All Ohio State has to do is win its last two games.
With the Buckeyes 10-6 win over the Purdue Boilermakers Saturday coupled with an Oklahoma loss to Texas A&M, OSU moved in to the No. 2 spot in both the Associated Press and coaches' polls behind undefeated Miami.
The win also put OSU into the No. 1 spot in the Bowl Championship Series. This is the first time since 1998 that the Buckeyes held the No. 1 spot in the BCS. If the Buckeyes beat Illinois next week and Michigan the week after, they will hold one of the top two spots in the BCS and the right to go to Tempe, Ariz. for the national championship game.
"I am proud of what this team has accomplished so far this year," said OSUfootball coach Jim Tressel. "We have won a number of tough football games. This week, we have another very difficult challenge at Illinois. That is where our focus is."
Trailing Purdue 3-6 late in the fourth quarter, Tressel used unconventional Buckeye play-calling to secure the 11-0 season and a possible berth to the Fiesta Bowl.
On fourth and one, OSU quarterback junior Craig Krenzel took the snap and threw a 37-yard bomb to junior wide receiver Michael Jenkins, who had beaten Purdue cornerback Antwan Rogers for the game-winning touchdown.
"It was fourth and one, and I think they thought we were going to run the ball and try to get the first down and keep the ball moving," Krenzel said.
The drive that provided that game-winning touchdown began at the Purdue 46 and after a sack by Boilermaker Vedran Dzolovic for a four-yard loss and an incomplete pass to junior tight end Ben Hartsock; the Buckeyes were looking at third and fourteen from midfield. Then Krenzel threw a 13-yard pass to Hartsock along the left sideline to set up the fourth and one.
Although OSU had two time outs remaining, the coaches decided against using one and quickly called in the pass play.
"Sometimes when you give us coaches a chance to think we foul things up. So, I'm not sure we would have called anything different," Tressel said.
