ohio State so far. My impression is that the Buckeyes are giving this game every possible effort, but it just hasn't been enough against the Tigers.

Will that change in the second half? It certainly could. LSU has been using a wide open style of play, and they need to stick with that if they want to win. Ohio State, meanwhile, needs to keep going to running back Chris Wells, who is responsible for the Bucks' only TD so far.

Stick with us, folks.

10:03PM: Oh, this is a pretty good idea. Former Buckeye and Tiger players in a kicking competition. Heyyyyy, wait a minute, that dude in the Ohio State jersey was the singer in the national anthem performance... you can't fool me, you wily Fox bastards.

10:14PM: No way! Jamarcus Russell is being interviewed on the sideline and he's wearing that same "Bama Boy" ensemble we saw from earlier in the year (right here at FanHouse). What the hell?! Troy Smith is asked by Chris Meyers about Russell's "interesting" attire and Smith says, "I think it's a great representation of Alabama." +50,000 karma points to Troy Smith. I still like that kid.

10:22PM: Okay, finally the kickoff. LSU will receive. Another touchback... with the kickoffs being moved 5 yards back this year, having a kicker who can boom it into the endzone consistently like that is a big advantage.

10:26PM: Fox commentator Charles Davis was right about one thing. It's critical that the Buckeyes survive LSU's opening possession. So far the Tigers are moving the ball easily. They're at midfield already.

10:27PM: Another relatively easy quarterback sneak for the Tigers on 3rd-and-1. If I'm Jim Tressel, this is one of the most disturbing things I've seen in this game. The ability to convert so easily on short yardage downs is a huge weapon for the Tigers.

10:30PM: That's Jim Tressel as animated as I've ever seen him, running off the sideline onto the field there, screaming for an intentional grounding call, and... he got it. Sheer joy! It's 3rd-and-23 for the Tigers. Ohio State needs this stop in the worst way.

10:34PM: I'm starting to think this isn't going to be Ohio State's night. On 4th and 23, the Bucks get called for roughing the kicker... automatic first down for LSU. Jeez, fellas. You're not going to win the game making mistakes like that.

10:36PM: YGTBSM. Right after they rough the kicker, OSU gets called for another personal foul after the play. Automatic first down... again.

10:38PM: Oh, come ON! Touchdown LSU. Matt Flynn takes the snap on Ohio State's 4-yard line, rolls out, and completes the pass to Early Doucet. What happens next violates all that is holy in college football: Doucet easily breaks two half-hearted tackles which would have stopped him several yards short, and dances into the end zone. My cell phone just rang... it's my father. "Ohio State is laying down," he told me. "This game is over." It's hard to argue with that statement. The Bucks look like they've given up. It's 31-10, LSU.

10:45PM: 3rd-and-7 for the Bucks. Boeckman doesn't see either of two open receivers and takes a sack. 4th down again for the Bucks? This game could very easily go the way of the Hawaii-Georgia game if they don't keep fighting. The contest is practically over with 21 minutes left to play. Not good!

10:51PM: LSU is driving and converts yet another 3rd down. If I'm Les Miles, I'm going to try to go down the field full throttle and score one more time, then I'm going to shut it down and go to my ground game.

10:53PM: PICK! First big play of the night for Ohio State's defense... Matt Flynn and Terrance Tolliver didn't appear to be on the same page, resulting in an interception by OSU's Jenkins. If the Buckeyes can score here, this might become a ball game again.

10:55PM: STUFFED! Chris Wells loses three yards on 3rd-and-1 up against LSU's goal line. Ohio State is going for it! TOUCHDOWN OHIO STATE! That was a clutch catch by Brian Robiskie. Hell of a call by Tressel there.

11:02PM: Quarter's over. It's 3rd-and-6 for LSU. Charles Davis again accurately describes the state of things for LSU and Ohio State when he says that momentum is "teetering" on the brink of shifting Ohio State's way. Still, with the Tigers up 2 TDs in the 4th quarter, this is their game to lose.

