Written by Jesse Lamovsky

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On one miracle heave launched deep into a chilly late-October night, Ohio State rejuvenated what once Braxton Miller logged only the first of hopefully a bunch of signature moments in Ohio State’s 33-29 win over bedeviled Wisconsin Saturday night. The extraordinarily composed freshman capped off an amazing game with an amazing throw- a 40-yard, across-the-body prayer that found Devin Smith in the end zone with twenty seconds left. The play topped off a dizzying last five minutes in which Ohio State seemingly locked up an upset win, seemingly blew it all Nebraska-style and finally took it back again, this time for keeps.   looked like a lost season - and gave birth to a legend.

Improbably, the victory puts the Buckeyes back into contention for a division title and a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. At 2-2 in the conference and 5-3 overall, Ohio State will take the Leaders Division if it wins out and Penn State loses twice. Not bad for a team Yours Truly left for dead on the floor of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln a few weeks ago.

Let’s Talk About Braxton Miller: Of the things I don’t miss about the Terrelle Pryor era (and there are a few, along with things I do miss) was the big Pennsylvanian’s petulant on-field demeanor- throwing his hands around, barking at coaches, etc. The even-keeled, almost icy demeanor of Braxton Miller is a very welcome change. Braxton has that Johnny Unitas thing going on- his expression and his body-language don’t change much regardless of the situation. To me, that calm, unruffled air is exactly what you want out of your quarterback.

You also want what Braxton Miller brought against the Badgers on Saturday night. Wisconsin knew he was running and it didn’t matter; eluding tacklers and foiling schemes designed to stop him, Miller danced for 99 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns. The first, a one-yard fourth-down bootleg in which he undressed a defender and strolled in, gave the Buckeyes their first lead early in the third quarter. The second, a 44-yard third-down jailbreak against a stacked Badger front, made it 26-14 with 4:39 left and seemingly locked up the game for Ohio State.

Arm-wise, you can see the gifts in a nice, quick release that looks a whole bunch better than Pryor’s awkward shot-put. Miller threw well all night, if not often. Victimized by a couple of early drops, Miller completed 7-of-12 for 89 yards and one spectacular touchdown, the game-winning toss to Devin Smith. Flushed out of the pocket (or maybe he flushed himself out, it’s hard to remember in the excitement), Miller kept his eyes downfield, directed Smith to the right spot and found him with a pass that was about as well-thrown as possible under the circumstances.

Overall the numbers- 188 combined yards, three touchdowns running and passing- were very good, but not extraordinary. But this night wasn’t about the numbers for Braxton Miller. It was about the talent, the poise and the clutch plays under duress. In a big game for the Buckeyes, the true freshman showed he’s a big-game player.

Boom Town: That’s not to say Braxton Miller didn’t have help. He got a ton of it from Daniel Herron, who racked up a big-time line on Saturday: 33 carries, 160 yards. His 57-yard gallop on the first play of the second half set up Miller’s first touchdown, the one-yard fourth-down run that gave Ohio State a 10-7 lead. Herron danced around a bit more than Yours Truly would have liked, arguably left some yards on the field by running east-west instead of his usual north-south; but it’s tough to be too critical of a guy who carried the Buckeye offense for long stretches in this game.

Great Defense (Well, Mostly): Just as remarkable as the play of Miller and Herron was the play of Ohio State’s defense. Facing one of the most prolific and efficient offenses in the country, the Silver Bullets were in full effect up until the final, frantic moments. They kept Russell Wilson in the pocket, forced him into rushed decisions and shut down the prized Badger running game. Wisconsin- Wisconsin- had ten yards rushing at halftime. After rolling 69 yards in eight plays to a touchdown midway through the first period, the Badgers went eight consecutive possessions without a drive of longer than 27 yards. This from an offense that entered the night ranked in the top fifteen in scoring, rushing and third-down conversion rate.

Leading the way was the Ohio State defensive front. John Simon was all over the field Saturday, leading in both word and deed in an emotional, inspired performance. Jonathan Hankins couldn’t be blocked often, while Adam Bellamy and Garrett Goebel chipped in with outstanding efforts. With the secondary young and the linebacker corps below its usual lofty standard, the defensive line has had to step up- and for the most part it has.

