On a night when three previously unbeaten top 10 teams felt their first loss of the year, Ohio State struggled offensively but held on for a 28-14 win in the Shoe.
The victory improved the squad to 9-0 overall, set a national record as the Buckeyes recorded their 29th-straight conference win – tying the mark set by Bobby Bowden's 1992-1995 Florida State Seminoles – and moved Urban Meyer to 27-0 in October and November games at Ohio State.
It's absolutely inconsequential but all that won-loss gloss can't put enough lipstick on Ohio State's offensive pig which will likely allow Alabama to leapfrog them in the latest edition of the CFP rankings.
Next week the Buckeyes will welcome J.T. Barrett back into the fold for an early kick against Illinois but before we start preparations for Ohio State's trip to Champaign, here are Five Things from last night's decision over the Gophers.
AT LEAST THERE'S NO CONTROVERSY
Urban Meyer and Ed Warinner said all the right things after last night's offensive performance with Cardale Jones at the controls but I would be shocked – assuming the decision is 100 percent football based – if J.T. Barrett isn't back in the saddle next weekend.
Cardale wasn't awful, his level of play is just not in the same stratosphere as last year and his style of play feels like a clunky fit within this year's personnel and play calling.
On the downside, he completed only 55 percent of his throws, seemed uncomfortable moving beyond the first read, killed a drive with a fumble in the red zone, came up short on a few deep balls and dropped a pop pass attempt.
Conversely, he found Jalin Marshall on a 44-yard streak and hit Braxton Miller for 45 yards on a play that might have been a touchdown but Miller seemed to lose awareness of his defender and stopped sprinting after the catch.
Jones also found a groove with three straight well thrown completions early in the second half before putting the ball on the ground. He also ripped off a few nice runs up the gut including a 38-yarder to seal the deal.
I'll always be grateful for Cardale – he's a Buckeye legend no matter what happens from here – but on a team that wants the quarterback to run the ball consistently, behind a line that sometimes struggles in pass pro, with wideouts that don't strike fear into opposing defenses with their vertical prowess. Barrett is simply the best fit for the job.
ANSWERING THE BELL
In a scoreless tie late in the second quarter Ohio State was looking for a spark.
The Buckeye offense had just punted for the fourth straight time due to just 60 total yards through nearly a half and Minnesota took over at its own 8-yard line. On 3rd-and-6 from the 12, Vonn Bell diagnosed a play he had seen earlier as the Gophers lined up trips right.
Baiting the quarterback, he briefly held back before jumping the route, intercepting the ball and rambling 16 yards for Ohio State's first score of the game.
The play was vintage Bell who has made a habit out of providing big plays with his physical and cerebral approach to the game.
The surest tackler in OSU lore since Mike Doss, Bell also racked up a career-high 10 stops on the night.
As the stakes go up with Ohio State's schedule close to getting real, look for Bell to continue raising his level of play just as we saw last year.
OH, LINE
After a penalty-free performance last week featuring 281 yards rushing and one sack the offensive line didn't fare as well versus Minnesota.
To be fair, the Gopher defense is better than that of Rutgers but Minnesota was without its top two defensive tackles and the Slobs still paved the way for 189 rushing yards on 4.3 yards per carry representing the second-lowest total in the last six games.
Pass protection was also an issue as Jones was sacked four times thanks to a few blown assignments. Taylor Decker seemed to have an off night in this regard while Chase Farris (false start) and Jacoby Boren (holding) both recorded flags getting the Buckeye offense off schedule.
Pat Elflein remained the most consistent of the group with another solid effort and Billy Price seems to be following last year's track of improving as the season wears on but Boren and Farris have struggled with consistency.
With the rest of OSU's league schedule all in the top half of the league in rush defense the slobs need to clean up the opportunities to once again peak at the right time.
SEVEN & SEVEN
Jalin Marshall didn't find the end zone last night but on seven total touches he racked up 120 all-purpose yards, second only to Ezekiel Elliott's 123 yards on 27 touches.
Marshall, who has a habit of scaring fans with his punt return exploits had five such opportunities last night totaling 64 yards including a 33-yarder. On the season, Marshall sits fourth in the B1G averaging 13.3 yards per return.
Through the air Marshall hauled in two passes for 56 yards including a 44-yarder setting up Elliott's 15-yard touchdown jaunt one play later giving the Buckeyes their first offensive score of the night.
On the season – despite playing a new position and missing a game due to suspension – Marshall ranks second on the team in both receptions (23) and yards (357). He sits just behind Miller in yards per catch at 15.5.
Could he be ready to break out down the stretch as he did a season ago?
KICKS JUST KEEP GETTING HARDER TO FIND
How baffling is it that a football factory like Ohio State hasn't had a reliable field goal kicker since Drew Basil left after connecting on nine of 10 tries in 2013?
Last year true freshman Sean Nuernberger took over the job and connected on just 13 of 20 tries (65%) with five of those misses coming from 40+ yards.
While those numbers weren't great Nuernberger was a highly touted guy out of high school and the general thought outside the locker room was that he'd get better with experience.
Inside the program however Ohio State was interested in going a different route as Urban brought in a graduate transfer in senior Jack Willoughby who subsequently won both kickoff and place kicking duties.
In the nine games since, Willoughby has connected on seven of 11 field goal attempts (64%). He's missed all three of his attempts beyond 40 yards and last night he pushed a 35-yard try to the right, his first miss from 30-39 yards this season (3/4).
Considering Willoughby has no eligibility beyond this season and his numbers are no better than Nuernberger's, it makes you wonder just what is going on behind the scenes there. Is Sean that bad of a practice kicker that Meyer has no confidence or is there more to the story? I'm not suggesting that by any stretch, it's just slightly puzzling on the surface.
