Welp it was a horrible week in the B1G. One team got a win because the referees helped them win and another team took a loss because the referees cost them a win. In the heralded PAC 12 vs B1G match up the B1G looked well disgusting to say the least. Lets see how things break down this week.

1.) Ohio State (3-0)- Won 52-34 over CAL. Ohio State went on the road for the first time this year and blew out the Golden Bears in what was effectively a home game for the Buckeyes with at least 75% of the fans there being OSU fans. The defense gave up too many yards and points but the offense was unstoppable under back up QB Kenny Guiton. A great road win for the best team in the B1G.

2.) Northwestern (3-0)- Beat Western Michigan 38-17. Northwestern is good…. maybe even really good. We will know for sure in a couple weeks when they host Ohio State.

3.) Wisconsin (2-1)- Lost to Arizona State 32-30. Wisconsin should be 3-0 but another horrible referee mistake ruined their chances. The PAC 12 apologized but didn’t offer to give them the win they deserved.

4.) Michigan (3-0)- Beat Akron 28-24. Honestly I nearly moved them to 12th. Akron is a horrible team and they needed a fix job from the referee to beat a HORRIBLE Akron. Devin Gardner is proving to make way to many mental mistakes and the defense is having all kinds of trouble. The running game is pathetic at best. Another performance like that and they will drop to 12th.

5.) Michigan State (3-0)- Beat Youngstown State 55-17. The offense finally came alive. Is it because of the competition or has the Spartans finally found their offensive identity?

6.) Minnesota (3-0)- Won 29-12 over Western Illinois. Coach Kill went down again with a seizure. The team regrouped and went on to win again for their coach.

7.) Iowa (2-1)- Won 27-21 over rival Iowa State. I don’t care how bad the Cyclones are beating your in-state rival is always tough and a great win. Don’t expect them to stay this high up though all year.

8.) Penn State (2-1)- Lost 34-31 to Central Florida. The offense was really good. The defense showed signs of depleted depth. They will be up and down all year IMO.

9.) Indiana (2-1)- Won 42-10 over Bowling Green. Indiana is your avg. Jeckyll and Hyde team. Losing to a mediocre Navy and blowing out a pretty good Bowling Green. They need a signature win to move up.

10.) Illinois (2-1)- Lost to Washington 34-24. Illinois even in defeat showed some promise. Washington is a pretty good team. I think Illinois is still 2 years away from being a good team.

11.) Nebraska (2-1)- Lost to UCLA 41-21. After taking an early 21-3 lead over UCLA the train derailed and Nebraska embarrassed the entire B1G with their horrific defense once again. This team is close to giving up on Pelini and you can just smell the complete meltdown coming.

12.) Purdue (1-2)- Lost to Notre Dame 31-24. Purdue showed a lot of growth in their 3rd game with a lead over ND in the 2nd half of the game. I nearly ranked them 11th this week.

Let me know your thoughts it is always appreciated.

You can see all of the videos from yesterdays videos by clicking play all below.

Thank you to the kind people @BuckeyeTV.

Good morning Buckeye Nation.

Scarlet and Gray invasion: Saturday’s game against Cal in Strawberry Canyon didn’t seem like an away game except for the California Golden Bear logo’s on the field. Doug Lesmerises of cleveland.com has a great post about the fan turnout and an awesome video that shows you how big the Scarlet and Gray invasion was and the O-H-I-O chant in California Memorial Stadium. Buckeye Nation is the best.

Players Response: I decided to look and see if any Cal fans or players had anything to say about the Scarlet and Gray invasion even checked out Cal message boards. Sunday it seems the fans weren’t to upset with the fact they were over run by buckeye fans but they were upset that The Best Damn Band in The Land was playing past each snap. Many were wondering why penalties weren’t called. Seems weird to me I would be more embarrassed that the visiting team turned it into a home game.