11:09PM: Hey, hey! It's the Beanie Wells show again. The Bucks pick up another first down. They're moving the ball... a score here, and they're right back in it.

11:11PM: Absolutely vicious hit on Boeckman as he scrambles close to a first down. Another "big, big" 3rd down according to our intrepid Fox crew.

11:12PM: SACK! 4th down with seven yards to go. Tressel's got to go for it here, I think. Boeckman calls for a timeout as the play clock winds down... might have been one of those "boots in cement" deals in an attempt to draw the defense offsides.

11:15PM: Hooooooooo boy. I think we just saw Ohio State's hopes go down the drain. Not only did they fail to convert on fourth down, Boeckman was stripped by LSU's Ali Highsmith. The leather was picked up by Coleman, who returned back to the thirtysomething line. The details don't really matter anymore.

11:17PM: Our own Chas Rich saved me from having to say it. Thanks, Chas. The next round of White Russians is on me.

11:21PM: Ooh, nice stop there by Ohio State. I dunno, is this still a game? I think it probably is. It's 4th and 4 now and LSU is out of field goal range. They're going to punt unless Miles wants to engage in a bit of trickery.

11:26PM: Yep, they punted. Tressel goes with Wells who picks up 4 yards on first down. Obviously, with 9:00 remaining, LSU will be happy to give that to them all night at this point, but I like the decision by Tressel. Down 14, all you need here is a score with a chance to be holding the ball at the end of the game. The Buckeyes will need a balanced attack to make that happen, and Boeckman has had his cage rattled a few times.

11:27PM: Another 4th-down attempt by the Buckeyes... and Chris Wells gets it. 7:04 remaining. Ohio State has allowed a lot of time expire in the process of getting that first down.

11:29PM: Boeckman goes down and is stripped again in the process. He recovers as the ball bounces right back to him. 6:00 remaining now. Gotta pick up the pace, Bucks.

11:31PM: Boeckman has plenty of time but throws it right to into the arms of Curtis Taylor. With 5:43 left, this game is effectively over assuming the Tigers hold onto the ball from here on out.

11:34PM: It's 4th-and-1, and the Tigers are going for it. This is an easy call. And... they get it. At minimum, another 2:00 will come off the clock now.

11:38PM: We're down to 3 minutes and it's first and goal at Ohio State's 7-yard line. Game over: it's just a question of whether LSU will score again. For the sake of Ohio State fans' sanity, I hope they don't... 38-17 looks a lot worse than 31-17, which despite appearing a lot closer than this game really was,

11:39PM: Sorry, Bucknuts, it's 38-17. Flynn found Dickson wide open in the endzone for six. PAT is good.

As the game winds down, it's time to contemplate a few things.

1) LSU is a much, much better team than Ohio State, who only managed one offensive touchdown in the entire ball game.

2) Ohio State tried. They tried really hard. They played with heart, except for that half-hearted attempt to tackle Doucet when the game was still within reach. They just don't have what it takes to be competitive against a team like the Tigers.

3) This loss will sting for the Bucks, but let's face it, no one expected them to make it this far and this result is not exactly shocking.

4) Kirk Herbstreit made the statement before this game that Ohio State football would be set back to pre-1960 levels if they were blown out by LSU. Were they blown out? It's borderline, but since the Bucks could only put up a single TD and a field goal offensively against the LSU defense, I'll have to say that yeah, they were, more or less. It's a big blow to the Big 10, and Ohio State is now 0-9 against SEC teams in bowl games.

11:45: We're down to 1:19 remaining and Ohio State racks up a garbage TD. Hey, this helps, I think. It's 38-24 now, Still, there's no avoiding the fact that LSU manhandled the Bucks.

11:50PM: It's kneel-down time. For those of you who stuck with us, thanks! Be sure to check FanHouse for post-game reactions from our cadre of highly-trained, lethally effective assassins bloggers.