Hey there Buckeye faithful.  I’m back with another installment of winning performances.  For those who missed it last week, a “winning performance” is a measurable that I believe will lead to a Buckeyes win this week and toward future wins.

1.     Return of Hall, Williams

Jordan Hall is set to return to action this week and his return could not have come at a better time for the Buckeyes as they will be without Carlos Hyde.  How much of a load Hall can handle is yet to be determined, but his return should give the Buckeyes a change of pace to the other bigger backs on the roster.  Having your top playmaker back is never a bad thing.  With his workload in question, it is hard to put a number to a measurable winning performance, so I’m going to set a winning performance from Hall as 12 touches.

Also, expected to return to action this week is Nate Williams.  Williams played more in the opener than was expected and his resulting soreness delayed his return to action.  In his only game, Williams just missed on a sack against Miami, so a winning performance by Williams would be at least one sack and two TFLs this week.

2.     1st Down Conversion on Short Yardage

In the first two weeks, the Buckeyes offense has had difficulty converting short yardage situations into first downs.  Against Miami, Carlos Hyde was stuffed on a touchdown run from the one yard line and last week the Buckeyes missed on two other short yardage tries against UCF.  However, Urban said the gameplan adapted and, on the third short yardage try last week, the power off tackle to the right side was changed to an inside zone, which was successful.

The Buckeyes offensive line needs to improve as Cal and UAB are the only opponents left before the Buckeyes head up to East Lansing to face what some consider the best defensive line in the Big Ten.  Quite simply, when the Buckeyes need one yard, there cannot be any question in their ability to impose their will and pick it up.  While I am optimistic when I hope that a fourth and short situation does not present itself, I am looking for the Buckeyes to convert any and all of those opportunities that occur this week.  Winning football teams get the needed yard and it is demoralizing to the other team – that is what the Buckeyes need to become.

3.     100 Yards Receiving, 80 Yards Rushing by RB

Last week I set my winning performances for any player who finished the game with 100 yards receiving or any running back who ran for 100 yards.  And Braxton added another Buckeye leaf or two as he made UCF look “very foolish.”  Miller aside, none of the Buckeyes came close to meeting either of my winning performance marks as Devin Smith led all receivers with 57 receiving yards and Philly Brown totaled 33 rushing yards, which was the most behind Braxton.  Following Philly, Dunn led the running backs with 29 yards.

Despite the lack of production aside from Braxton, there is reason to be optimistic that a Buckeyes receiver will gain 100 yards receiving this week as, through two games, including the likes of Nevada Wolf Pack and Southern Utah Thunderbirds, the Bears passing defense has allowed a 72.73% passing completion average, 522 total passing yards, and four total passing TDs.  So again, a winning performance is any player who is able to gain 100 yards receiving.

This week, the running game is likely to feature a multifaceted attack with carries spread between Hall, Dunn, Smith, Boren, Miller, and Philly, so gaining 100 yards by any one running back may be difficult.  With my expectation that the number of opportunities will be numbered, any Buckeyes running back to gain over 80 yards on the ground will be a winning performance.

4.     Mistake free

Last week’s offense included a number of miscues by Buckeyes offensive lineman, wide receivers, and running backs, leaving Braxton with no other option than to pick up the slack and take off for whatever yards he could gain.  Although the plays were not nearly as bad as they could have been because of Braxton’s athleticism, the offense looked sloppy and the mistakes will yield worse results against better competition.

Adding to the broken plays, the Buckeyes had 10 penalties for 79 yards, two fumbles, and one interception at home in a stadium that was so quiet that when the Buckeyes offense was on the field, Braxton’s clapping for the snap count could be easily heard.  The environment won’t get friendlier and the mistakes need to be eliminated.

It goes without saying, but given the Buckeyes performance it must be said, that the goal is to not have any turnovers in the game, but I’m also hoping that the Buckeyes offense will look more polished eliminating penalties (although I think 3 penalties is more reasonable).