Seems Cal wide receiver Brye Treggs felt that way and took to twitter:

https://twitter.com/BryceTreggs/status/379716614130008064

He even issued a challenge:

https://twitter.com/BryceTreggs/status/379715363187195904

Keep doing what you do Buckeye fans make the home games awesome as usually and turn the away game into home games.

Back in the News: Seems former QB and center of Tattoo Gate Scandal Terrelle Pryor had some strong words about Ohio State after his victory over Jacksonville Sunday. Pryor says he was booted out of the school and the Buckeyes don’t accept him anymore. He claims he’s not bitter and hopes they win the championship this year.

I am going to take the high road today and wish Terrelle nothing but success for his future. I don’t want to dig up the past I just want to move on like everyone else has done. Terrelle thank you for what you did on the field for the Buckeyes and Good Luck.

Agree with Saban: I don’t know how many of you watched the Texas A&M/Alabama game Saturday but there was an incident that really boggled my mind and I’m sure everyone in the nation even if we knew the rule and penalty. Safety Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix was called for targeting and ejected from the game replay showed he wasn’t targeting and he was clearly going for the ball. I’m not complaining that the officials aired on the side of caution but I agree with Alabama head coach Nick Saban on the reversal of the 15 yard penalty also.

Replay worked and showed the athlete was clearly not targeting and he got to stay in the game the 15 yard penalty should be overturned also in those cases. No team should be able to get free yardage from an honest officiating mistake and really it wasn’t a mistake on the official when they are told to err on the side of caution and if its close call it for the sake of players safety.

Speaking of making mistakes: I unfortunately didn’t get to see the end of the Arizona State/Wisconsin game but it seems the officials blew that one.

Jeremy Fowler of CBSsports talks about how the PAC-12 officials botched the call.

Cases like this need the replay in my opinion one loss can kill a season and human error shouldn’t ruin these kids chances to play on a big stage at the end of the season.They work to hard and dedicate to much of their time for other people who don’t seem to know whats going on to ruin it for them. It’s a shame the game ended this way you never know they could have been able to kick a field goal with the time that was suppose to be left and walked away with a win but they go home with a loss after other officials admit the call was botched.

Until next time Buckeye Nation…

My “5 Things” going into Week 3 wasn’t able to be published due to unforeseen circumstances. I’d have been wrong about Texas A&M winning a close game and my upset pick of Eastern Washington over Toledo. I’d have gotten UCLA over Nebraska (but who saw a comeback like that?!), Ole Miss over Texas, and Ohio State over California. There was a lot of excitement this weekend and some outstanding performances. That Team Up North nearly fell to the Zips of Akron Saturday and that would have been a big deal when one considers that Akron only won one in each of the three seasons. It was an impressive day for Terry Bowden’s squad considering his team bettered TTUN in every major team category except rushing (which they lost by a mere 70 total yards).

1. What a TAMU vs. UA game! In Saban’s tenure at Alabama, the Tide has only allowed 40 points one other time … in a 2007 loss (LSU, 41). Say what you want about Manziel and his off-the-field soap opera, his smack-talking, or his autograph scandal … this kid’s a baller. Consider that in 2012 Alabama’s top-ranked and stout defense allowed just 3500 combined passing and rushing yards and that Manziel combined for 562 yards on Saturday — that’s 16% of last year’s total! The Aggies didn’t pull off the upset (keeping Saban’s revenge game % quite high), but the defending Heisman winner did not disappoint. Alabama’s offense looked much better than it did in the season debut as well. I thought going into this season that the Tide would win more games due to their offense than they have in recent years because I don’t think they’ve had this much talent offensively in quite a long time. AJ McCarron averaged 11.5 yards per completion and threw no interceptions on a day that saw 10 Alabama receivers catch a pass. What surprised me about that was that redshirt freshman Chris Black wasn’t among them. Perhaps Saban was trying to massage the ego of Kenny Bell who quit momentarily between these two games, or perhaps Black didn’t have a good week of practice. Either way, I was a bit surprised by it because I felt like Saban didn’t play him against Virginia Tech to ensure Kevin Sumlin didn’t have any tape on him. Any chance we can trade the UA vs. Colorado State game in Week 4 and have another UA vs. TAMU game? I’d sign up to watch!

