ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Ticker) -- Hold all those complaints about Ohio State playing for a second straight national title. Michigan made it a moot point.
Chris Perry ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns and John Navarre threw a pair of touchdown passes to Braylon Edwards as fifth-ranked Michigan clinched the Big Ten Conference title with a 35-21 victory over the fourth-ranked Buckeyes in the 100th meeting between the storied rivals.
The Buckeyes (10-2, 6-2) rose to second in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings thus week, leaving the Buckeyes as a front-runner to land a Sugar Bowl berth and starting the latest round of criticism about the BCS system. But Saturday's loss dropped Ohio State out of the picture and the biggest beneficiary figures to be second-ranked Southern California, which was second in the BCS before being passed.
"We did not do the things necessary to be a champion, so we tip our hats to Michigan," said Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel, who lost to the Wolverines for the first time in three meetings.
The Wolverines (10-2, 7-1) jumped to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter and held off a late Buckeye rally to clinch at least their first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1997.
The game attracted 112,118, the largest crowd in college football history, and Perry made the most of the spotlight as he shredded a defense ranked first in the nation against the run. He scored on a 30-yard touchdown run on the opening possession of the first half to make it 28-7. After the Buckeyes cut the lead to 28-21 early in the fourth quarter, Perry went around the left side for a 15-yard score that gave the Wolverines some valuable breathing room.
"Chris Perry was sensational today," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "He's an All-American. There is not a better back than he is."
The Wolverines overcame a huge game from Santonio Holmes, who caught TD passes of eight and 13 yards from Craig Krenzel, and had a 40-yard reception to set up a two-yard TD run by Lydell Ross. Holmes had eight catches for 121 yards, but it was not enough to make up for Perry's big day.
"They outslugged us at the end," Ohio State offensive tackle Shane Olivea said.
Navarre, often the target of boos in his tenure, won for the first time in three starts against the Buckeyes, completing 21-of-32 passes for 278 yards, including TD passes of 64 and 23 yards to Edwards in the second quarter.
"It's a dream come true," Navarre said. "We stubbed our toe early in the season a couple of times, but we always kept up hope. It's great to go to the Rose Bowl. That will be the culmination of a great season, ending it in a traditional way for the Big Ten champion."
Navarre had another long TD pass to Edwards in the third quarter called back by a penalty.
Krenzel completed 20-of-33 passes for 221 yards and left briefly with a shoulder injury suffered in the third quarter. Scott McMullen took over and was 8-of-13 for 108 yards.
