{mosimage} OSU went into the national title with the #1 ranking, the nation's top defense, and a gigantic chip on their shoulder. Despite all of this, they again shit the bed on the big stage.

After a fast start highlighted by a 65-yard Chris Wells TD where he went untouched and outran All-American safety Craig Steltz, the Buckeyes got dominated. For the second straight year, Jim Heacock's defense was unable to adjust to the offensive attack of their foe. The top defense in the nation has no business allowing 11 of 18 third down conversions, and even less business giving up 38 points. There are only two possible explanations: the Buckeyes were outmatched or they were unprepared/outcoached. I think that both are valid in this case.

The defensive line looked foolish as LSU's offensive line routinely blew them away coming off the ball, paving the way for easy 3rd and short conversions for Jacob Hester. That isn't to discount Hester's abilities, as he was the same patient and tough runner the Tigers depended on all season. He didn't have great numbers, but his impact on the game was immense.The defensive line, with the exception of standout Vernon Gholston, has been the Buckeyes' weakness all season and it really showed last night.

Marcus Freeman and James Laurinaitis did their best to mop up the mess the D-line made, combining for 30+ tackles, but it wasn't enough.

The O-line was porous at times, a problem which wasn't aided by the fact that Todd Boeckman stood in the pocket too long on far too many pass plays. Of course, this is also a result of LSU's excellent coverage on OSU's top receivers. While Robiskie and Hartline combined for 125 yards and 2 TDs, one of those touchdowns was in garbage time and the LSU secondary had them blanketed for most of the night. The Tiger secondary impressed me more than anything else in this game.

Matt Flynn looked cool and calm in the pocket, and he made the most of his national title shot throwing for a career high four touchdowns. He didn't exactly put on an aerial show, but he was efficient and smart with the football, something that can not be said of quarterbacking counterpart Todd Boeckman. Boeckman looked flustered, many of his throws were rushed or inaccurate, and he did exactly what he did against Illinois: not nearly enough.

Despite the effectiveness of the run game, the OSU passing game had no rhythm all night, and they paid for it with another embarrassing loss. Make no mistake about it, the perceived superior speed of the SEC had nothing to do with the outcome of this game. The Tigers beat OSU at their own game. They were effective running the ball, efficient in the pass game, they played solid defense for the majority of the game, and they didn't beat themselves with penalties and turnovers.

The Buckeyes outgained the Tigers, but their three turnovers to LSU’s one was one of the biggest factors in the outcome of this one. The most shocking thing about this game was how undisciplined the Buckeyes were. Tressel ball has always been about playing disciplined and smart, but the field was littered with flags for personal fouls on OSU all night. In fact, Les Miles played Tressel ball better than Tressel. Tressel also prides himself on superior special teams, but the Tigers had the advantage there as well thanks to a blocked field goal and a huge roughing the punter call.

The freak play in which Austin Spitler somehow missed blocking the punt but tackled the punter as he was kicking was when I said "this is not going to be our night." How did he miss the ball AND murder the punter on a 4th and 23? I have no idea, but that was a big nail in the coffin.

One of the few bright spots for OSU was Beanie Wells' coming out party. The man is a monster and the whole world got to see just how good he is last night. He ran right by all that SEC speed in the first series, and he absolutely destroyed Zenon, the All SEC corner, with a vicious open field stiff arm. He looked like a man among boys, but the defense didn't keep up their end of the bargain and thus his carries were limited. Had the game been closer in the second quarter and OSU had been able to run the ball more, the outcome may have been quite different because Chris Wells was the best player on the field. I worry that people will use this game to again put the Big Ten down again. Clearly the very top of the SEC is better than the top of the Big Ten. One need look no further than the result of this game to prove that, but Michigan beat Florida in Florida and Wisconsin nearly beat Tennessee as well. These two conferences are not as far apart as some might think. Still, the superior team won this game, and OSU fans are left to wonder what the hell happened and where they go from here.

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