2. Kenny G is so smooth! Okay, okay, so it was Cal and not LSU, but Kenny Guiton played excellent in place of Heisman hopeful Braxton Miller on Saturday. I don’t know if he’s the best backup in the country — as I’ve heard and read many say this week — but I know I’m proud of his performances thus far. One of the concerns going into this game was the number of plays Cal would try to run as they were averaging 97 per game over the first two weeks in Sonny Dykes’ offense. The Golden Bears still ran 90 plays on Saturday, but the Buckeyes ran just three fewer plays (up from averaging 69 in the first two weeks). I don’t think anyone would have guessed going into the season that if TOSU played against Cal in Week 3 with no Braxton Miller and no Carlos Hyde, that they’d run 87 plays for 608 yards and put up 52 points. I wrote last week that I’d sit Miller and let him rest until Week 5 against Wisconsin, but if Guiton has to go, for whatever reason, against the Badgers, I think I am fine with that. Obviously, I’d rather have Miller, but against a Badgers team that won’t be undefeated and that they’ll be playing against in Columbus, I think Kenny G will do just fine as the next week at Northwestern won’t be an easy game. Kenny Guiton — not bad for a guy who was picked up at the last minute when Tajh Boyd switched to Clemson and who was about to go play at Prairie View A&M!

3. Seats are warming up. I think it’s probably too early to say coaches are in the hot seat, but there are a few seats that are starting to warm up a little bit. There is a strong contingent of Texas fans that are calling for Mack Brown to either step down or be fired after allowing 550 yards rushing to BYU in Week 2 and now losing to an Ole Miss team that the Longhorns put 66 points on last year. Brown has played for two national titles in the last eight years and is coming off a nine-win season, but fans are getting restless especially after he sounded so confident that they were “back” this offseason. Speaking with a friend last week about this we determined that Brown has only beaten Oklahoma 6 out of 15 times and those six wins were with either Major Applewhite, Vince Young, or Colt McCoy at quarterback and either Carl Reese, Will Muschamp, or Gene Chizik in a defensive coordinator role. Why not call Gene Chizik to to take Manny Diaz’ place? Brown has nothing to lose and I’m guessing Chizik wouldn’t mind getting back into coaching (although, as my friend pointed out, Chizik may still have some Auburn money coming to him). Lane Kiffin at USC got a win this week after finally naming a starting quarterback (Cody Kessler), but I’m convinced had they lost to Boston College, Kiffin might not have been allowed to board the plane back to California. AD Pat Haden insists Kiffin is in no danger of losing his job, but if the Trojans don’t starting putting up some W’s, it will be hard for him to justify that given they have the best player in college football. A name I think will surface as the season progresses as a potential replacement for either of these guys should their seat start burning their hindquarters is Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern. He’s a Wildcat through and through, but I don’t know he’d pass up an opportunity to coach at one of the two biggest programs in the country.