5.     Roby v. Allen

One of the biggest on the field matchups to watch this Saturday is shutdown corner Bradley Roby v. Cal receiver Keenan Allen.  Allen ranked 10^th in FBS last year in receiving yards per game and Roby will have his hands full as Cal will undoubtedly test Ohio State’s 96^th ranked pass defense which is currently allowing 281 yard per game.  A winning performance by Roby will be to hold Allen under 50 yards receiving.   For the Buckeyes secondary, a winning performance will be to hold Cal under 200 yards passing.

6.     Pressure and Disruption

For all of the hype for our defensive line coming into the season, it is among the least productive.  Currently we are 77^th in sacks with three through two games and 119^th out of 120 in tackles for loss with a measly five.

Plain and simple … if the sacks and tackles for loss are not doubled by the end of the game, then it is not a winning performance by the Buckeyes.

7.     Atonement for the Big Ten against the Pac 12

Last week was a rough one for the Big Ten, including losses by Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Illinois to Pac 12 squads.  As it often falls on the Buckeyes shoulders, we have an opportunity to save face for the league.  A loss would be catastrophic.

What would grade out as a winning performance for you?

Urban Meyer’s no-huddle, spread offense works best with a rhythm and tempo that keeps the opposing defense off-balance and does not allow them to line-up quickly or substitute. For example, when Braxton Miller runs the ball and gets tackled, he quickly gives the ball to a referee to spot the ball quickly so they can get back on the line and run another play.

The best example to counter the spread as a defense occurred on November 13, 2010 in Berkeley, California. The number one team in the country at the time, Oregon, whose offensive philosophy is similar to that of Urban Meyer’s, was completely shut down that night. The Golden Bears held Oregon to 15 points, their lowest total in the regular season by over three touchdowns.

Cal took the Ducks out of their fast-paced offense by getting up slowly after making tackles and faking injuries to use injury timeouts. Looking back on that game, Cal did make plays (limiting LaMichael James to 91 yards on 29 carries) but Oregon was very lucky to get out of Berkeley with a win to later advance to the BCS National Championship.

After, head coach Jeff Tedford vehemently denied that his players faked injury throughout the game even though it was clear on the broadcast that they did. But, defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi was suspended for their final game of the season due to telling his players to fake injuries during that game to slow down the Ducks high octane offense.

Now, with Cal coming into the ‘Shoe on Saturday  with a 1-1 record, followed by a game with in state rival USC the week after, do not be surprised to see their defense use similar tactics to slow down Braxton Miller and the Buckeyes no- huddle offense. As we have seen in the past two games, when the offense has little to no tempo, it goes nowhere. But, when the no-huddle gets rolling, it is very difficult to stop.

On offense, look for senior quarterback Zach Maynard to take a lot of time off the play clock and control time of possession. Maynard does have issues with the coaching staff though, as he was suspended for the first quarter of the Nevada game and got into it with his offensive coordinator against Southern Utah after missing his wide open fullback in the flat for what would have been a touchdown.

Although Maynard completes 64% of his passes, he is not very accurate when passing to running backs out of the backfield and makes easy throws seem very difficult for some reason.  Maynard looks for freshman wide receiver Chris Harper in the slot on bubble screens on first and second down and he is good after the catch. They use the screen game instead of running the ball and are about 60/40 pass to run.

Keenan Allen is the man that needs to be accounted for on offense for the Golden Bears. He is one of the best receivers in the country and he is the best receiver that Ohio State will play all season. Allen is big and can run any route; he is also a great punt returner. Maynard looks for him on 3^rd and long situations when a big play is needed.

The Buckeyes need a big game out of Bradley Roby and Travis Howard to slow down the Golden Bears receivers. There has been communications issues in the secondary through the first two games but have not had to pay for it; Allen and Harper will take advantage of that if the Buckeyes do not clean up the communication issues in the secondary.

