Per the Coaches and AP polls, Saturday’s game is No. 8/9 Ohio State versus very much unranked Nebraska. Per the S&P+ rankings however, crafted by Bill Connelly of SB Nation, the Buckeyes are the best team in the country after beating Maryland 62-14 in Columbus last Saturday, and will face 50th-ranked Nebraska. The Huskers dropped 12 spots in the rankings, falling behind two Big Ten teams it had previously outranked, Indiana (38th this week, 46th last week) and Iowa (42nd, 45th).
Here’s what Connelly had to say about the Buckeyes at No. 1 on his podcast this week, Podcast Ain’t Played Nobody (which is quite good):
[Ohio State’s] only loss was to Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s still eighth. It always looks weird when you have a team with a blemish ahead of a bunch of teams that don’t have one. But in terms of dominance, that’s how dominant Ohio State has been. And if it’s kind of a false thing where they can’t do that against top-10 teams, then we’ll find out soon enough. They play Penn State pretty soon.
I don’t know if they’ll stay No. 1, but basically this is the second time in four years Ohio State took an early-season loss, licked their wounds, figured out what they were doing wrong and laid waste to everyone in their path. If they keep that up, and we know they can because they did it three years ago, it wouldn’t be that incredibly crazy.
Ahhh, yes. That’s the “Murderin’ Meyer Mode” I was referring to yesterday. Ohio State is playing with a purpose: Vanquish the memory of the Oklahoma loss by destroying everything remaining in its path. Doing a pretty good job of it, too.
Remember how after two weeks Ohio State had the only pass defense (from a yards perspective) worse than Nebraska’s? The Buckeyes are up to 17th now. After a young secondary gave up 806 yards to Indiana and Oklahoma to start the season, it has given up 215 yards since. Ohio State’s defense also ranks in the top 25 nationally in efficiency, limiting explosive plays, field position and points per trip inside the 40. (You can find Nebraska’s ranking in all of those categories here.)
Unfortunately we didn’t get Urban Meyer’s take on the Cornhuskers yesterday. He missed his usual Monday press conference to be with a player who was dealing with a family emergency.
Gators Go Gray/Green
So Florida unveiled some new uniforms yesterday and they’re, uh, well, see for yourself:
Full uniform. Do you like it? pic.twitter.com/ScioReZMVd
— GatorsCenter (@GatorsCenter) October 10, 2017
So this whole ensemble — an 18-month design process! – is being called “Swamp Green.” (Uni-Watch has more photos and a breakdown here.) I guess it’s sort of like a Magic Eye poster, because for the first 12 hours I stared at this thing, it just looked gray. But now I sort of see the green.
I also don’t hate this as much as I did at first glance. Is it ridiculous? Absolutely, but points for committing to an idea and going all-in. And as the owner of more than one pair of exotic cowboy boots, I do legitimately enjoy the shoes although colleague Derek Peterson has pointed out the real weakness here (and it ain’t a gator-print jersey) which I can now not unsee:
Yes. That is objectively terrible.
— Brandon Vogel (@brandonlvogel) October 10, 2017
The Grab Bag
- Slew of stuff on the site yesterday including press conference and practice reports, a pair of volleyball updates and a recruiting recap.
- Mike Riley's successor at Oregon State, former Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersent, parted ways with the school on Monday and walked away from a $12 million buyout. Oregonian columnist John Canzano has more on the strange story.
- Kevin McGuire of Athlon offers a midseason review of Nebraska.
- Some great details in this behind-the-scenes story of Western Michigan's seven-overtime win over Buffalo last Saturday.
Today's Song of Today
This song sounds "Swamp Green"