4. Some seats that are quite cool. Mike McIntyre at Colorado had his game postponed in Week 3 against Fresno State. Would he have won? It’s doubtful given that some people has Fresno State as a possible BCS Buster this season, but for a team that won just one game last season (a game that the Buffaloes won with just seconds left against Washington State), the fact that I’m even suggesting the possibility is exciting. This is McIntyre’s first season at Colorado and he’s already surpassed last year’s win total. In Week 4 they take on an Oregon State team that has already been upset once this season (Eastern Washington) and with quarterback Connor Wood playing well, it’s hard to say it’s an easy W for the Beavers. Auburn fans have to thrilled right now. The Tigers won just three games last season and were winless in the SEC and after Saturday’s late-game win against Mississippi State, Gus Malzahn’s squad as tied the former and surpassed the latter. Malzahn was probably the best fit of all of the 31 new head coaches going into the season in that he was returning to a team still filled with players that were recruited to run his system. Even with that being true, one has to keep in mind that he is starting a former defensive back at Georgia (Auburn’s rival), Nick Marshall, at quarterback! Malzahn eased Marshall into the system, as he only had 36 combined passing attempts in the first two games, but let him loose against the Bulldogs. Saturday he was 23 for 34 for 339 yards passing (2 TDs, 2 INTs). Three of their next four games will be tough (at LSU, Ole Miss, and at Texas A&M), but the Tigers have a legitimate shot at a bowl game given they only need three more wins. Western Carolina and Florida Atlantic should take care of two of those easily and then if they can win one of their road games against Arkansas or Tennessee, they’re going bowling. I have them beating Tennessee in Week 11!

5. Changing positions? No problem! Florida State has already shown that it has a wealth of riches in their backfield with phenom quarterback Jameis Winston and running backs James Wilder, Jr. and Devonta Green, but the rich seemingly have gotten richer. Junior Karlos Williams went from playing safety for the Seminoles to running back after their Week 1 win against Pittsburgh and led the team in rushing this past week! Williams rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries against Nevada on Saturday and the transition seemed simple enough for him. If Winston continues to play lights out in the air (he has three incompletions on the season), and the Seminoles can play these three guys on the ground (oh yeah, Winston can run a little too), Florida State could be a matchup problem all season. They won’t get tested until Week 7 against Clemson, a week that is shaping up to be filled with entertaining games (TAMU at Ole Miss, Northwestern at Wisconsin, Florida at LSU, and Oklahoma at Texas), but look for the Seminoles to put up some crazy numbers in the next few weeks. It’s a backfield that I’m calling WWW.Green.comeonman, right now!

To wrap up their huge victory over CAL on Saturday the Buckeyes are celebrating by winning some POTW awards…

Kenny Guiton earned a national player of the week award when he won the Walter Camp POTW award…

Kenny Guiton took home the Big ten offensive player of the week which is extremely impressive for our “back up” Quarterback.

also Ryan Shazier took home the Big Ten Defensive player of the week for the 3rd time.

Food for thought….

Guiton was really impressive for the entire game. The QB controversy is on for some fans. To have 2 great QBs is a blessing not a curse. Don’t believe me just ask TTUN fans who are struggling with bad QB play.

Shazier is the man for sure and I think the defense played better than most people will think they did. But to give up 34 points and 500 yards and still get Def POTW in the B1G… How awful was the rest of the conferences defenses?

The first big road test of the season is out of the way, and the Buckeyes come away from it with a 52-34 victory.  The Buckeyes showed great balance as they put up 608 yards of total offense, 276 through the air, and 332 on the ground.  However, they also allowed 503 total yards on the defensive side of the ball.  Therefore, there were a lot of positives to be taken away from this game, but there are some area of concerns that the coaching staff will need to sure up, in the weeks leading up to Wisconsin.

Lets start with the offense.  Kenny Guiton, obviously, had an outstanding performance on Saturday night.  Guiton was named Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week after his 21/32, 276 yard, 3 touchdown outburst.  He also added 92 yards, on 14 rushing attempts.  However, overshadowed by Guiton’s performance, are the performances of the rest of his offensive cast.

Jordan Hall had a fantastic performance, toting the rock 30 times, for 168 yards, and 3 touchdowns.  He also contributed 5 receptions for 20 yards.  Joining Hall with a big performance, was highly touted freshman, Dontre Wilson.  Wilson looked much more comfortable in the offense this week, as he racked up 107 yards of total offense.  The third breakout performer of the week, was Devin Smith.  Smith had two big plays, a 90 yard touchdown reception, and a 47 yard touchdown reception, which helped him end the day with 149 yards, and two touchdowns, on just 3 receptions.