With Jordan Hall on his way back, but not at %100 percent, it will be important to run a balanced offense to take some pressure off of Miller. If the offense can keep up the tempo and run the no huddle to perfection without any Cal defensive players faking injuries and slowing down their pace, the Bucks will make them pay.

Look for Ohio State to make a statement on Saturday, as this is their last real test before they visit East Lansing in two weeks. Some players on Cal have maturity issues and if the Buckeyes can start strong, Cal will fold.

Make them get up. If Urban feels it’s necessary, he will run the score up.

THE B?G TEN

As I predicted last week right here in front of all six of you, the Big Ten laid a serious egg this weekend and convinced me that it’s just as well that OSU can’t play in the postseason because there’s no way this conference is putting a team in the title game anyway. Let’s take a look at just how horrible our league is right now and what’s in store for us this weekend, if we can stand to watch:

Wisconsin: The Badgers were probably most people’s pre-season favorite to repeat as conference champs with both of the other good teams in the Leaders division ineligible for the title. Then they went and barely beat something called Northern Iowa, which I imagine is similar to North Korea but with corn and soybeans instead of thinly-veiled nuclear proliferation. That red flag manifested itself on Saturday against Oregon State, a team that probably isn’t even going to have a winning record this year. Wisconsin failed to score for the first 58:19 of the game and then had what appeared to be a successful onside kick called back after finally getting one those “touched downs” of their very own. So, yeah, go ahead and say the Badgers got screwed, but we both know they weren’t going to score anyway.

This week, Wisconsin hosts Utah State, fresh off of an upset of in-state rival Utah, a Pac-12 team that’s better than Oregon State. Since the transitive property is never wrong in college football, this means Wisconsin will lose to the Aggies by two touchdowns, so 14-0 probably.

Michigan State: The Spartans are going to win the Big Ten and it’s probably even going to be close. But first they have to lose to Notre Dame. They will do this with a late pick-six on what should have been a drive to set up the game-winning field goal.

Michigan: Michigan is back, or so I’ve been told, but it seems that wherever they went, they learned a few things there. A week after being treated like a MAC team by Alabama, the Wolverines almost fell victim to Air Force’s version of that nasty service academy option attack. This means that Michigan is a laughably bad team and there is nothing anyone can say to disprove that. I know this from my own experience with Michigan fans following the Ohio State/Navy game in 2009.

This week Michigan plays UMass, which is a school with a football team and not a Catholic social networking site like I thought. Thanks, Google!

Nebraska: I was so fooled by the Cornhuskers beatdown of Southern Miss in week one that I didn’t even include their game against UCLA in my doomsday prediciton. Oops. This week they play Arkansas State and should probably win by 30. They won’t though. They’ll probably lose.

Iowa: Iowa lost 9-6 to Iowa State in THE GAME OF THE CENTURY!!!!!! RE-MATCH! RE-MATCH! RE-MATCH!

This week they play Northern Iowa, that team from earlier who almost beat Wisconsin. Poor, poor Iowa.

Penn State: Despite all their sanctions, I honestly believed that PSU would still be a decent team this year. Well, forget it. They’re terrible and they deserve it. Make no mistake about it, they lost to Virginia because of Jerry Sandusky. When Texas took advantage of the open-season on PSU players and snagged their kicker, they also snagged a W. His replacement missed on 13 points’ worth of kicks in the 17-16 loss. Is it all his fault? No, not technically, but it is like 95% his fault.

Penn State loses to Navy this week.

Purdue & Illinois: With the situation in the Leaders division, you could have made an argument for one of these teams getting to the B1GCG this year, and I guess you still could. Purdue only lost to Notre Dame by 3 so maybe they’re still in it. Illinois on the other hand got totally Michiganed by Arizona State’s Alabamacity. It’s pretty embarrassing.

These two will be playing Charleston Southern and Eastern Michigan this week and it doesn’t really matter which one is which.

Northwestern, Minnesota & Indiana: These teams are a combined 6-0. Besides Ohio State and Michigan State, they are the only unbeaten teams remaining in the conference.

