Following losses earlier this year to USC and Penn State, it was apparent that Ohio State would not compete for the national championship for the third season in a row.

But the Buckeyes still had plenty to play for, most notably for redemption and also for domination.

Their redemption came on Saturday, when the 10th-ranked Buckeyes buried rival Michigan 42-7 to claim a piece of the Big Ten championship in the 105th edition of The Game before 105,564 Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

The domination came in OSU’s most lopsided win over Michigan in 40 years, dating to OSU’s 50-14 win over Michigan in 1968. It also came in the form of an unprecedented fifth straight victory over its rival as well as a fourth consecutive Big Ten championship.

“Anytime you can get a win over Michigan, it's definitely something to cherish,” said linebacker James Laurinaitis, who was one of 28 seniors making his final appearance at Ohio Stadium for the Buckeyes. “It's crazy to be at this point right now with the regular season already wrapped up and everything, but what a blessing it's been to be able to be a part of this family and represent this team.”

It was certainly a feel-good moment for the Buckeyes (10-2, 7-1), even if their postseason picture remained clouded. Penn State’s victory over Michigan State gave the Nittany Lions a share of the Big Ten title as well as the conference’s automatic bid to the Rose Bowl. Because other schools remain in the hunt for BCS bowl consideration, OSU’s bowl assignment likely will not be known until at least late next Saturday.

None of that mattered, though, to OSU coach Jim Tressel, who improved to 7-1 against Michigan.

“It was a great day for those 28 seniors and our kids played hard and Michigan played hard and it was a wild first half,” said Tressel, whose team exploded for 28 second-half points after holding a 14-7 halftime lead. “We are just so proud of these kids to be able to have some of the accomplishments that our seniors have had over the last five years if they're a fifth-year guy or four years if they're a four-year guy, really incredible. We are just looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving and watching some ball games even yet today.”

Tressel discussed being the first OSU team to win five straight games against Michigan.

“It's hard to believe because it's so difficult,” Tressel said. “I remember looking up the statistic about three or four years ago of what the winning streaks were, because you've always got to have something in the back of your mind that you're shooting for and just the fact that it was done in the '30s four in a row and done in the '60s four in a row.

“We had Ike Kelly speak to our players today and he was a great player who happened to in the fifth game (in 1964) and didn't get it done and you can tell it's still heavy on his heart and he shared that with our players today.”

OSU tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells had 15 carries for 134 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown, before leaving the game late in the third quarter with an apparent right hamstring injury. Before leaving, Wells ripped off a 42-yard run to set up backup Boom Herron’s 49-yard touchdown scamper. That was one of two touchdowns for Herron, who tallied 80 yards on eight carries. The Buckeyes amassed 232 yards on the ground against the Wolverines.

“I thought Jim Bollman and his staff did a good job of just being patient, knowing how they were attacking us and then Beanie and Boom did a good job keeping their shoulders square and came up with the big plays,” Tressel said.

Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor shrugged off an early interception to complete 5 of 12 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns. He hit Brian Hartline for a 53-yard touchdown and Brian Robiskie for an 8-yard scoring strike.

"It made me think about my very first game here at Ohio State," said Pryor, who improved to 8-1 as the OSU starter. "I was so hyped up for that game and even more for this one. We all expect to be perfect and to make big plays against this team."

Pryor said it took a lot for the Buckeyes to bounce back from the loss to Penn State. But OSU came back with impressive November wins over Northwestern, Illinois and Michigan to end the year.

"After the Penn State game, a couple guys were down, but we gave it all we had," Pryor said. "We knew we had to keep striving hard and finish the season on a high note."

And senior Todd Boeckman, the former starter, came on in the fourth quarter and hit all three of his pass attempts for 64 yards. That included an 18-yard scoring pass to Hartline.

The worst season in Michigan football history came to an end as the Wolverines ended up 3-9 overall and 2-6 in Big Ten play. 

Michigan, playing without injured starting quarterback Steven Threet, mustered just 198 yards total offense and one touchdown. Nick Sheridan was 8 of 24 passing for 87 yards. Tailback Brandon Minor added 67 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries for the Wolverines.