The most significant performances of these three was Devin Smith’s.  Smith not only had two outstanding big plays, but he also ran really good routes this game.  His third reception was a nice crisp curl route that went for a first down.  Smith last year was a one trick pony.  This year, as I watch him play, I can see a multiple threat wide receiver, who is starting to understand the small details, that have to be done consistently, in order to become a big time wide receiver.

A lot of different players touched the ball against Cal, but I had my eye on one player in particular, Rod Smith.  I was expecting Smith to give the Buckeyes a power run game, that they have been desperately missing.  However, for whatever reason, Smith only had 3 rushing attempts for 8 yards.  Smith has been on the clock since Meyer took over the reigns, of the Buckeyes.  Rod has a lot of potential, but he has had ball security issues, as well as not always being mentally engaged in the offense.  Therefore, I’m not sure where Smith stands with the coaches.  It may be that the coaches decided to ride the hot hand with Hall, or maybe Smith wasn’t giving them what they needed.  Either way, Smith did not see the field much, and with Hyde coming back, Smith’s opportunities to get on the field may be dwindling quickly.

For all of the explosiveness, and balance, the offense showed Saturday night, there were a few things they will need to fix, before facing Florida A&M.  The major area of concern I have for this offense, is the 3rd down conversion percentage.  The Buckeyes went 6-15 on third down, which I have to admit, isn’t that bad, but its also not that good.  The  Buckeyes should aim for 50% or higher on 3rd down.  Yes, I am nit-picking.  However, in a big game, such as on the road at Northwestern, third down conversions will be vital for this team to convert on.  Sustaining drives will be very important to not only keep this offense on track, but also provide the defense with a breather.

While the offense seemed to be clicking on all cylinders, the defense seemed to sputter throughout parts of the game.  The Silver Bullets surrendered 503 yards of total offense.  No matter how you spin it, that number is not flattering to any defense.  However, when you look at the numbers, and the amount of plays ran, there is a level of understanding as to why this defense was so poor.

As explained in the preview post to this game, Cal runs a lot of plays and throws the ball often.  Cal ran 90 plays, to Ohio States 87.  The defense started off the game really hot.  The first few possessions Cal had, I thought Ohio State played its best defense I had seen all year.  They were flying to the ball, and when they got there, they were angry, and looking to slam something to the ground.  Once Cal got over the shell shock of the Buckeyes opening blitz, Goff got more comfortable, and the Bear Raid began to take its affects on the Buckeyes. Their offense began to get in to rhythm, and the Buckeyes defense began to feel the affects of that rhythm.

The corners started the game very well.  They got to the ball carriers, on Cal’s quick screens, and got them down quickly.  As the game went on, the secondary began to get fatigued and lose focus.  They would miss tackles, along with a couple of interceptions.  They would make a few good plays, followed by one or two bad ones.  At times it looked like the best secondary in the country, at other times it looked like an area of concern for this defense.

Of course, when you face a team that throws the ball as often as Cal, and you face a good quarter back like Goff, your secondary will get exposed somewhat.  This average performance will become a blessing in disguise for the Ohio State secondary.  Coach Coombs will use this game as motivation, to get this secondary better.  Missed tackles, missed interceptions, and shredding blocks will be the three areas of emphasis, that the Buckeyes secondary will need to improve on.

One area of this defense that does not need to be given as much concern as several people, including myself, thought, is the Buckeyes front seven.  Ryan Shazier had another Ryan Shazier esque game, recording 11 tackles, with 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble.  Curtis Grant had a few sightings, as he provided quality support in run defense.  Joey Bosa had another impressive performance, recording 5.5 tackles, with 2 tackles for loss.  Noah Spence seems to be picking up steam, as the season goes on, recording another sack in this game, accompanied with a couple more quarterback hurries.  Even without Adolphus Washington, the line seemed to hold strong throughout the game.

