COULD THIS BE THE PLAY OF THE YEAR????
The AP Top 25 Rank
1. Florida (55) 4-0 1,490
2. Texas (1) 4-0 1,420
3. Alabama (4) 4-0 1,400
4. LSU 4-0 1,225
5. Boise St. 4-0 1,203
6. Virginia Tech 3-1 1,190
7. Southern Cal 3-1 998
8. Oklahoma 2-1 979
9. Ohio St. 3-1 957
10. Cincinnati 4-0 946
11. TCU 3-0 896
12. Houston 3-0 844
13. Iowa 4-0 788
14. Oklahoma St. 3-1 591
15. Penn St. 3-1 470
16. Oregon 3-1 462
17. Miami 2-1 452
18. Georgia 3-1 418
18. Kansas 4-0 418
20. BYU 3-1 349
21. Mississippi 2-1 340
22. Michigan 4-0 271
23. Nebraska 3-1 256
24. California 3-1 206
25. Georgia Tech 3-1 185
Buckeyes defense earning respect with shutouts
www.cbssportsline.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- This was supposed to be an Ohio State team that needed its offense to carry the burden until the defense was on its feet.
That couldn't have been more wrong. In fact, the reverse might be true.
The Buckeyes (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) are playing like they haven't missed seven departing starters, including three-time All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis, cornerback Malcolm Jenkins and linebacker Marcus Freeman.
"It starts with we've got great players," coach Jim Tressel said. "Our defensive guys do a fabulous job preparing. They spend lots and lots of time. They take a lot of pride in making sure that they can uphold that tradition. They play hard."
The defense never permitted Illinois -- a team that scored 48 points on the Buckeyes the last two years with Juice Williams at quarterback -- to get inside the Ohio State 29 in a 30-0 pasting on Saturday. It was the Buckeyes' second shutout in a row, the first time that's happened in 13 years.
Sure, it was raining hard for most of the game. But holding the Illini to just 2.7 yards per play and 170 total yards was impressive. The Buckeyes climbed four spots to No. 9 in the latest Associated Press Top 25.
The loss led to some serious introspection by the Illini, who mustered just nine points in a lopsided loss to Missouri to open the season before walloping Bowl Championship Series opponent Illinois State two weeks ago. Judging from their meager attack, it's hard to imagine that the Illini had two weeks to prepare for Ohio State.
No wonder wide receiver Arrelious Benn was at a loss to explain his unit's anemic effort.
"I'm just clueless. I don't know what it is," he said. "We chip and chip our way down the field and then [have] a costly penalty or interception. It's really frustrating. We didn't even put up a field goal."
Tressel said everything starts up front with his defense, but the back seven are also playing exceedingly well.
"When you can control the trenches, which thus far we've done a pretty good job with that, you've got a very good chance," he said. "[Then] you've got guys in the back end that are very disciplined and do what they're supposed to do. They know that the other guys are going to be putting some pressure on the opposing quarterback."
The Buckeyes registered five sacks. When the Illini tried to pass, the primary receiver was seldom open and there were seldom other places to look.
"We knew the rain would affect the passing game," Ohio State safety Kurt Coleman said. "The key to our defense against Juice was to limit what he could do. We wanted to get on him as quickly as we could."
Williams was 13 of 25 for 77 yards with two interceptions, while McGee was 2 for 4 for 11 yards with one pick. The running game wasn't a threat, mustering just 82 yards on 34 carries.
"We wanted to make them one-dimensional," said linebacker Austin Spitler.
Spitler spent the last three years in the shadows, occasionally getting in for a play at linebacker when Laurinaitis would take a break.
"It has to do with a mindset of being scrappy," the graduate student said. "[The opponent] can drive, but we never give in."
No one in the Buckeyes locker room was getting ahead of themselves. It was only the Big Ten opener; the bulk of the season is still ahead.
But with games at Indiana, home with Wisconsin, at Purdue, home with Minnesota and nonconference foe New Mexico State the next five weeks, the Buckeyes have plenty of time to fine-tune their offense if the defense keeps playing like this.