I know.

Indiana plays Ball State and Minnesota plays Western Michigan. I wouldn’t even know what to predict for those games at this point. Northwestern will take on Boston College, who hired Jim Bollman to coach the offensive line because nobody in Boston has ever seen football played by humans I guess.

ALSO HAPPENING

Florida @ Tennessee, if you like pretending it’s the ’90s and can’t find a 90210 marathon.

Arizona State @ Missouri sounds like something I should care about, like politics or children.

USC @ Stanford probably won’t live up to the hype.

BYU @ Utah, because the loser has to try to sell people on Mormonism for two years.

I promise you I will get better at the timing of this post especially if El Kaiser has anything to do about it. Week 3 was full of injuries and postponed games due to weather. Here goes nothing.

Jalin Marshall– His team Middletown Middies Winton Woods 51-13. Jalin had a tough day rushing 24 times for 70 yards. He also completed 4 of 7 passes for 70 yards and 1 TDs.
Eli Woodard– His team Eastern defeated Sewell 9-6. Woodard was part of a dominating defensive effort.
Cam Burrows– His team Trotwood-Madison lost to Wayne 21-14. Cam helped 1 tackle against a team that avoided him all day.
Joey Bosa– His team St. Thomas Aquinas defeated Cypress Bay 43-17. Joey did not play due to injury.
Marcus Baugh– His team John W North lost to Alemany 54-14. Marcus didnt play due to a concussion.
Evan Lisle– His team Centerville beat Withrow 27-21. As an O-lineman he didnt have any stats but he helped his team with impressive blocking all night.
Ezekiel Elliott– His team John Burroughs HS beat Priory 59-28. He scored 4 TDs in the game. Runs of 47 and 41 and 2 and 1 yard.
Billy Price– His team Austintown Fitch beat Brunswick 35-7. Billy helped to hold Brunswick to 128 yards and he had 14 total tackles.
Jayme Thompson– His team Toledo Central Catholic won 35-7 over Perrysburg. He helped hold Perrysburg to 117 yards through the air and 13 yards on the ground.
J T Barrett- His team Rider beat Ryan 21-15. JT scored a late, game-winning touchdown to snap Ryan’s 25-game win streak. He was 4-of-7 for 84 yards and a touchdown and rushed 17 times for 97 yards and a score.
Michael Hill– His team Pendleton lost to Belton-Honea Path 41-7. Their defense had a horrible game.
Taivon Jacobs– His team Suitland beat Oxon Hill 56-0. Taivon had a 50 yard catch for a TD and a 55 yard punt return for another score.
Darron Lee– His team New Albany beat DeSales 56-2. He was 3-of-5 passing for 42 yards and carried the ball five times for 23 yards and a score. He also returned a punt for a touchdown. Also starred as a Safety on defense.
Tracy Sprinkle– His team Elyria lost to Midview 37-27. Tracy had a decent game with 7 tackles and 2 TFL and 4 QB hurries and a forced fumble for a TD.
Tim Gardner– His team Lawrence Central defeated 32-23. Tim helped keep his team undefeated.
Johnny Townsend– His team Boone and their game with Timber Creek was postponed.

The player who sticks out most to me over the first 3 weeks is probably one of the least heralded member of the class. Tracy Sprinkle is putting up huge stats week after week. He has starred even when his team lost. I expect him rankings to rise significantly over the long season.

Following a game, our Buckeyes coaches grade each player’s performance.  This season, Urban has termed a winning performance a ‘championship performance.’  Those offensive players with a ‘championship performance’ last week included Braxton, Carlos Hyde, Zach Boren, Andrew Norwell, Jack Mewhort, Philly, and Devin Smith.

For Week Two, I’ll give my criteria for a “winning performance,” all of which I think will lead to a Buckeyes win this week and toward more wins later this season.  (The list is not by any means all-inclusive.)

