The Ohio State Buckeyes extended their win streak under Urban Meyer – already the longest in the nation – to 17 games Saturday night. Riding a four touchdown performance from quarterback Braxton Miller, the Buckeyes outlasted a tenacious Wisconsin Badger team that just wouldn’t go away.
Helping Miller, “Philly” Brown hauled in eight catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Carlos Hyde slashed 85 yards on 17 carries and Bradley Roby added an interception to the mix.
Still, Wisconsin made the Buckeyes earn everything they got. The Badgers played tough and hung around. When it finally came to crunch time, Stave connected time and again with Jared Abbrederis, chipping the ball down the field. A field goal with just over two minutes left in the game pulled the Badgers within a touchdown. Things got really interesting, to say the least.
There’s a legitimate argument to be made that Wisconsin is the best two-loss team in the nation. It’s no secret that I hate the term “best” when talking about something as fluid and unpredictable as sports, but in this instance I think it fits. The Badgers are tough, balanced and have enough weapons to be dangerous to anyone at any time.
However, the Buckeyes are eying a shot at a National Title. Can they make an argument that skimming by Wisconsin at home is good enough in a much-maligned conference to deserve a shot at the title? That’s a question the Buckeyes are going to have to answer with vigor all season long.
No.1 Alabama continues to roll over everyone in their way, getting their only real test in a road match against No.9 Texas A&M. No.2 Oregon is still blowing everyone else out of the water with their high-power offense. No.3 Stanford had a nice 14-point win over No.22 Arizona State a couple of weeks ago and blew Washington State out of the water.
Who has Ohio State beaten that stands out as a BCS caliber win? Only Wisconsin remotely fits that bill so far. The question pollsters will be asking is whether or not that’s enough to move the Buckeyes up the chart.
For the time being, they hold the title of being the most successful team in the nation over the last season and a half. They’ll have a lot more work to do to prove they’re the “best” team in the nation.
Elsewhere Around the B1G
Ilinois got back on the right side of things with a 50-14 thumping of Miami (OH). I’m still struggling to figure out just how good this team is and I don’t think I’m alone. Nathan Scheelhaase’s 5TD performance was impressive, as was Donovonn Young’s 80 yard day on just 11 carries.
However, this was Miami of Ohio. This same Illini team lost two weeks ago to No.15 Washington 34-24. We’ll learn a little more next week when they travel to Lincoln to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Purdue took quite a beating at the hands of Northern Illinois (55-24). I would be tempted to say not to read too much into that loss. After all, Purdue isn’t the first team in the Big Ten to lose to the Huskies this season. Iowa dropped to them in the opening week 30-27.
However, it isn’t just the fact that the Boilermakers lost to a decent MAC team. It’s also that they were clobbered by Cincinnati 42-7 in the opening week, that they were unimpressive in a narrow win against Indiana State in week 2 and that they were clobbered by said MAC team. To date, the Boilers are just 1-3 on the season and could conceivably have seen their only win of the year already.
They’re last in the conference in scoring offense, scoring defense and total offense. They’re next-to-last in turnover margin. Things are looking decidedly glum in West Lafayette.
Speaking of Iowa, don’t look now but the Hawkeyes are quietly turning into a pretty decent football team. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a lot of improvement that needs to happen. Still, the Hawkeyes followed up their 59-3 drubbing of Western Michigan last week by dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and handing previously undefeated Minnesota a 23-7 loss.
QB Jake Rudock is showing a lot of poise for a sophomore, RB/FB Mark Weisman is a battering back that is somewhat reminiscent of Shonn Greene and the defense is getting stouter with every snap. OC Greg Davis is getting a better handle on how to mesh his style with that of head coach Kirk Ferentz and the team is slowly coming together.
Most picked the Hawkeyes to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten barrel this season. Don’t be surprised if you see them bowling in late December. How they handle the next four games (vs. Michigan State, at Ohio State, vs. Northwestern and vs. Wisconsin) will determine their entire season. If they completely collapse, look for no more than six wins this season. If they can get by the Spartans and pull out an upset somewhere in the next three, then Iowa could see as many as eight wins on the year.
The rest of the Big Ten was on break this week.
Around the Nation
Lane Kiffin is out at Southern California and Ed Orgeron will take his place in the interim. I’m not a fan of firing coaches mid-season, but I’m not really surprised it happened. Kiffin’s crew is just 3-2 this year, 0-2 in the Pac-12. Their losses have come to No.22 Arizona State and Washington State.
You have to admit one thing with Kiffin: he walked into a hornets nest. USC is still dealing with NCAA sanctions that stem back to the Pete Carroll era. He was handicapped in recruiting and was tasked with picking up one of the most high profile programs in college football. It wasn’t an easy situation to walk into.
Still, you don’t start your season 0-2 in conference play when you’re USC. You don’t hold a mediocre 3-2 record when you’re at the helm of a program like the Trojans have. He didn’t get it done, plain and simple. He’s had nearly a full recruiting cycle to turn things around and make the Trojans a national force. He failed.
What on earth happened to No.21 Oklahoma State?! It seemed that everything that could go wrong did as they dropped 21-30 to West Virginia.
While I give due credit to Central Florida (UCF), I wasn’t that impressed with No.13 South Carolina’s 28-25 skim by the Knights. UCF may well be ranked before this season is over, but the No.13 team in the country, looking to make waves in a competitive SEC needs more of a statement than 28-25 against an unranked team from the AAC.
Then again, South Carolina has made a habit of not impressing me throughout the regular season, only to put together very good records.
LSU took a major step back in their National Title hopes after dropping to Georgia 41-44. There’s no shame in losing to a very good Bulldog team, but anyone thinking the Tigers might be one of the few teams able to challenge Alabama for the crystal football might need to think again. Their road just got a lot tougher, while Georgia now becomes the new favorite to challenge ‘Bama for the SEC crown, among other things.
Speaking of the SEC, welcome back to reality Ole Miss. This program is still on the right path and working their way up the ladder, but their 25-0 loss to No.1 Alabama should bring things back down to earth a little. The Rebels are good and definitely getting better, but they’re not elite yet.
How exciting is the showdown between Oregon and Stanford on November 7 shaping up to be? The Ducks keep embarrassing everyone they face while the Cardinal keep dominating their opponents. While Oregon does have to face Washington in October, and Stanford gets the Huskies this week, it could shape up to be a battle of undefeated teams fighting for Pac-12 supremacy and a shot at a spot in the National Title Bowl.
Final Thoughts
We’re head-long into the season of upsets and heartbreaks. Keep an eye on Utah hosting No.12 UCLA, No.25 Maryland at No.8 Florida State, No.16 Northwestern hosting No.4 Ohio State and No.15 Washington at No.5 Stanford. Somewhere in there, I have a feeling tears are going to fall.
Picking the Big Ten this week:
Indiana uses home field advantage to shock Penn State 28-24.
Iowa rides their recent momentum to victory at home in a slobberknocker over Michigan State 23-21. By the way, this one will be ugly with a capital G, but will also be a showcase of good, ol’ school football.
Illinois sends a message by knocking off Nebraska in Lincoln 31-21.
Minnesota is no match for No.19 Michigan. The Wolverines roll to a big win in the Big House 35-10.
Finally, Pat Fitzgerald’s Wildcats put up a good show, but can’t keep pace with Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes. No.4 Ohio State takes No.16 Northwestern down a notch with a 35-17 win.
Until next time, Happy Bowl Hunting!
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