Once was the most recent time, in 2005, when Ohio State blew out No. 25 Northwestern and then won that stunning 25-21 game at Michigan over the No. 17 Wolverines, the one with the late Anthony Gonzalez helicopter catch from Troy Smith on the game-winning drive. Meanwhile, Michigan State used two late Gerald Holmes touchdown runs to turn a close game against Central Michigan into a 30-10 win.
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Michigan State, which has already lost two key players to season-ending injuries, lost standout tackle Jack Conklin to an apparent knee injury.
Until one separates himself, both are going to play. Decent recovery for the Buckeyes after last week‘s underwhelming performance.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report’s Big Ten lead writer. Of course, that should change week: after Saturday’s bye the Sooners will take on white-hot West Virginia.
CM: If the season ended today, obviously it’s a 10.
The 7.8 yards per carry is a big improvement from the last couple of weeks and shows that Warinner moving to the sidelines may have had a positive effect on the “Slobs” up front. So, I would say for now a solid three or four.
So here we are, in 2015, with Meyer having built the beast at Ohio State faster than anyone could have reasonably expected, and the maintenance phase is setting in.
The Spartans and Buckeyes are considered the best teams in college football right now and two serious contenders to make it to that ever-coveted College Football Playoff. “That’s an elite opponent with an elite coaching staff, elite football coach”.
There will be some interesting scenarios coming up for the Broncos this year, but one thing that wouldn’t shock me at all would be to see them as active participants on the trade/free agent market for a veteran quarterback this offseason, or they could pull off something similar to the Redskins/Falcons and trade up into the top half of the draft for a top level QB prospect.
Who will Jones be able to throw the ball to? They weren’t just lucky.
The point? Back-to-back at the end of a long year against a really good team followed by your rivalry game when the rival is good, won’t be easy. But I think we can agree the biggest disappointment has been Auburn.
TG: No. 10 UCLA.
With that in mind, the Amway Coaches Poll voters for the most part remained committed to their preseason assessments. The expectation level should be high.
Ohio State needed only three plays to score on its first possession – a pass to Elliott, a 26-yard run by Elliott and a 38-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Thomas.
The comeback victory over BYU – while not shocking – proved UCLA is for real and true threats in the Pac-12, but tougher challenges lie ahead for the young Bruins, especially when they travel to No. 16 and undefeated Arizona this weekend. Next week’s trip to Norman could quietly become one of the defining games of the Big 12’s season. Who is the biggest loss to his respective team, and why? The Spartans (4-0) have scored at least 30 points in a school-record 12 consecutive games. Saturday saw him put his second goal-line defender of the season on skates on his way in for six. Safety Kenny Iloka, linebacker Sammy Douglas and cornerback Ranthony Texada all suffered season-ending injuries too.
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But does he have his top-ranked team prepared to make another unblemished run through the league, starting Saturday at Indiana, which is 4-0 for the first time since 1990? The thinking process here: Arizona had enough of a head start on the Wolverines and Gators (who combined for all of seven voting points last week) that they’ll get in.
