Through nine weeks of football, Ohio State has looked the best. There is no argument about this being a subjective statement. All eight of the Ohio State's victories have come by double digits. Six times, the offense has topped 40. Seven times the defense has held the opponent to less than 21 points. It seems easy.
The first eight years of the College Football Playoff have taught us that this is not a beauty contest, no matter how good Ryan Day is. There is a point in the season where a fight is all about strength and relentlessness.
The best-looking team in the sport got dragged down into the muck when Penn State broke one big play after another on Saturday.
When Ohio State got dirty, it felt even more impressive.
There was a game in which Ohio State missed a field goal and flubbed a shot.
It was a game in which Day's team might've delivered a knockout punch early, but saw Penn State get off the mat and deliver a flurry of jabs.
It was a game in which Stroud looked out of sorts at times, in which Emeka Egbuka had some drops, and in which one big run salvaged the team.
The score still looked sexy, it was an eighth consecutive double-digit win to start the season.
In the playoffs, Alabama and Ohio State did that. This is it. It's the entire list.
The only team that won it all, thanks in part to the LSU Tigers, was the 2020 Tide. No matter how good a team is through eight games, there are still seven more to play.
If there were questions about the Ohio State team, Saturday was a good place to start.
Marvin Harrison Jr., who has blossomed into a Superstar, is the focus of the season. He caught 10 balls for 185 yards against Penn State, and every time Ohio State had a got-to- have-it play, it looked to Harrison.
After last year's struggles, we had real questions about the defense, but Jim Knowles has done a great job. Even though Penn State scored 31 points, Ohio State had four turnovers and three sacks, and Tommy Eichenberg had 15 tackles, as well as an intercept.
It was obvious from the season's opening notes that Ohio State was eager to forget the pain of last year's loss to Michigan. Last season, Ohio State was all about glamor and extravagance.
Saturday proved that the Ohio State team can roll around in the mud and still look amazing.
The first college football playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday and it's time to start yelling at the committee. Here is your official guide to why each Power 5 team should be in the top four.
Illinois (7-1)
The Illini have the most impressive defense in the nation, holding seven of eight opponents to less than 300 yards of total offense. If he wants his deposit back on ice fishing lodge, he has to give 60 days notice.
TCU (8-0)
The Frogs have a good reputation. Only two teams have four or more wins this season. They've won a lot of road games. They scored 38 points or more in each of their first eight games of the season, making them the third Power 5 team to do that in the playoffs. They are the only hope for a team from Texas to make the playoffs.
Clemson (8-0)
The resume of the tigers stacks up with everyone. They've won four road games, four games against top-40 teams, three games against ranked opponents, and they're not worried about their quarterback. Don't ask.
Georgia (8-0)
We did not watch any Georgia games. They've all been boring, even the close one against Missouri where the team spent most of the first three quarters trying to figure out what was going on with Chris Pine and Harry Styles. If Georgia isn't in the top four, the committee won't like Brock Bowers and he'll be angry.
Alabama (7-1)
Alabama lost a good game to the committee. Nothing is more heavy than that. The Tide should not be ranked in the top four so early. Man, that is rat poison. Worst comes to worst, and that's what Saban can do if he makes the playoffs.
A great Saturday of football is about the top 25 teams playing each other, but what really puts the action over the top is the awful football that we haven't wasted a day eating wings on.
There was a lot of bad football in Week 9.
The University of Miami defeated the University of Virginia in four overtimes.
This was four times worse than the average root canal because it took longer.
The forward pass was not a significant part of the game when Miami went back a bit too far in the time machine.
Virginia, which was among the most prolific offenses in the country a year ago, and its receiver react to passes like trick-or-treaters do candy corn.
There were no turnovers in Saturday's game, so at least it was a bad game.
At the end of the game, there was a tie. It was the first time this season that neither team scored a touchdown. This week, Brian Ferentz will be filing a lawsuit.