"The missed opportunities are a big thing we've dealt with all year," said first-year Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. "We had great field position in the beginning of the game, but we are not good enough to win ball games without taking advantage of those opportunities. We contained their running game for the most part, but those big runs count, and I'll have to see the film and break it down. We just didn't execute today."

OSU held only a seven-point halftime lead. But the Buckeyes made this one look easy with scoring drives of one, two, one and three plays throughout the course of the game.

Ohio State had the ball to open the game, but Pryor threw an interception in the left flat to UM’s Stevie Brown. He returned it 34 yards to the OSU 13 with 12:51 left in the first quarter.

But Michigan could not get a first down and kicker K.C. Lopata’s 35-yard field goal was wide left. Michigan’s Martavious Odoms then muffed an OSU punt, which Marcus Freeman recovered for the Buckeyes. But the Buckeyes could not cash in on that miscue.

OSU took over after a punt on its own 41 late in the first quarter. On first down there, Wells was lined up as a single back. He took a handoff and went behind right tackle Bryant Browning. Left guard Jimmy Cordle came through the hole and blocked a pair of UM defenders, springing Wells on a 59-yard touchdown run to open the scoring. He outraced UM’s Brown to the end zone to put OSU up 7-0 with 3:57 left in the first quarter.

"The offensive line did a great job of blocking,” Wells said. “It took us a while to get going. But once they got going and were moving guys out of the way, I just found the holes on ran through them. On the touchdown run, that's what happened."

The lead went to 14-0 with an eight-play, 78-yard scoring march. Pryor had an 8-yard gain and converted a third down with a 10-yard toss to tight end Jake Ballard. Finally on second-and-12 from the OSU 47, Pryor executed a play fake and threw deep down the middle to Hartline. He got behind UM’s Brown, hauled it in in stride at the 10 and rolled for the 53-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 13:10 left in the first half.

"I saw that he was running even with the defender and just threw it up to him," Pryor said. "It was perfect timing and a perfect catch."

Hartline added, “Terrelle did a great job. He hit me right in stride. It’s nice to get one of those every once in a while. It was against the wind as well and he did a great job. He hit me in stride and it was a quick score. Those kind of scores can break somebody’s back.”

Later in the half, OSU drove down to the UM 35. But on fourth-and-2 there, Pryor’s fade pass to Robiskie was incomplete. Michigan then moved 65 yards in 14 plays to a touchdown. Brandon Minor’s 33-yard run gave UM a first-and-goal at the 1. Minor punched it into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1, cutting the lead to 14-7 with 2:51 left in the half. That score stood at the half.

Robiskie said the Buckeyes did not panic during the intermission.

"I think everybody knew it was going to be a fight," he said. "We knew we weren't going to walk in here and dominate them from start to finish. It's still Ohio State-Michigan. I think we did a good job of staying calm and getting back to our game plan and what the coaches had schemed for us. We went in at halftime and did some things and came back out and played well."

OSU got the ball on its own 9 after a punt with 11:43 left in the third quarter. Wells went left and got loose for a 42-yard gain down the sideline to the UM 49. He appeared to pull up with a hamstring injury on the play. Herron then had a burst up the middle and rolled for a 49-yard TD and a 21-7 lead with 11:04 left in the third.

OSU’s fourth touchdown was set up by Ray Small’s 80-yard punt return. He picked up key blocks from Malcolm Jenkins and Thaddeus Gibson before being dragged down at the Michigan 8. On first down there, Pryor rolled right and hit a sliding Robiskie for the 8-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead with 3:54 left in the third.

"It was a naked bootleg we had called to the right and it was based on what the corner was doing," Robiskie said. "He was playing press coverage. My job was just to get him as far as I could into the end zone and work back to the front pylon. I had a play there in the corner."

The Buckeyes weren’t done as Pryor scrambled and found Dane Sanzenbacher for a 35-yard gain down to the Michigan 21. On first down there, Herron went left for an 18-yard gain. Herron punched it in from 2 yards out two plays later for the 35-7 lead with 14:52 left.