Like the Nebraska game, most of a night’s great effort was nearly thrown away by an eleventh-hour meltdown. To a certain extent you have to tip your cap to the Badgers; they’re a veteran team with a lot of talent and it’s tough to hold them down forever. But the fact remains that Ohio State’s defense had the game in the palm of its hand, and damned near- probably should have- let it slip away. It’s a young group and at critical points it looks its age- particularly Christian Bryant, a talented kid who too often lets potential big plays slip through his fingers.

Special Teams Giveth: Moments after taking their 10-7 lead, the Buckeyes got what looked like a game-breaking play from their special teams when Ryan Shazier roared in and blocked a Wisconsin punt, the ball eventually being recovered at the Badger one-yard line. Jordan Hall slithered over the goal line two plays later and Ohio State now led 17-7 with 9:26 left in the third quarter.

Special Teams Taketh Away: At this point, with Ohio State dominating both lines of scrimmage, the game was shaping up to be somewhat of a runaway. Unfortunately, Jordan Hall then proceeded to open the door for a Wisconsin comeback. His muffed punt midway through the third quarter gave the Badgers life and the ball at the Ohio State 27-yard line. Montee Ball barged over untouched from the one six plays later and it was 17-14 late in the third.

Stunning Collapse: With 4:39 to play Braxton Miller raced 44 yards down the near sideline for a touchdown, giving Ohio State a 26-14 lead. Even with lingering memories of the Nebraska disaster, the lead looked safe, especially given the way the Buckeye defense was performing. One more stop and victory would be assured.

Wisconsin promptly raced 66 yards in under a minute, Wilson hitting Jared Abbrederis for the touchdown that made it 26-21 with 3:48 left- still plenty of time for the Badgers to pull off a miracle. After a three-and-out by the Buckeyes, Wisconsin got the ball back at its 32-yard line with 2:36 remaining. Four plays later Wilson found Abbrederis again, this time on a 49-yard bomb over a discombobulated Ohio State secondary, and added the two-point conversion for a 29-26 lead. There was 1:18 to be played.

Wisconsin’s two late touchdown drives totaled 134 yards, required eight plays and shaved just a hair over two minutes off the click- and this after Ohio State’s defense had given up two touchdowns in 56 minutes. Russell Wilson hit on 5-of-6 pass attempts for 87 yards and two touchdowns, Montee Ball ripped off a 40-yard run and Abbrederis caught the aforementioned two scoring strikes. This was an even more shocking development than Nebraska; in that game you could see the meltdown taking shape long before it came to fruition. Ohio State’s defensive collapse on Saturday seemingly came out of nowhere.

Good thing Braxton Miller made it a moot point.

Your Current Big Ten Leaders (bleh) Standings  

Penn State (5-0, 8-1)

Wisconsin (2-2, 6-2)

Ohio State (2-2, 5-3)

Purdue (2-2, 4-4)

Illinois (2-3, 6-3)

Indiana (0-5, 1-8)

Penn State hosts Nebraska before finishing at Ohio State and at Wisconsin. Ohio State hosts Indiana, goes to Purdue and hosts Penn State before finishing at Michigan. If the Buckeyes win out (still a pretty big if at this point) and the Lions lose twice, including in Columbus on November 19, Ohio State wins the division.

Optimum Outcome: Ohio State wins out, beats Michigan in the Game, beats Michigan again in the Big Ten title game (could happen) and gets revenge for 1971 in the Rose Bowl over an undefeated Stanford team that gets squeezed out of the BCS title picture (also, could happen. The Stanford being left out of the title-game thing, I mean; not the Buckeyes beating them in the Rose Bowl.)

Unhappy Madison: It’s been a tough couple of weeks around Madison- two last-second losses on last-second heaves to send a dream season into despair. Bummer. Hey, I hear Orlando is nice on New Year’s Day (when it isn’t pouring down rain.)

Wait a Second: Didn’t I more or less predict a 28-or-35-point Wisconsin victory? Yes; yes, I did.  

 

Around the Nation

Game of the Week- Stanford/USC: We’ve already used 1,400 words on Ohio State-Wisconsin, so why not mention the Cardinal’s 56-48 triple-overtime victory at the Coliseum. It was billed as a battle of first-round passers in Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley, and it more or less lived up to the billing, Barkley throwing for 284 yards and three touchdowns, Luck for 330 and three scores of his own. Luck threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown and a 34-27 Trojan lead with 3:08 to play but directed the tying scoring drive, and the defense locked things up by recovering Curtis McNeal’s fumble in the end zone to kill USC’s final chance.

