Following the season, starters A. J. Hawk, Donte Whitner, Bobby Carpenter, Santonio Holmes, Nick Mangold (all first round), Ashton Youboty, Anthony Schlegel, Nate Salley, and Rob Sims, were drafted into the NFL.

On August 9, 2006, the OSU Athletic Department announced the season-long suspension of junior tight end Marcel Frost by Coach Tressel for unspecified violations of team rules.

[6] The suspension resulted in the elevation of sophomore Rory Nicol to the top of the depth chart as the only tight end with significant game experience.

[7] These scholarships were freed due to the departures of Sirjo Welch (grades), Chad Hoobler (transferred to Ashland), Devon Jordan (injuries) and the aforementioned Marcel Frost.

Quarterback Troy Smith, well protected by the Buckeye offensive line, threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, directing a 10-play 72-yard drive in the fourth quarter that took 5:47 off the clock and secured the win.

However, despite allowing a number of long gains on broken plays, Ohio State effectively stopped UC's offense after the scoring drive, accumulating eight sacks, three interceptions, and holding the Bearcats to 212 total yards and −4 rushing.

Ohio State, after kicking a field goal on its opening series, trailed most of the first half until an 80-yard drive midway through the 2nd quarter ended in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Troy Smith to Ted Ginn on a crossing pattern with three minutes remaining.

The 1st quarter ended scoreless as James Laurinaitis grabbed his third interception of the season to stop a PSU drive but the Buckeyes squandered the opportunity with a missed field goal by Aaron Pettrey.

The Buckeyes held at the 3, but committed a penalty on a missed field goal attempt, giving the Nittany Lions a second chance on an untimed down.

Buckeye defensive backs Malcolm Jenkins and Antonio Smith each scored on long interception returns a minute and fourteen seconds apart to complete the victory.

Antonio Pittman scored a touchdown for the ninth game in a row and Ohio State won its eleventh straight, which, with TCU’s loss to BYU on September 28, becomes the longest active win streak in Division I-A.

Leading 21–10 at halftime, the Buckeyes scored on the first possession of the second half, ending with a spectacular catch-and-run touchdown by Anthony Gonzalez from the Iowa 30 in which he cut back, balancing on one hand, and maneuvered through tacklers on the sideline.

Ohio State stopped Iowa on three-and-out after the opening kickoff, then drove the field on its first possession to lead 7–0 and quiet a record Kinnick Stadium crowd overwhelmingly dressed in gold.

Iowa scored quickly at the start of the 4th quarter to narrow a three-touchdown deficit to 14 points, but Ohio State responded with a pair of interceptions of Drew Tate that put the game away.

Although a deep Buckeye defense adjusted well, starting freshman safety Anderson Russell suffered a season-ending knee injury on kickoff coverage in the 1st quarter.

Backup defensive back Andre Amos also made an interception late in the game on a 4th down play that replay officials bizarrely chose to review and reverse, even though the ball was Ohio State's either way and no one had challenged the ruling.

Ohio State controlled the game with defense in the second half, although offensively the 3rd quarter was highlighted by back-to-back end-arounds by Gonzalez and Ginn, gaining 41 yards.

In an early struggle for field position, Indiana pinned the Buckeyes inside their own 10 and forced a punt to midfield which was returned to the Ohio State 15.

After Curtis Terry recovered an Illinois fumble, Ohio State then drove 38 yards for its second touchdown, a short rush by Antonio Pittman.

Freshman receiver Brian Hartline caught two of Smith's touchdown passes; the other two went to Anthony Gonzalez and Ted Ginn Jr. Halfback Antonio Pittman had 80 yards on the ground.

(The others were Indiana's Anthony Thompson (1989), Michigan's Desmond Howard (1991), Wisconsin's Ron Dayne (1999), Purdue's Drew Brees (2000) and Kyle Orton (2004), and Penn State's Larry Johnson (2002).)

Ohio State immediately replied, however, tying the score when Smith hooked up with senior wideout Roy Hall for a 1-yard touchdown pass.

After a Wolverine punt, Smith used a superb play action fake on a 2nd and short to hit Ted Ginn Jr. in the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown pass.

The Buckeyes patiently drove the length of the field in the final two minutes of the half, and Smith completed his third touchdown pass, finding Anthony Gonzalez for the score.

With seconds left in the quarter, a bad snap by injured captain and center Doug Datish in the shotgun caused the ball to go over Smith's head for a fumble recovered by Michigan at the Ohio State 9.

Sophomore wide receiver Brian Robiskie, who had made a key long gain in the 2nd quarter, then agilely kept his balance in the front corner of the end zone for Smith's fourth touchdown pass—a thirteen yarder—with only 5:38 remaining.

Overall, Ohio State riddled the highly touted Wolverine defense for 503 total yards (187 on the ground), and against its top-ranked third-down average (25%), converted six out of eleven (54.5%).

With Ohio State securing a spot in the BCS National Championship game at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, they faced the Florida Gators.

Florida defeated Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game 38–28 to secure the number two position in the final BCS standings over the Michigan Wolverines, and finished the regular season at 12–1.

Source: Athletic Department official site, 2006 football archive 12-10-06 depth chart Quarterbacks Running backs Fullbacks Wide receivers Tight ends Offensive line Senior Defensive line Linebackers Defensive backs Punters Kickers Long snappers Underscoring indicates first on depth chart Source:[13]