The special teams came out on top. Miami had more yards on the offensive side of the ball, but Lou Hedley had more punt yards for the Hurricanes. Frank Beamer popped a bottle of champagne after holding out a framed photo of himself celebrating.
The University of Connecticut defeated Boston College 3 to 1.
BC had a lot of mistakes. Both teams were six-of-28 on third down and had 19 tackles for loss. Is that the case with punts? Do you think so?
Danny Longman's punt only traveled 17 yards.
It was the first win over a Power 5 opponent for the University of Connecticut in two years. Considering they only won four of their previous 41 games this season, it's impressive that the Huskies have four victories.
It might be a good idea for Boston College to put up some police tape where the offensive line should be and hope the opposition doesn't cross it. BC lost against a team from New England for the first time in 38 years.
The University of Iowa defeated the University of Nebraska 13-13.
The only thing Iowa did was punt. It's so hard. Fans paid a lot of money to see a person. Spencer Petras has thrown three touchdown passes this year. We think he's two more away from the Iowa record.
New Mexico State defeated the University of Massachusetts 13-13.
For the first time in almost a year, the Aggies have won two in a row. Fans who watch the University of Massachusetts lose by 10 or less will get a free small coffee at all of the participating stores.
Molly Ringwald is a student at Notre Dame. The Big Ten is rich but Ducky is not.
It's one thing for Notre Dame to point out that the Atlantic Coast Conference is nice, but it's not the Irish's style.
It's one thing to show up for a date with the Atlantic Coast Conference and leave the league alone at 1 a.m. looking for a gallon of ice cream and a bottle of wine.
The Irish won their 25th straight regular-season game against the Atlantic Coast Conference, dating back to last year, after beating Syracuse 41-24 on Saturday. The University of Notre Dame is 38-9 during this relationship.
One third of Notre Dame's losses have come at the hands of the other team. If the Irish win, they will end the conference's playoff hopes.
Notre Dame will send the league a text late one night this week with a simple "U up?" message, and against its better judgement, the conference will reply. These relationships go that way. If the Atlantic Coast Conference picks up Notre Dame's dry cleaning on the way home from work and doesn't mind dog-sitting for a few days while Notre Dame gets away for a long weekend at USC later this year, the Irish may finally notice that.
Notre Dame is going to hit them with "It's not you, NC". We're us. We enjoy our independence very much.
The fake field goals should be cherished by everyone. Some fakes attain epic status because they are designed to get the ball into the hands of the most elite athlete on the team: the kicker.
It was that Oklahoma ran a doozy Saturday, with holder Michael Turk flipping the ball to kickerZach Schmit, who rumbled into the end zone.
On Oklahoma's fake field goal, Turk passes the ball to Schmit.
It was the first Power 5 player to score a touchdown this season and the first kicker to do so. The last kicker to score a touchdown in the Big 12 was Michael Hunnicutt of the Sooners.
In his first season at Oklahoma, Venables gave us this. We should be thankful for the rest of our lives.
The only game we've paid attention to in a while is Holy Cross's overtime win over Fordham on Saturday, which is to say the most exciting game we've watched in a long time.
Holy Cross tied the game at 45 with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Coker. He had six catches for 131 yards and 3 touchdown.
Holy Cross fought back, scoring on a nine-yard pass to the pride of Swedesboro, New Jersey, Justin Shorter, to tie the game at 52 at the end of overtime. Ayir Asante scored the winning goal for the Crusaders as they went for two.
Holy Cross is one of four teams that are still perfect.
The teams that won on Saturday were good. Saturday was the fourth victory of the year for the Frogs, who are a championship caliber team. The really great teams cover. The Frogs did that with a heave downfield on fourth-and-1 with 20 seconds to play, as Max Duggan hit Savion Williams for a 29-yard touchdown and a 41-31 victory. It isn't important to the playoff committee, but it is important to us.
The 29-yard touchdown was the difference in the game.
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