Thirteen proved to be the luckiest of numbers for the Ohio State football team on Saturday. In their 13th game of the 2002 regular season, the Buckeyes held off a late charge by arch rival Michigan to finish the regular season undefeated with a 14-9 win over the Wolverines. “The biggest thing about this game was that it was Ohio State-Michigan,” said OSU football coach Jim Tressel. “We can enjoy this game, the fact that we won a share of the Big Ten championship and finished our season undefeated.” After the win, Tressel and the Buckeyes officially accepted an invitation to play in the Fiesta Bowl for the Bowl Championship Series national championship on Jan. 3. “I’m just glad it’s finally over,” said senior safety and co-captain Mike Doss. “We worked so hard for this and had one goal in mind this season. I’m really proud of my teammates and I think this season proves Ohio State can play with anyone.” The Buckeyes also welcomed back another No. 13 to the backfield — tailback Maurice Clarett. Clarett, who played only sparingly in the past few weeks due to a shoulder injury, seemed back to his old form against the Wolverines. After sitting out the first series, Clarett got a majority of the carries and finished the game with 119 yards on 20 carries. “I never got to win anything in high school,” Clarett said. “I really just don’t have the words for it right now. I am surrounded by great teammates and we made the plays when it counted.” In a season where the Buckye defense has made up for the shortcomings of the OSU offense, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that the biggest playof the day came from the defense. After OSU took a 14-9 lead on Maurice Hall’s fourth quarter option touchdown run, the Wolverines had one final shot at spoiling the Buckeyes’ dreams. With 58 seconds remaining in the game, the Wolverines had to go 80 yards to get a touchdown. After three straight incompletions to start off the drive, Michigan quarterback John Navarre completed a fourth-down strike to wide receiver Braylon Edwards for an 11-yard completion. Two completed passes to wide receiver Ronald Bellamy brought Michigan down to the OSU 24-yard line and the Wolverines seemed poised to dash OSU’s unblemished record. After spiking the ball to stop the clock on first down, Navarre just missed Edwards on a slant pattern inside the Buckeye 10-yard line. With one second left on third down, Navarre again looked to the end zone, but OSU cornerback Will Allen stepped in front of the pass and fell to the turf as time ran out. “I just took off my headphones off with seven seconds left to go,” Tressel said. “And I just told myself, ‘Come on defense.'” With fans rushing onto the field to celebrate, Doss kneeled in prayer and shortly reflected on the season. “That last series on defense, everything was going so fast,” Doss said. “When Will made the catch, I just started crying and kneeled and said a little prayer.” That final minute was just the culmination of another typical OSU-Michigan game. The Buckeyes got the ball to start the game, but could get nothing going. Hall started in the backfield and was stuffed on two straight runs. On third down, OSU quarterback Craig Krenzel overthrew Michael Jenkins on a sideline route. Michigan found a little more success on its first drive. Tailback Chris Perry opened the drive with two runs, giving the Wolverines a first down. Michigan then faced a third-and-11 from the 50-yard line. Navarre was able to sustain the drive with 15-yard pass to Edwards. That would be the first of two third downs the Wolverines converted on their opening drive. However, Michigan couldn’t convert its third third-down attempt. At the OSU 19-yard line, Navarre threw into the middle of the field. But the only player in the vicinity was OSU safety Donnie Nickey, who was unable to come up with the interception. Kicker Adam Finley was able to convert on a 36-yard field goal, giving Michigan an early 3-0 lead. On the second play of the Buckeyes’ second offensive possession, Clarett checked into the game for the first time. But instead of getting the ball on a running play, Clarett slipped out of the backfield and caught a pass from Krenzel. Clarett did the rest, avoiding one Michigan defender on his way to a nine-yard gain. Clarett’s first run from scrimmage came on a second-and-1 play from the OSU 45-yard line. Clarett took the ball off the right side and went seven yards. But then Clarett showed his early season form on his next run as he broke two tackles on a 28-yard gain, bringing OSU to the Michigan 11-yard line. The Buckeye drive seemed to have stalled on third down when Krenzel’s pass did not find Jenkins, but Michigan was called for pass interference, giving OSU a first down on the two-yard line. Clarett would need only one chance as he rushed over the right side and fell into the end zone. Mike Nugent added the extra point to give OSU a 7-3 lead. The Wolverines continued to drive on the Buckeye defense, thanks in large part to more third-down conversions. Michigan finished the game going 12 for 21 on third down coversions compared to the Buckeyes’ one for seven The biggest conversion came on third-and-nine when Navarre found Bellamy on a 14-yard pass, bringing the Wolverines to the OSU 38-yard line. But like in the first drive, the Wolverines could not find the end zone as Navarre’s two shots in to the end zone went incomplete. Finley came on and kicked a 35-yard field goal to cut the OSU lead to 7-6. The Buckeyes could not do anything on their next drive, but punter Andy Groom pinned the Wolverines at their own eight-yard line. But even with their backs against their own end zone, the Wolverines still continued to move the ball. Once again, the biggest plays came on third down. Two third down completions helped put the Wolverines at the OSU eight-yard line. But then the mistakes piled up for the Wolverines. After Navarre was sacked by Tim Anderson on first down, a false start penalty pushed Michigan futher back. Then, on an apparent touchdown catch by Edwards, he was called for offensive pass interference after shoving Chris Gamble to the ground. With just 16 seconds left in the half, Finley gave Michigan a 9-7 lead with his 22-yard field goal. For the entire third quarter, both teams took turns punting the ball back and forth to each other. “We missed a couple of tackles in the first half so we knew we had to work on that,” Nickey said. “We adjusted on a couple of coverages and played solid defense in the second half.” The lone bright spot of the quarter came on a nine-yard run by Clarett. That run pushed Clarett past former Buckeye Robert Smith for the freshman single-season rushing record. “I just wanted to win this game for the seniors,” Clarett said. “I remember when I was a senior in high school, I wanted the underclassmen to step it up.” The fourth quarter started almost exactly like the third quarter. Both teams traded punts to open the quarter before the Buckeyes’ went on their final scoring drive. After not forcing a turnover for the first three and a half quarters, the OSU defense came up with two huge takeaways. The first came when Navarre was sacked in OSU territory by defensive end Darrion Scott when the Wolverines were driving with over four minutes left in the fourth quarter. The ball came loose and defensive end Will Smith pounced on the ball. But Allen provided the biggest fireworks with his fourth quarter interception.
A record number 105,539 fans witnessed the Ohio State victory.