Stanford’s win puts Arizona State even more firmly in the driver’s seat in the Pac-12 South: the Sun Devils can clinch by splitting four very forgiving games at the tail end of the schedule. It also keeps the Cardinal very much alive in the BCS title hunt, behind only LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma State in the rankings. Winning out, plus losses by two of the three teams ahead of them, would in all likelihood put the Cardinal in the Championship Game. And they’re getting one loss for sure when the Tigers and Tide take the field on Saturday.

Winning out won’t be easy. Saturday’s game at Oregon State should be a layup and the last three games are on the Farm, including contests against Cal and Notre Dame- but the big test still remains in two weeks when the Cardinal face Oregon, the two-time defending conference champion and the only team to beat them since the beginning of the 2010 season.     

Player of the Week- Case Keenum, Houston: No passing record is safe when Case Keenum gets under center. The prolific senior shattered another biggie Thursday night against cross-town rival Rice, eclipsing Graham Harrell’s FBS mark of 134 touchdown passes. Keenum threw nine touchdown passes on the night to go with 534 yards as the Cougars stayed undefeated, outgunning the Owls 73-34. Patrick Edwards deserves a mention as well- he gathered in five of Keenum’s scoring tosses and piled up 318 receiving yards.

Last Week’s Studs, This Week’s Duds: A lot can change from one game to the next. Just ask the upset darlings from a week ago, who saw their fancy coaches turn into pumpkins overnight. Michigan State, which stunned Wisconsin, went out to Lincoln and was shut down completely, compiling a meager 187 total yards in a 24-3 loss to Nebraska that put the Huskers in at least temporary command of the Big Ten Legends Division.

A similar story played out in Louisville where the Syracuse Orangemen, erstwhile conquerors of West Virginia, fell to the Cardinals 27-10. A week after playing almost flawlessly against the Mountaineers, Syracuse committed twelve penalties, gained only 246 yards and was never really in it after falling behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter.

But the most shocking fall from grace happened in Lubbock. Fresh off their road upset of top-ranked Oklahoma, the Texas Tech Red Raiders were humiliated at home by lowly Iowa State, giving up 512 total yards in a 41-7 Cyclone thrashing. Iowa State hammered the Tech defense for 368 rushing yards while putting the brakes on a Red Raider offense that danced up and down the field in Norman a week earlier.   

More Unbeatens Fall: Two more undefeated teams lost Saturday. Clemson’s turn came Saturday night in Atlanta, where Georgia Tech stung the Tigers with 383 rushing yards in a 31-17 decision. Out of the BCS title conversation, the Tigers can still secure a spot in the ACC Championship Game with a win over Wake Forest in two weeks. This is the 30^th anniversary of the program’s 1981 National Championship and a trip to the Orange Bowl, site of their title-clinching triumph over Nebraska, would probably suit Dabo Sweeney just fine.

So while it’s disappointing for Clemson, it’s not a mortal blow to a dream season. That might not be the case in Manhattan after Kansas State’s soul-shattering 58-17 loss to Oklahoma Saturday afternoon. Taking every ounce of post-Texas Tech frustration out on their hosts, the Sooners detonated for 690 yards and 44 unanswered points after the Wildcats had fought to a 17-14 second-quarter lead. Up next: a trip to Stillwater Saturday night, as if K-State hadn’t witnessed enough firepower courtesy of the State Formerly Known as Indian Territory.

And Then There Were Six: LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Boise State and Houston are the last of the unconquered, and that number is guaranteed to be pared by one after this weekend. O.K. State hosts Kansas State; the last three have layups coming up, with Stanford at Oregon State, Boise at UNLV and Houston at Alabama-Birmingham. At this point the Cowboys, Cardinal and Broncos are playing for the second chair in the Championship Game. Barring something weird the SEC Champion in all likelihood has one spot already wrapped up. Houston, 13^th in the BCS rankings, has a great shot at a BCS bowl if it wins out.  

KRS-1: And congratulations are in order to head coach John Nemec and Yours Truly’s Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders, who clinched their fourth trip to the OHSAA division-two state playoffs with a thrilling come-from-behind win over the archrival Ravenna Ravens. Kent will go for the first playoff win in program history Friday night against Warren Howland at Infocision Stadium in Akron.

