Tressel delivers another win against Michigan

The Buckeyes head coach improved to 4-1 against their archrivals.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Ohio State hired Jim Tressel to win, especially against Michigan.
He certainly has delivered.
The Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 25-21 Saturday, giving Tressel a 4-1 record in the storied rivalry.
Francis Schmidt was the last Ohio State coach to win four of his first five against the Wolverines, pulling it off in the 1930s.
Tressel, who led Ohio State to the national championship three years ago, is 49-13 since leaving Youngstown State to lead the Buckeyes in 2001.
Doubled Cooper's total
In five years, Tressel has twice as many wins as John Cooper (2-10-1) did in 13 years against Michigan.
"He does a great job of stressing the importance of this game," linebacker A.J. Hawk said. "He's been an Ohio guy his whole life, he understands."
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr does too, saying he never stops thinking about the Buckeyes.
Carr dropped to 6-5 against Ohio State and 1-4 against Tressel.
When Carr was asked ahead of Saturday's game whether those who point out his record against Tressel should also note his overall mark in the series, he sidestepped the question by saying the next game was the most important thing.
Well, Carr has a long wait -- until Nov. 18, 2006 -- for his next chance to improve his mark against Tressel.
The Buckeyes will have to wait until Dec. 4, when the final Bowl Championship Series rankings are released, to find out where their season will end.
Ohio State (9-2, 7-1 Big Ten) shared the conference championship with Penn State. But the Nittany Lions will earn the automatic BCS bid because they beat the Buckeyes, who are ranked No. 7 in this week's Associated Press poll.
Should get good bowl
Ohio State has won six straight games since its 17-10 loss at Penn State on Oct. 8. That streak, along with their loyal following, could earn them an at-large bid in the BCS.
Running back Antonio Pittman, who scored Saturday's game-winning touchdown with 24 seconds left, said any BCS game would be just fine, adding he just didn't want a return trip to the Alamo Bowl.
Michigan (7-4, 5-3) could see its nine-year streak of playing in January bowls come to an end. The Wolverines fell to No. 22 in the rankings after losing for the first time in five games.
"Last year, we lost to Ohio State and in our bowl game and that's something I never want to go through again," quarterback Chad Henne said. "We're going to put all our effort and focus into the bowl game."
The Wolverines concentrated last offseason on slowing down mobile quarterbacks and they did a much better job until they failed to corral Troy Smith -- again.
"In the end, Troy Smith made too many plays," Carr said.
Smith threw for a career-high 300 yards and a TD and scored once on the ground, a year after accounting for almost 400 yards and three TDs in a victory over Michigan.
The elusive quarterback with an accurate arm deflected credit to his offensive line after his latest spectacular performance against the Wolverines.
"Without those guys, this couldn't happen," Smith said.
Tressel didn't think his team could win the way it did.
The Buckeyes lost two fumbles, both of which led to scores, and didn't force a turnover.
"I told the team that they ruined one of my truisms," he said. "I didn't think you could win this game if you turned it over."
Ohio State lost one of its standout linebackers, Bobby Carpenter, who broke his right ankle on Michigan's first drive.
"You hate to lose one of your leaders and playmakers, but our guys kept playing," Tressel said.