They did give up 132 rushing yards, but that was to five different Cal runners.  So, good pressure on the quarterbacks, good run defense, what needs to be worked on?  The inside push will need to be better against teams that run the ball better.  The later the game went the less effective our inside lineman were against the Cal run game.  However, once we get Washington back, expect Bosa to be rotated inside at times, which will give the Buckeyes some more depth on interior.  Hopefully, if Michael Hill and Chris Carter keep developing, this run defense will keep getting deeper, and stronger.

Overall, if I had to give a grade to the defensive performance, it would be a B-.  Inconsistent play in the secondary, with a few stupid penalties, and missed tackles held this unit back from a higher grade.

For the offense I would give them an A+.  No sacks allowed, accompanied with great balance, and great point production, its hard to argue with an A+.

For coaching, I’d give Tom Herman an A for how well this game was called.  It got a little too vanilla for me in the end, but he stuck to his guns and again, he did a very good job of keeping the offense balanced.

On the defensive side of the ball, I’d give Luke Fickell a C.  The secondary played way too soft at times, especially with the ability of Grant and Roby.  I feel like if they would have let this defense stay in its base nickel, the majority of the game, there wouldn’t have been as much inconsistency shown.  Often times I feel like Fickell, and the defensive coaching staff, out think themselves, which make the players over think, and react to the offense, instead of dictating what the offense does.  However, I am not a supporter of the “Fire Fickell” campaign that goes on on Twitter.  I think he is a good defensive coordinator, who gets more out of his players as the year goes on.  This weak it was a combination of good players playing average, and smart coaches being too complex, that lead to a less than impressive defensive performance.

All that being said, this team is slowly coming together.  The offense, with Kenny Guiton or Braxton Miller at the helm, is ahead of the defense at this point, but the defense is closing quickly.  The Buckeyes still need more consistent play from the defense as a whole.  They also need Braxton to get back to full health, and get him up to speed with the rest of the offense.  Braxton still has a long way to go with making more consistent, correct, reads as the quarterback of this offense.  He will get Carlos Hyde back against FAMU, which I think will make him more comfortable.  Once Braxton gets in to a flow with this offense, which I think he will, and the defense plays with more consistency, this team will be the national title contenders we have been expecting.

What a week of college football am I right? Do you get the feeling their isn’t a dominant team in CFB this year? Sure Bama has 2 games under their belt one where the offense played like crap and one where the defense played like crap. Oregon may have the best team that no one will ever get to watch play. Clemson is still the best team in the country IMO and I still don’t know if they deserve the prestige. So we have another fluid week in the rankings so here goes nothing.

1.) Clemson
2.) Alabama
3.) Ohio State
4.) Oregon
5.) Florida State
6.) Stanford
7.) Louisville
8.) LSU
9.) Oklahoma State
10.) Northwestern
11.) Oklahoma
12.) Miami Hurricanes
13.) UCLA
14.) Washington
15.) Texas A&M
16.) Georgia
17.) South Carolina
18.) Florida
19.) Wisconsin
20.) Baylor
21.) Michigan
22.) Michigan State
23.) Texas Tech
24.) Ole Miss
25.) Arizona State

– Teams leaving the rankings…. Nebraska and Tennessee and Notre Dame. Nebraska has a defensive issue like no other and that loss to UCLA was flat shameful. Tennessee was crushed by Oregon and although improved still a ways away from being fully back. Notre Dame loss to a inconsistent Michigan team last week and nearly lost to a woeful Purdue this week.

– Teams entering the rankings… Texas Tech, Ole Miss, and Arizona State. All 3 teams are off to a great start. They will have plenty of chances to prove they belong in the top 25 this year.

– Which conference is the best in the country? PAC 12 is making a strong case right now. The SEC is strong as well. The B1G is making fools of themselves already avoiding the long wait till January 1st to do it. ACC is strong at the top but after that blah. Big 12 is well I don’t really know Oklahoma and Okie State seem good but the rest are awful.