1.          Faster Start by Buckeyes Offense

Just be honest … Even the most confident fan (raise my hand) had at least the slightest bit of doubt after watching the offense sputter in the first quarter against the Redhawks last week.  However, the commercial break came, I came back to my senses, and Braxton started the second quarter by leading a four play 63 second touchdown drive and a seven play touchdown drive in 2:22 after a three and out by the Miami offense.  All was good and the offense imposed its will on a less talented Redhawks squad for the remainder of the afternoon.

With that said, the Buckeyes are facing a different animal in UCF as the Knights have led Conference USA in defense the past three years and have been one of the top defenses in Division 1 (9^th in total D, 16^th in rushing D, and 23^rd in passing D in 2011).  While yards and first downs may be harder to come by Saturday, I’m looking forward to the Buckeyes coming out firing on all cylinders and scoring two offensive TDs in the first quarter.  Two offensive TDs in the 1st  will earn a winning performance.

2.          Delay of the arrival of the Storm both on and off the field

(Not talking about the Storm who dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent months)  After rushing for over 200 yards last week in its 56-14 drumming of the Zips, UCF brings a run heavy offense into the Shoe.    Starting for the Knights is Miami Hurricane transfer Storm Johnson after Latavius Murray suffered an injury in the win over Akron.  A winning performance will include the Buckeyes holding Storm to less than 70 yards.

I’m also hoping that Mother Nature either gets the thunderstorm or rain out of its system in advance of kickoff.

3.           Put up or shut up

While the Redhawks looked to spread out the Buckeyes defense in route to throwing 54 times, UCF is going to look to run the ball right at the Silver Bullets.  The difference in style should provide an early and often test for a relatively green, but talented, group of linebackers.  In addition, the Knights present the perfect precursor for teams like the fighting Bielemas later this season.

I’m looking forward to seeing the trio of Sabino, Shazier, and Grant keep the Knights ground game in check.  After giving up an average of 141.54 rushing yards per game last season, I would consider holding the stable of backs for the Knights under 100 total yards rushing a winning performance by our defense.  As a group, I am looking for a combined 25+ tackles by our linebackers, including at least three TFL in order to earn a winning performance (last week our starting three linebackers totaled 16 tackles, 0 TFL).

4.           Higher Completion Percentage from Miller

So, I admit it, I am a Braxton Miller defender to even the harshest critic, but I am looking for him to pick up where he left off last week.  Miller started last game 1/7 and ended it 14/24 (58%).  For those of us rusty in subtraction, that means that after the paltry start, Braxton went 13/17 (76%).

While I am not expecting Braxton to complete over 75% of his passes on a regular basis (although one can hope), I also don’t expect him to complete fewer than 60% of his passes either.   Good news for Braxton, he will face a similarly ranked defense this week as Miami (OH) was the 24^th ranked passing defense last season while UCF was 23^rd.  In his second game in the new offensive system, a winning performance from Braxton will include completing over 65% of his passes.

5.          Sacks

Last week, the Buckeyes only totaled TWO sacks (the only 2 TFL) while Miami had three sacks (7 total TFL).  The good news for Buckeyes fans is that both of the sacks came from true freshmen phenoms Noah Spence and Aldolphus Washington.  The bad news is that the Silver Bullets only had two sacks/TFL.

Not only do the Buckeyes need to limit the sacks and hits on Braxton which is almost impossible given the style of the offense, but the Silver Bullets also have to be able to create more unfavorable down and distance situations through sacks and other TFL.  As UCF was 100^th in sacks last year, allowing one sack is the goal and would qualify as a winning performance.  And as for sacks/TFL by the Buckeyes defense, three sacks and/or eight total TFL is a winning performance.

6.          100 Yards Receiving, 100 Yards Rushing by Hyde

I cannot remember the last time we had a 100 yard receiver, but I’m ready for one this week and I’m sure I am not the only one.  Philly came close last week when he finished with seven receptions for 87 yards and a TD.  Here’s hoping Philly or Stoney break the century mark for receiving yard this Saturday.  A winning performance goes to any wr/te who totals 100 or more yards receiving this week.

