Written by Jesse Lamovsky

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Is there such thing as an unimpressive 4-0 record? If you don’t think so, apparently you haven’t watched Ohio State for the first part of the season. The Buckeyes moved to an imperfectly perfect 4-0 with a 29-15 victory over Alabama-Birmingham at the Horseshoe on Saturday afternoon, capping off a month’s worth of sloppy, stumbling  performances that all happened to end in victories.

Thank God for the Scoreboard: If you just looked at the box score of Saturday’s game, you might think UAB pulled the upset. The Blazers outgained Ohio State 403-347, picked up 22 first downs to Ohio State’s 20 and controlled the ball for nearly 34 minutes. For the majority of the afternoon they were the better, more efficient team. The only thing UAB didn’t do- aside from win, of course- was turn its copious yardage into touchdowns. Despite moving up and down the field almost the entire game the Blazer offense couldn’t get the ball into the end zone, settling for three field goals off the powerful leg of kicker Ty Long.

Special-Teams Breakdown: UAB did score a touchdown, however- just not on offense. With 9:21 left in a scoreless first quarter, Blazer safety Calvin Jones came through clean and took a punt practically off the foot of Ben Buchanan. Nick Adams scooped up the loose ball and cruised into the end zone to give UAB a 6-0 lead. The Buckeyes blocked the extra point; however, their return unit would later be caught napping on the second-half kickoff as the Blazers recovered their own onside kick (they wound up punting on the possession.)

Sleepy Start: Although the Buckeyes were playing at home they started the game as if they’d just flown in non-stop from somewhere several time zones west. Four-and-a-half minutes into the second period, Urban Meyer’s troops were being outgained 133-37, had a punt blocked and returned for a score and trailed the 37-point underdogs from Birmingham by a score of 9-0.

Finally, Some Life: After the terrible start Ohio State finally got going and effectively won the game with three second-period touchdowns. The Buckeyes sliced the deficit to 9-7 by driving 75 yards, finishing the march on Rod Smith’s one-yard plunge. After Ty Long’s second field goal, a 54-yard blast, made it 12-7, Ohio State took its first lead courtesy of the arm and legs of Braxton Miller. Three consecutive completions by Miller took the Buckeyes from their 37 to the UAB 12; the sophomore phenomenon then called his own number and went twelve spinning, diving yards to make it 14-12 in favor of the home team.

Moments later Miller and company were back on the field after UAB tight end Kennard Backman fumbled and Doran Grant recovered at the Blazer 32. A 19-yard run by Miller, 11-yard Miller-to-Philly Brown hookup and two-yard Zach Boren run made it 21-12 with 1:02 remaining in the half. Ohio State now had all the points it needed, although there would still be plenty of drama forthcoming in the second half.

Hit and Wrap, for God’s Sake: Once upon a time, under the tutelage of Mark Dantonio and Jim Heacock, Ohio State boasted one of the best-tackling defensive units in college football. Once a Silver Bullet got his hands on an opposing ball-carrier the play was usually over.

That was then. This is now. Ohio State’s tackling was an issue in 2011, was an issue in the first three weeks of 2012 and continued to be an issue last Saturday. Over-pursuing, taking poor angles, not wrapping and not finishing plays, the Buckeyes time and again allowed UAB runners and receivers to escape for bonus yardage. With a meeting with Michigan State on the immediate horizon, Ohio State needs to get its tackling issues solved- quickly. Launching bodies won’t cut it against Le’Veon Bell and Dion Sims.

Nickel-and-Dimed: For years the book on Ohio State’s defense has been to spread the field and attack with short, quick passes. That book was still very much open on Saturday. UAB’s quarterback tandem of Austin Brown and Jonathan Perry combined to go 28-of-46 through the air, much of it on screens and swings past charging defenders. With Buckeyes missing tackles after the catch, the short passing game enabled the Blazers to dominate time-of-possession and consistently move the chains, although it led to diminishing returns once they got into Ohio State territory.

Killer Whistles: UAB’s real issue was penalties, particularly on offense. The Blazers were penalized nine times for 99 yards, with a bunch chunk of those being chop-blocking fouls. At least two UAB first-down plays were negated by chop blocks, big reasons why Garrick McGee’s team couldn’t convert yards into touchdowns or a “good loss” into a historic upset.

