Wow. I'm a pretty cocky Buckeye fan. I naturally think we're going to win every game by 30 or 40 points. I have to say, though, that even I was impressed with the performance the Bucks put forth last night. Save for a monsoon, tOSU's offense is virtually unstoppable. I think Herbie said it best last night when he said that any defense that hoped to stop the Buckeye offense would need 3 or 4 good defensive backs. There are only about five schools at the D1 level with that kind of talent in their secondary and we already beat one of them handily. With the 38-17 route over Iowa, the Buckeyes overcame the pink locker rooms, the sea of yellow and all of the hype to extend the nation's longest winning streak to 12 games. The Vest moved to 24-7 (.708) vs ranked opponents and a mind-boggling 40-3 (.930) when leading at halftime.
Troy Smith is continuing his Charlie Ward-esque march to the stiff arm trophy. With four touchdowns including a surgeon-like strike to Robo in the 4th, he took advantage of Adrian Peterson having a bye to solidify that top spot a little further. I see the dirty MSM is trying to push Brady Quinn back into the race, but that ship sailed a couple of weeks ago.
Gonzo checked in with 5 catches for 77 yards and 2 TDs including a highlight run for the ages in which he reversed field, broke 5 tackles and covered about 50 yards on a 30 yard score. Key on Ginn and Gonzo and the other guys will eat you up underneath. Take that away and Pittman eats you up. What's a defensive coordinator to do?
Speaking of Pittman, 25 for 117 and another TD and all of a sudden he's 9th in the nation in rushing. He's that good. And by that good, I mean averaging a half yard more per attempt than Adrian Peterson.
It should be smooth sailing from here until November 18th. The Buckeyes have consolidated their grip on the #1 spot in both the writers and coaches polls with 62 first place votes in each poll now. Both Stewart Mandel of SI and Ivan Maisel of ESPN turned in columns last night pointing out the fact that there should be little doubt about how firm the hold on #1 is, but one ass clown in each poll still has a #1 vote going to Auburn.
Notes..
- Check out this poll from ESPN asking who should be ranked #2 behind tOSU. Michigan is in front of runner-up Auburn by 3% points at the time of this writing. Wolverine fans take note: if you hover over each state to see how it went, the Buckeye state was far and away the biggest Wolverine booster outside the state of Michigan. As much as we despise each other, there's definitely mutual respect and I think it would be any Buckeye or Wolverine fan's dream to see the two schools hook up on November 18, undefeated and atop the polls.
- I can remember telling friends after the Northern Illinois game not to worry about our run defense b/c I thought we had faced the best back we'll see all year in Garrett Wolfe. Evidently I was wrong. Wolfe might be the best back the Buckeyes face in the next ten years. Little man went off against Ball State to the tune of 353 yards on 31 carries with 3 TDs. He turned in a FREAKIN' 1181 yard month of September! At this pace, he's projected to go for a staggering 2834 yards on the ground this season.
- Random Buckeye fact goodness released from the OSU Athletics Communications Department after the Iowa game.