Welcome to the weekly installment where we look at the game from a statistical perspective. Feel free to add your thoughts. What stats impressed you? Any stats concern you? Here are 5 stats that stood out to me in week 3.

608 – Let’s face it, this game was all about offense. The Buckeyes racked up a 608 yards in total offense. Cal’s defense did not put up much of a resistence as the Buckeyes moved the football at will – Impressive showing both running and throwing. The Buckeye offense was clicking on all cylinders yesterday. I am sure there are plenty of people out there trashing the defense today. I did see @SYRmotsag threaten to turn off Twitter a couple of times. I am not one who is going to trash the defense. I think credit should be given to Cal’s offense. They are going to score a lot points this year. Their QB made some great plays, especially for a freshman. The Bears tallied 503 yards in total offense of their own.

11:42 – The Buckeyes dominated the 3rd quarter. The game was 21-0 after 6 minutes. Again, credit to Cal for not completely giving up at that point. Cal outscored Ohio State 20-10 the remainder of the first half. It was important for the Buckeye’s to re-establish their dominance in the 3rd quater and they did just that. The Buckeye offense possessed the ball for 11:42, scoring 3 TD’s.

49.7 – Devin Smith again demonstrated that he is the best deep threat at wide receiver. With Devin the quality of receptions definitely trumps the quantity, but he sure makes them count. Devin caught threee passes in the game which resulted in 149 yards and 2 TD’s – a 49.7 average per reception! That is crazy! His big play ability is a huge threat to opposing defenses. Speaking of big play ability…

11.8 / 16.0 – I featured Dontre Wilson last week, but his role in the offense continues to expand and he continues to impress. He is worthy of recognition this week too. Dontre average 11.8 yards/rush and 16 yards/reception against Cal.

An Abundance – Does anyone have a figure for this? So “an abundance” is not exactly a stat, but the Buckeye faithful turned out in droves for this game. There was plenty of Scarlet and Gray in the crowd!

Courtesy Eamon Queeny, Dispatch

Images like this one make me proud to be a part of Buckeye Nation! O-H! For Ol’ times sake Carmen Ohio by Cie Grant. Video quality not great, but Buckeye pride in full effect!

Any other key stats against Cal?

Because I love a good argument, I’m going to ask it right off the bat: Did Kenny Guiton’s performance cause a quarterback controversy in Columbus? He was 21 for 32 for 276 yards and four touchdowns and had 92 yards on the ground.

Probably not. But it’s fun to think about

Once again Ohio State came out of the gate like barn burners, scoring 21 points in quick succession, including a 90-yard strike from Guiton to Devin Smith.

Kudos to Cal and Cal QB Jared Goff (who my son decided was named “Goof”) who never backed down. Goff had a rough first half, was hurried all over the field and threw two interceptions.

Ohio State led at half 31-20

Guiton started the second half with some shakey throws but got going with a bee-utiful option fake on fourth and one early in the third quarter. That led to another score and at that point it basically became academic.

Guiton and the offense looked like they were a well-oiled machine, hitting on all cylinders. He’s reads on the run game were correct more often than not. He wasn’t as accurate in the second half, but still efficient and made some plays with his legs. Jordan Hall and Dontre Wilson looked great on the ground, too. This was a well balanced attack.

The defense played well, except for a few missed tackles. They did get gashed a few times in the second half on the ground, but that may have been a result more of the defensive scheme on the field than anything else.

One thing we have to keep in mind about the defensive performance is that it’s going to be on the field a lot. When you score 50+ points and have struck quickly on most drives you’re going to give up some yards on defense. That being said, the run defense was strong most of the game, they were able to get pressure with just 3 rushers often and Shazier had a strong first half. Steve Miller had another strong outing as well. And except for one play, Roby was extremely effective.

Also, kudos to Ohio State fans. The stadium looked like a bowl game. Chants of O-H-I-O could be heard, which is just awesome.