Third-Down Woes: A week after going 5-of-19 on third down against South Carolina, the Blazers went a solid 7-of-17 against the Buckeyes. Two of the conversions were particularly galling, as UAB picked up a pair of 3^rd-and-16 plays to keep alive an 80-yard drive that led to a field goal and a 21-15 deficit early in the fourth period. Later in the period motor-mouthed Christian Bryant was flagged for taunting to wipe out a Buckeye third-down stop. The penalty looked like a potential killer at the time; however, UAB’s drive stalled and the formerly flawless Ty Long was wide left on a 46-yard attempt to keep the margin at six.

Putting it Away: After Long’s miss with ten minutes left, Ohio State got its offense restarted and drove 71 yards to the clinching score. Once again Braxton Miller was the man on point, passing and running for 61 of those yards and topping off the drive with his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon from a yard out. Miller then froze a UAB defender and danced in to ring up the two-point conversion and finish the scoring for the day.

Braxton’s Line: 12-of-20 for 143 yards; 11 carries for 64 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Hall had 105 yards on 17 carries, but even so Urban Meyer’s best offensive play consists of Braxton Miller running the football. It’s a coach’s conundrum: obviously you want it in the hands of your best player but at the same time you can’t let him get killed out there, because if he gets hurt you’re truly screwed.

We’ll Take That, I Guess: Braxton’s numbers prorated over the entire season- 2,262 passing yards, 61.2 completion percentage, 21-to-6 TD-to-INT ratio; 1,323 rushing yards, 21 rushing touchdowns.

Around the Nation      

Game of the Week- Miami/Georgia Tech: Despite scandal and strife- as well as the embarrassing rout at the hands of Kansas State- Al Golden has Miami at a solid 3-1. The latest victory for the Hurricanes at Georgia Tech was a dizzying rollercoaster ride. Miami sprinted out to a 19-0 first-quarter lead, yielded 36 unanswered points to trail 36-19 midway through the third period, and bounced back to score the final 23, with Mike James’s 25-yard touchdown run- his third score- finishing off the 42-36 overtime triumph. Stephen Morris bombarded the Yellowjackets for 436 passing yards in the win, as the Hurricanes racked up 609 total yards.

Insanity in the Big Ten: Going into the Big Ten portion of the schedule, there is one thing we know and one thing we can reasonably predict:

What we know: The conference is as down as it’s been in years.

What we can reasonably predict: Because everyone seems to be down, that makes this year’s Big Ten race as potentially dramatic and compelling as we’ve seen in a long time.

What so-called contender actually looks good? Wisconsin lost to Oregon State and was fortunate to escape Utah State at night in Camp Randall, and more and more it looks like a lost season for Montee Ball. Iowa lost at home to Iowa State and Central Michigan. Nebraska is 3-1 but lost to the one team they played with a pulse. Michigan has looked very average. Michigan State hasn’t scored a first-half touchdown in three games and Le’Veon Bell is going to look like present-day Earl Campbell by November if he keeps getting the ball at this rate (36 carries against Eastern Michigan!) And the less said about Illinois, the better.

There are three 4-0 teams left in the Big Ten: Ohio State (which is on probation); Northwestern (which is Northwestern) and Minnesota (which is Minnesota.) So much for the BCS title, huh?

The upside to all this mediocrity is that the race for the Big Ten Championship shapes up as a glorious mess. Nobody is running away with this thing because everyone is too flawed. The team that has won the majority of conference titles the last decade isn’t even in the running. The potential for surprises and Cinderella stories exists. No, there won’t be any BCS titles decided; it’ll be old-school Big Ten, where it’s all about the Rose Bowl on January 1^st. But to a college football fan and one without a dog in this fight, it should be fascinating to watch unfold.   

A Big Win for the Master: Saturday’s biggest upset came courtesy of the Kansas State Wildcats and their 72-year old patriarch Bill Snyder. Playing in front of a hostile crowd in Norman- where they hadn’t won since 1997- the ‘Cats pounded out 213 rushing yards, went 7-of-14 on third downs, dominated time-of-possession and scored 17 points off turnovers while committing none themselves in a 24-19 win over error-prone Oklahoma. The win vaults K-State into the upper echelon of the Big 12 race and makes the Wildcats a serious contender in the BCS.