Then come games at Penn State, at home against Iowa and the annual season-ender against Michigan, this time in Ann Arbor.
"We owe our defense," Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor said. "They're really something."
Week 4 What We Learned
www.espn.com
ACC
Virginia Tech is still King of the Coastal. Miami had a chance to unseat the defending conference champs and couldn't do it. The Hokies were the ones who played like a top-10 team, not Miami. Now the Canes, Georgia Tech and North Carolina all have a division loss. The Hokies still have to play Georgia Tech and North Carolina, so that can change the hierarchy in that division, but Virginia Tech will hold the tiebreaker over Miami if it's necessary in November. The Hokies have won three out of the past five ACC titles and can win another if they continue to play complete games like they did on Saturday against Miami.
Big 12
Texas A&M's defense is improved, but still untested. It would be hard to imagine a more valuable player for them than hybrid linebacker/defensive end Von Miller, who has produced a nation-leading eight sacks after three games. The Aggies lead the nation with 14 sacks after producing 16 in 12 games last season. Despite that strong early start, the A&M defense will get a heavy dose of reality Saturday when they face Ryan Mallett and Arkansas in Arlington, Texas, their toughest challenge to date.
Big East
South Florida is back in the national picture. Here we go again with the Bulls. Another undefeated September, another marquee nonconference win. It remains to be seen whether South Florida can get through the grind of a Big East season. But with young players like quarterback B.J. Daniels and receiver Sterling Griffin, this team has a lot of room to grow offensively. And if the defense plays the way it did in a suffocating 17-7 win at Florida State, South Florida can beat just about anybody.
Big Ten
Iowa is for real. Some Hawkeyes fans might have misinterpreted my postgame commentary. True, Penn State made mistakes Saturday night, but Iowa forced them with terrific defense and special teams. The Hawkeyes put themselves squarely in the Big Ten title mix with Ohio State by stunning the Nittany Lions for the seventh time in eight tries. Defense and special teams are the formula for success on the road, and Iowa executed both areas to perfection in the first of four challenging Big Ten away games. It's hard to imagine a defensive line in the country playing better than Iowa's.
Pac-10
Oregon might get the last laugh. How good a weekend did Oregon fans have? The Ducks rolled sixth-ranked California 42-3. Oregon State lost. Washington lost. Both sets of rival fans had been taking shots at the Ducks ever since they went rear-end-over-tea-kettle at Boise State. Even after a pair of quality victories, the latter one ending No. 18 Utah's 16-game winning streak, some were grumbling about new coach Chip Kelly and quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. The guess here is there will be no grumbling this week, at least on the Ducks' side of things. Of course, Pac-10 front-runners haven't been terribly secure of late.
SEC
Overrated until proven otherwise. LSU and Ole Miss are both overrated. There's no other way to say it. The difference between the two teams is that LSU is overrated and still unbeaten. Ole Miss is overrated and coming off a loss in its SEC opener. LSU coach Les Miles called the Tigers "vulnerable" following their 30-26 escape at Mississippi State, and he's right. I'd go as far as to say they're very beatable unless they find their running games and start playing with more consistency in all areas. And until Ole Miss gets its issues straightened out on offense, namely its pass protection and a passing game in general that's gone south thanks to Jevan Snead's slow start, the Rebels are also a team that looks extremely beatable and nothing like a top-10 team nationally.
Non-AQ
Houston's not a pretender. Even going into Saturday's game against Texas Tech there were questions about whether Houston was a fluke. The Cougars proved themselves to be contenders with a come-from-behind 29-28 victory. But the Cougars aren't out of the woods yet. Now, they go on a three-game road stint that includes games at UTEP, Mississippi State and Tulane.
Notre Dame
These guys sure aren't boring. You can certainly question whether Notre Dame's ability merits the attention it receives. But you can't argue that the Fighting Irish aren't entertaining. For the third straight week, their game came down to a play in the final minute, this time after a hobbling Jimmy Clausen led them on a touchdown drive that culminated with a pass to Kyle Rudolph with 24 seconds to go. There's no leaving a Notre Dame game early to beat the traffic.
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