Ok, ok.  I know that Braxton ran for over 100 rushing yards last week and you can call me greedy, but I want over 100 yards from a running back and not #5.  While I get as excited as any Buckeyes fan when I see Braxton running with the ball especially when he goes untouched, it is in the best interests of Buckeye Nation to keep Miller healthy by limiting hits on him.  Also, Carlos Hyde is the primary back until Jordan Hall returns, so his chances of having a 100 yard performance after that point will go down significantly.  Therefore, a winning performance to any running back in the Scarlet and Gray who rushes for over 100 yards.

7.          Under 200 yards passing

The Silver Bullets allowed 313 passing yards last week, albeit that the Redhawks ran a pass-first offense.  With a more balanced team comes more balanced numbers.  A winning performance by the Buckeyes will include limiting the passing yards to fewer than 200.

Despite the relatively high number of yards allowed by the Buckeyes, Travis Howard came away with two INTs and Bradley Roby would have had an INT if his foot was at least one shoe size smaller.  Both CBs were deemed to have earned a ‘championship performance’ last week by Coach Meyer.  I’m hoping that they have similar performances this week and are able to lockdown the UCF receivers.  An INT by either would earn that player a winning performance.

8.          A W by Air Force

I admit that I am a hater of all things related to that school up north so much so that I dressed in Oregon Ducks gear and attended the Oregon game that followed that school up north’s memorable loss to 1AA Appalachian State (I was also in attendance at the Buckeyes win that year when we chanted O-H-I-O around their stadium).  At the Oregon game, we quacked like we were cheering for the Mighty Ducks and we watched that school up north’s second consecutive loss to start the 2007 season.

I could go on, but you get the point.  I am one of those Buckeyes fans who cannot cheer for that school up north regardless of the circumstances.  At the hands of a SEC school or not, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of last weekend’s reality check.  Moving on, I think it is extremely unlikely that Air Force will be able to pull off the upset with a spread of 21.5 last I checked, but if Air Force gets the win, they’ll earn a winning performance in my book in addition to the record book.

Well, that’s all I have for Week Two.  What would earn a winning performance from you?

CONFERENCE OF DUNCES

So, the Big Ten didn’t exactly get off to a great start this weekend. Sure, the conference won most of its games, but it was by no means dominant. A quick recap: Ohio State, Purdue and Nebraska easily dispatched their lesser opponents by a combined score of 153-36.

Illinois handled Western Michigan pretty well, if not as well as they should have. Michigan State held off a Boise team that most thought would struggle to remain at the level of their recent success. But Boise was ranked and has been good for a number of years, so Sparty’s off the hook for now.

Northwestern beat Syracuse by 1 and while Syracuse is not exactly a powerhouse, neither is Northwestern, so we’ll cut them some slack too.

Here’s where things get ugly. Wisconsin and Iowa, two of the upper-level teams in the conference, barely scraped by the likes of Northern Iowa and Northern Illinois. Penn State, who was still expected to do well this year before the full effects of their recent sanctions set in, lost to Ohio. The real one, not the one that only exists in Brady Hoke’s mind. Indiana is always bad, but they’re not supposed to be almost-lose-Indiana-State bad. Minnesota is also always bad (lately), but again, not take-three-overtimes-to-beat-UNLV bad.

And then, to cap things off, Michigan got completely destroyed by Alabama. They didn’t just lose, which is what everyone expected them to do, they lost at losing. Not showing up to the game at all would have been a more competitive move than 99% of what they did on the field Saturday night.

For the most part, it doesn’t matter much to me if conference opponents win or lose, but it would be nice if half the league wasn’t actively making us look worse by association.

What’s in store this week? Minnesota and Indiana will be narrowly escaping with wins over New Hampshire and UMass while most of the rest of the conference puts our credibility on the line against a host of mid-range AQ conference teams. Raise your hand if you don’t believe Virginia could beat Penn State, Oregon State could beat Wisconsin, Notre Dame could beat Purdue, Iowa St. could beat Iowa, Vanderbilt could beat Northwestern, and Arizona State could beat Illinois.