It’s yet another highlight in the career of one of the sport’s most remarkable figures. Using opportunistic defense, solid special teams and a physical, ground-oriented offense as his glue, Snyder has once again melded a gaggle of low-rated prospects and junior-college stars into a formidable team. K-State has had its stars under Snyder, the latest being rugged quarterback-fullback hybrid Collin Klein, but his teams win more with disciplined, coherent play than with athletic pyrotechnics. Four years ago Kansas State’s re-hiring of Snyder looked like a desperation move. As it turns out, the old man still had plenty of miles left on the odometer.

A glance at the history of Kansas State football tells you all you need to know about the accomplishments of this man. In the 96 seasons in which they were coached by someone other than Bill Snyder, the Wildcats have played in- and lost- two minor bowl games. Their last conference title under someone other than Bill Snyder came in 1934. Under Snyder, K-State has played in thirteen bowl games and owns three Big 12 North titles and one outright conference championship. You could make a very persuasive argument that no coach in the history of college football has meant more to a program than Bill Snyder has meant to Kansas State.

And thanks to the old master and his latest bunch of overachievers, Kansas State is once again making history in the present.

Florida State: Other than Alabama, perhaps no team looked better over the first three weeks than Florida State. Then again, perhaps no team played a softer schedule than the Seminoles, who ripped Murray State, Savannah State and Wake Forest by a combined score of 176-3. Last season FSU reached the number-five spot in the polls before coming to earth against Oklahoma. Many predicted the same fate when high-powered Clemson came to Tallahassee on Saturday night.

But this just might be a different Florida State team. After spotting Clemson a 28-14 lead, the Seminoles exploded on both sides of the ball, shutting down the Tigers while ripping off 35 second-half points. The result was 667 total yards, a decisive 49-37 victory and early control of the ACC’s Atlantic Division.

Certainly the elements are there to make a run at the BCS- a senior quarterback in E.J. Manuel, a deep cast of offensive playmakers and a defense blessed with plenty of that old Florida Speed. The question for FSU in recent years has been consistency. Even with four of their final seven games being played on the road, the Seminoles should be favored every week until the end of the regular season. Now, after the program’s biggest win in years, it’s about taking care of business from here on out.  

Undefeated Surprises

A total of seventeen teams are 4-0 as we reach the one-third mark of the regular season. In the cases of some of these sixteen- Alabama, LSU, Oregon- it would be a surprise if they weren’t 4-0. On the flip side, there are also the teams off to unexpected perfect starts. Here are three such teams: 

Rutgers: Is there life in Piscataway after Greg Schiano? You’d better believe it. Kyle Flood is a perfect 4-0 as a head coach after his Scarlet Knights went into Fayetteville and added to Arkansas’s woes with a 35-26 victory. With one of the nation’s stingiest defenses and an extremely favorable schedule moving forward Rutgers has an excellent chance to duplicate its dream season of 2006, when the Knights went 11-2 and came within a whisker of an Orange Bowl berth.

Minnesota: Whatever problems the rest of the Big Ten has experienced haven’t spread to the Twin Cities. Jerry Kill’s Gophers are 4-0 for the first time since 2008 after shutting down Syracuse 17-10 on a chilly Saturday night in TCF Bank Stadium. Minnesota’s defense forced four turnovers and kept the potent Orangemen out of the end zone until the final moment of play. The Gophers begin Big Ten play next week with a trip south to face the reeling Iowa Hawkeyes. Minnesota has taken two in a row from Iowa but hasn’t carried Floyd of Rosedale triumphantly out of Kinnick Stadium since 1999.

Notre Dame: Despite an offense that operates in fits and starts the Irish are 4-0 for the first time in a decade and flying high after wins over Michigan State and Michigan. Notre Dame’s defense made life miserable for the Wolverines, intercepting six passes and harassing Denard Robinson into perhaps the worst game of his career. The opportunity for a BCS at-large berth is right there, provided Brian Kelly fixes his offense in time to negotiate a challenging remaining schedule. 10-2 is possible, and 10-2 will likely be good enough for the Irish to play in a BCS game.

