6:00 p.m. EST

	Jessica Peden (top left) broke her finger playing flag football. Like every other bar in Columbus, Four Kegs was packed to the brim during The Game. Cory McCartney/SI
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Like every bar near the Ohio State campus, Four Kegs is filled wall-to-wall with people. But while the Buckeyes are denying the Wolverines on fourth down late in the third quarter, Jessica Peden is giving me the finger -- at least the story on her broken one.

The result of a game of two-hand touch gone bad, Peden's right hand is bandaged up, but she and friend Alexis Piscazi don't let it bother their consumption ... err celebration with Ohio State leading 35-24.

While the bar area of Four Kegs is shoulder-to-shoulder, its outside tent, which features two big screen televisions, is even more crowded. Massive crowds bask in the glow of The Game. As Ohio State fan Josh Cramer notes: "It's like a big living room."

Every bar on High Street is filled to capacity; from Larry's to Eddie George's Bar and Grille, a bouncer said it's the craziest atmosphere the campus has seen since the 2002 Ohio State-Michigan game.

Notes and observations heading into the fourth quarter:

• With Ohio State leading, you have to wonder: Is this a good or bad omen for people anywhere in the vicinity of campus?

• WIth Ohio State's reputation for a raucous post-game atmosphere, Michigan decided to bring its own campus police, even offering the cell phone number of their force to any UM fan who may need assistance. It was highly debated, but one UM fan seemed in favor.

"If anyone's going to arrest my a**, it's going to be my own police," he said. I did witness one Michigan fan being arrested and it wasn't the UM force doing it.

The Columbus Police Department isn't taking any chances either, bringing 2/3 of its officers to the campus area.

• With Michigan leading 7-0 early in the first, a Wolverines fan was running down Lane Avenue, just outside of the Horseshoe, trying to attract high fives from OSU fans while chanting: "Go Blue. Go Blue. It's already 7-0."

He didn't have any takers.

• Believe it or not, Zubaz pants are still in existence. An Ohio State fan was wearing scarlet, gray and white versions.

• Outside the Varsity Club, a gyro vender's main form of advertising is a sign with the silhouette of a woman that says: "Our gyros are better than sex."

No wonder the line was so long.

• Chris Wells' touchdown run, the longest given up by Michigan's stout run defense this year, gained the biggest cheer from the Ohio State crowd I was with.

"That's our freshman," an OSU fan yelled. "That's our freshman."

• You can't even escape the frenzy at Barnes & Noble. The bookstore's coffee shop has become a defacto sportsbar, complete with its own security.

• While the pregame mood seemed somber with the passing of Bo Schembechler, Michigan fans Joe and Fred Saffold said it was short-lived.

"It may have calmed down, but now it's worse," Joe Saffold said. "We've been hearing jokes about Bo."

Another Michigan fan noted, "What do you expect. We're at the zoo."

At a tailgate showing the game, I came across a lone Michigan fan, Steve Pennington of Ann Arbor, who stood by himself, quarantined like the victim of some infectious disease. But this is Columbus and he is wearing maize and blue.

"I feel a little out of place," he said. "I've heard a lot of f--- yous and a lot of boos. Yeah, I feel more than a little out of place."

He did have one thing going for him: he was with the Tresselettes (three ladies dressed as Ohio State's head man). "That's my only saving grace," Pennington said.