UM’s Boubacar Cissoko fumbled the unsuing kickoff and OSU’s Marcus Williams recovered it. Boeckman relieved Pryor and, on third-and-6 from the 18, he stood in and hit Hartline for an 18-yard touchdown and a 42-7 lead with 13:16 left.

“That was good, man, not just for me but also for Todd," Hartline said. "We had an in-body experience. We were thinking the same thing. It worked out. I don’t think we should expect anything else from him. I thought it was too much of an opportunity. It worked out.”

Also Notable

* The crowd total was the fourth largest in Ohio Stadium history.

* OSU’s senior class now boasts a four-year record of 43-7, four Big Ten titles, four wins over Michigan and at least three BCS bowl appearances (including two national title game appearances). They have tied the most wins by an OSU senior class at 43, set by the groups from 1995-98 and 2002-05. They can set a new four-year wins record with a win in the bowl game.

* Rodriguez became just the second first-year Michigan coach to lose his debut against Ohio State, joining Harry Kipke in 1929. Rookie UM head coaches are 10-2-1 against Ohio State in their first year on the job.

physical throughout the game," Rodriguez said of his first taste of the OSU-Michigan rivalry. "It had the hitting and all the emotions you expect coming into a game like this."

* Rodriguez is now 12-15 in his career against ranked opponents. That includes a 1-2 record this year (win over No. 9 Wisconsin, loss to No. 3 Penn State).

* The Buckeyes picked up a fifth consecutive win in this series for the first time ever. Besides the last four years, Ohio State had twice before won four straight in the series. Those wins came in 1934-37 and 1960-63.

* The victory gave Ohio State a fourth straight home win in the series for the first time since winning four straight between 1968-74.

* Ohio State secured a share of a fourth straight Big Ten championship. That is the school’s longest conference championship streak since it won a conference-record six titles in a row between 1972-77. Michigan won five straight titles between 1988-92. Four different Michigan teams won four straight titles.

Ohio State claimed it 33rd Big Ten title. Only Michigan – with 42 conference championships – has more than OSU. Penn State won its third Big Ten title and first since 2005 with its 49-18 trouncing of Michigan State.

* The last time either OSU or Michigan didn’t go to a bowl was 1999, when OSU lost to Michigan 24-17 to finish the year 6-6. (At that time, college teams had to have a winning record to go to a bowl.)

* The last time one team in the rivalry came in with a losing record was OSU in 1988. The Buckeyes came in 4-5-1 and lost 34-31 at home. The last time Michigan came in with a losing record was 1967. They were 4-5 coming in and lost 24-14 at home.

* Since the game was moved to the end of the season in 1935, this was the 45th time it has a “major impact” on the final Big Ten standings where one or both teams had a chance to win the Big Ten title going into the game.

* Michigan still holds the all-time series lead at 57-42-6, including 27-23-2 in Columbus. OSU now leads the series 22-21-1 all-time in Ohio Stadium, where OSU has played since 1922. OSU leads 7-3 in the last 10 meetings and 30-26-2 in the games played since Woody Hayes arrived at OSU in 1951.

* The win improved Tressel's record with the Buckeyes to 83-18 (.822) and his career record to 218-75-2 (.742). Tressel's 218 wins rank as the third-most among active FBS coaches, just ahead of Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer and behind Penn State's Joe Paterno and Florida State's Bobby Bowden.

* The 35-point margin ranks as the third-largest margin for an Ohio State win against the Wolverines. Ohio State had a 38-point margin over Michigan in the 1935 win and won by 36 in 1968.

* Wells passed Keith Byars (3,200 between 1982-85) for fourth on Ohio State's all-time rushing charts with 3,276 total rushing yards. This season, Wells has passed Byars, Pepe Pearson, Carlos Snow, Michael Wiley, Antonio Pittman, Raymont Harris, and Calvin Murray on the all-time list. 

Wells' performance Saturday also marked his seventh 100-yard game of 2008 and 16th of his career.

For the year, he now has 1,092 yards and eight touchdowns.

* Ohio State's defense registered three sacks for 22 yards: Cameron Heyward had one for eight yards, Dexter Larimore recorded one for 10 yards and Laurinaitis one for four yards.