Winners of the Week

LSU: A great defense is portable; it can win you games at home or on the road. LSU’s defense won Saturday night’s 12-10 nail-biter at Auburn, as the Tigers of Death Valley held the Tigers of the Plains to 183 total yards, forced three turnovers and rang up the first-quarter safety that turned out to be the margin of victory. After a home layup against Towson next week, LSU’s defense will again be called upon to save the day when the Tigers travel to Gainesville to take on Florida.  

Oregon State: Remember when the Beavers beat Wisconsin way back at the start of the season? Well, they finally returned to action last week and pulled off a second consecutive upset, gunning down UCLA in Pasadena, 27-20. Mike Riley’s team did it with defense against the Badgers; they did it with offense against the Bruins, rolling up 501 total yards.

San Jose State: This once-proud program has fallen on hard times in recent years, but it looks as if the Spartans are on the way back under third-year head coach Mike MacIntyre. They’re 3-1, their best start in six years (the one loss in the final seconds at Stanford) after coming from behind to defeat San Diego State 38-34 on Saturday. MacIntyre’s triggerman is junior David Fales, who threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter against the Aztecs- including the game-winner with under a minute to play.

Colorado: Trailing 31-14 midway through the fourth quarter at Washington State, the flat-lining Buffaloes used  big plays to launch a miracle comeback that culminated in a 35-34 win over the Cougars- their first of the season. A 70-yard Jordan Webb-to-Nick Kasa strike and an 84-yard sprint by Tony Jones got Colorado back in it, and Webb’s four-yard, fourth-down bootleg pulled it out with nine seconds to play.

UNLV: After three exasperating losses to start the season, the Rebels are finally in the win column after upsetting Air Force, 38-35 on Saturday. Trailing 28-17 at halftime, Vegas scored three unanswered touchdowns and racked up 240 yards of total offense after intermission.

Losers of the Week

Arizona: Saturday night’s showdown at Oregon was a disaster on both sides of the ball for the Wildcats. Arizona had its chances early but came up scoreless on four trips inside Oregon’s red zone. Then, while its defense collapsed, its offense yielded two interception returns for touchdowns. The result was 36 second-half points for Oregon and a 49-0 defeat for the Wildcats, who showed conclusively that once again they aren’t ready for prime-time in the Pac-12.

Illinois: Look, Louisiana Tech is a pretty good team. The Bulldogs won the WAC last season, played TCU extremely tough in the Poinsettia Bowl and are off to a great start in 2012 behind the prolific passing battery of quarterback Colby Cameron and receiver Quinton Patton. But as formidable as the Bulldogs are, there is no excuse for them destroying Illinois 52-24 in Champaign on Saturday. The Illini should be better than that. Apparently they aren’t.  

South Florida: Once again the Bulls can’t stand prosperity. After starting out 2-0 they’ve lost two straight, including Saturday’s 31-27 defeat at Ball State. After coming from behind to take a three-point lead late in the fourth period, USF couldn’t keep the Cardinals from marching 75 yards to the winning touchdown with 1:02 to play. And if the Bulls thought Ball State was tough, wait till they get a load of their next opponent- Florida State, which comes to Tampa next Saturday evening.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes’ harrowing, injury-riddled road hit a massive bump on Saturday with a 32-31 loss to Central Michigan in Kinnick Stadium. Iowa led 31-23 late in the fourth quarter but in the final minute the Chippewas scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick and pulled out the game on a 47-yard field goal by David Harman.

Auburn: At 1-3, the Tigers are off to their worst start since 1998, Terry Bowden’s last season on the Plains. The lone victory was an overtime squeaker over Louisiana-Monroe. The main problem is offense: the Tigers have scored an average of 13 points in their three defeats. Fortunately there’s a chance for Gene Chizek’s team to get healthy, with Arkansas coming to town next Saturday.

Next: Saturday afternoon at 3:30, when the Buckeyes kick off the Big Ten season in East Lansing against the Michigan State Spartans.