The fall of Troy

It's not the end of the world or the end of Buckeye football. It just seems that way.

The Buckeyes were manhandled 41-14 by second-ranked Florida on Monday night in the BCS National Championship Game before millions of viewers around the world.

It was Ohio State's worst defeat in a dozen years. The Buckeyes came in averaging 410 yards a game but were limited to 82 -- almost half the worst previous total by a team in a BCS championship game.

After Ted Ginn Jr.'s 93-yard kickoff return to open the game, the Buckeyes (12-1) went flatter than one of the runways at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

"Is that because we weren't as hungry?" coach Jim Tressel asked. "I don't know for sure if that's the case. I guess that's the coach's responsibility to create the appetite."