That’s what I thought. Not only are those results believable after last week, I’m predicting right now that the Big Ten loses at least three of those games.

ALSO HAPPENING

THURSDAY: ESPN is going all out with it’s big time night matchup of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. While that might actually be an interesting NFL game, this one is actually between the universities and I think after Pitt lost to Youngstown State last week, we have no choice but to cheer for…

Them.

Yeah, that’s right. Ordinarily, I’d cheer for Ohio teams under any circumstances, but this time I’m going the other way. Let’s face it, UC fans are d***********s. They hate us and I hate them back. So the most acceptable outcome of this game is for them to lose to the team that lost to YSU. It’s what they deserve.

SATURDAY: Florida @ Texas A&M is the kind of game that could never have happened without realignment, because Florida is the agoraphobe of college football. Tune in to watch them break out in cold sweats at their bizarre new surroundings. Georgia also welcomes Missouri to the SEC in a game that I’m predicting will have that play that everybody is talking about on Sunday, and not in a good way.

As the rain turned from drizzle to steady pound, Urban Meyer briefly addressed the crowd at Saturday’s Skull Session, repeating what has become something of a mantra for him. “The mission is clear: Make the great state of Ohio proud.” With that, he exited the hallowed halls of St. John Arena and prepared to confront his secret fear. This was his time.

The Dark Coach Rises

Under grey clouds and a thick midwestern humidity, the game of Meyer’s life kicked off. The RedHawks had chosen to receive and they scrounged up 30 yards of offense before punting the ball away. The Buckeyes responded with just half of that production before returning the favor. Urban wasn’t concerned. Nothing but opening-drive jitters. Could happen to anybody.

On their next drive, Miami nearly quieted the already-wavering crowd with a quick 63-yard drive down the field highlighted by a 42-yard reception by Nick Harwell. A couple of near-touchdowns stalled the march, which ended with a disastrous missed field goal.

Bullet dodged. Time to get this party started.

Nine yards. Punt. Twenty-two yards. Punt. Two yards. Punt. Somewhere in there, Miami knocked a field goal through. The first quarter came to a close and Urban Meyer was losing to Miami.

Again.

The second quarter opened with Miami punting the ball back. Just over a minute later, Devin Smith reinvigorated the crowd, the team, the coach and the nation, quite literally single-handedly:

And just like that, the shoe was on the other foot. Miami: 0 yards. Punt. Ohio State Touchdown. Miami: 9 yards. Punt. Ohio State Touchdown. Miami: 24 yards. Punt. Ohio State Damn Near Touchdown. The second half came to a close and the machine was running at full speed now. Urban Meyer was finally getting his revenge on Miami.

Just to make sure they hadn’t spent halftime forgetting what he thought of them, Urban gave the RedHawks a little reminder on the first play of the second half:

On the ensuing Miami drive, the RedHawks managed to move the ball 18 yards in the wrong direction. The punt snap went high and Ohio State fell on the ball in the end zone for yet another touchdown.

Down 35-3, Miami finally put together that one touchdown drive that we all knew they had in them. Zac Dysert went 5 of 7 for 73 yards, including the 44 scoring strike to Nick Harwell. Urban Meyer didn’t even blink.

The Buckeye offense had its ups and downs to finish out the game, but did complete all three fourth quarter drives with TDs. Critics will pile on Urban Meyer for “running up the score” at the end, something Jim Tressel never would have done to an in-state team. But Jim Tressel wasn’t vanquishing a life-long demon.

On Saturday, Urban Meyer finally got the Miami monkey off his back in spectacular fashion. He’s now free, unencumbered by haunted dreams, that albatross of Oxford looming in the back of the mind every time he takes the field. Get ready to see the real Urban Meyer, loose and reckless.

Say your prayers, everyone else.