Emotional intelligence started feeling bad for Indiana in the second quarter. Five minutes before the break, Ohio State took a 37-7 lead on the road against a team that had caused problems in the past. This was not the case on Saturday.
In fact, this was a great part of demolishing football.
Not long ago, this kind of performance seemed unlikely to the Buckeyes. It’s not impossible, but it’s highly unlikely. The loss at home to Oregon in Game Two of the season, along with some ugly victories sandwiched around it, was big.
Six weeks later, Ohio State may be Georgia’s biggest threat in college football. After a weekend that saw Cincinnati and Oklahoma struggle, Ohio State has more momentum than any team in college football.
I bet Ohio State to win the Big Ten prizes before the season starts. Honestly, I didn’t feel good about it. But given what we’ve seen recently from Iowa and Pennsylvania, the Buckeyes feel like the favorites to win the conference. They are now 6/1 in BetMGM for the national title, ranked behind Georgia (+120) and Alabama (5/2). The gap is largely closed.
Sometimes, early team struggles are never fixed. Clemson, having lost his third game of the year, is certainly a case in point. But Ohio seems stationary for a moment.
CJ Stroud, who is now 5/1 to win Heisman, developed into the quarterback. The defense, which struggled hard early on, was modified. And the talent in both running backwards and a broad future is downright absurd.
Time will tell how good Ohio is, but it looks like the Buckeyes family is back. This is terrible news for the rest of the Big Ten and possibly beyond.
Stories and notes
- College football’s new overtime rule stinks. Watching Illinois and Pennsylvania trade failed in 2-point conversions until the ninth overtime wasn’t fun. He was going at a strange pace, and well, he did really badly. I know college football implemented this new penalty kick-like model to avoid marathon games like the one we saw between LSU and Texas A&M in 2018, but this modified version isn’t. Head back to the 40-yard line, and let each team get slots in scoring points. I like the general foundation of overtime in college football, but it could be better. Also, let’s never talk about this soccer sequence again. Wow, it was that bad.
- I’ve watched a lot of football games, although I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like what Oklahoma QB Caleb Williams did against Kansas. The Sooners slept through the first three quarters with 38.5 points. And when the offense seemed to stall in fourth, Williams actually ripped the ball away from his teammate to net a big opening goal just a few minutes ago. Seriously, it was ridiculous, incredibly clever, and (apparently?) legal. What a play for a real student.
- Hot watch: Virginia Tech. The Hokies lost 41-36 to Syracuse as the 3.5-point runner-up, allowing the Orange to score 21 points in the fourth quarter. became Va. Tech is now 3-4, and Justin Fuente may be out of work soon. Simply put, Virginia Tech was nowhere near the program it used to be. If this job opens, I’m curious to see what kind of interest it might attract with other potentially high profile job opportunities in the mix.
.