 

State of the Races

Big East: It’s a complete mess. Cincinnati is the lone in-conference unbeaten at 2-0 followed by a three-way mash-up of West Virginia, Louisville and Pitt, each 2-1. It’s tough to make predictions regarding the Big East because a.) It never has a dominant team and b.) The conference regular-season race plays out later than pretty much anywhere else, with the slate not wrapping up until the first weekend in December.  

ACC Coastal: At 4-1, Virginia Tech leads by a half-game over Georgia Tech, with the teams meeting in Atlanta a week from this Thursday. Surprising Virginia is still in the fight at 2-2 with a win over the Yellow Jackets. The Cavaliers play Virginia Tech on November 26.

ACC Atlantic: As before mentioned, Clemson has a firm grasp on this division.

Big Ten Leaders: To add to the explanation above, at 2-2 Wisconsin can still win the Leaders if it wins out, Ohio State loses once and Penn State loses twice.

Big Ten Legends: Wild-n-crazy. Michigan, Nebraska and Michigan State are tied for first at 3-1; Iowa is a game behind at 2-2 after its second consecutive ugly loss to Minnesota. Likely winner is the winner of the round-robin between the three co-leaders; Nebraska is 1-0, Michigan State is 1-1 and Michigan is 0-1. The Wolverines host the Cornhuskers on November 19.  

SEC East: At 5-1 each South Carolina and Georgia are the only contenders left standing in this weak division. Carolina has the head-to-head tiebreaker but the Dawgs have the more favorable league schedule remaining, with home games against Auburn and Kentucky while the Cocks travel to Fayetteville Saturday night to take on Arkansas.

SEC West: Should come down to LSU-Alabama Saturday night, although Arkansas and Auburn still have theoretical hopes.

Big 12: Oklahoma State leads at 5-0 while Oklahoma and Kansas State follow at 4-1. A loss to the Cowboys would effectively eliminate K-State but the Sooners are still very much alive; if they win out, including a triumph at O.K. State December 3, they win the conference title. And as the highest-ranked team with a loss, Oklahoma still has legitimate BCS-title hopes as well.

Pac-12 North: The November 12 showdown between Stanford and Oregon at Palo Alto should decide this race.

Pac-12 South: Arizona State is in command at 5-1, a game-and-a-half in front of USC and UCLA who are each 3-2. The Wildcats can eliminate the Bruins with a win in Pasadena Saturday evening and have a magic number of two for the title.

Mountain West: TCU is 3-0, Boise is 2-0; the teams meet November 12 on the Smurf Turf. Wyoming is also 2-0 but it’s tough to take the upstart Pokes seriously as a contender.

C-USA East: It’s a tight one with Southern Miss and East Carolina tied for first at 3-1, Marshall alive at 3-2 and Central Florida still faintly kicking at 2-2. The Golden Eagles can take more-or-less full command with a win over the Pirates in Greenville this weekend; at 7-1 they’re the best equipped to challenge the winner of the West in the conference title game.

C-USA West: at 4-0 apiece Houston and Tulsa are tied for the lead and should settle the issue in their November 25 showdown at Tulsa.

WAC: Winners of four straight, Nevada is the lone unbeaten at 3-0 followed by Hawaii and Louisiana Tech at 3-1 and Fresno State at 2-1. Already a winner over the Bulldogs, the Pack can wrap things up with home victories over Hawaii and Louisiana Tech in the next two weeks.

MAC East: Temple leads a bunched field at 3-2 with Ohio and O.G. Miami a half-game behind at 2-2. The Owls venture to Peden Stadium in Athens Wednesday night for a critical matchup with the winner getting the inside track to the division championship.

MAC West: Toledo is the hottest team in the league with four straight wins and leads the division with a 4-0 record. The Rockets host Northern Illinois (3-1) Tuesday night and Western Michigan (3-2) next Tuesday. Cinderella Eastern Michigan is 3-1 but got walloped 54-16 by the Rockets back in October. Toledo looks like the obvious favorite here.

Sun Belt: Arkansas State is the leader at 4-0 followed by Louisiana-Lafayette (5-1) and surprising Western Kentucky (4-1), which lost to the Artists Formerly Known as the Indians back on October 1. Arkansas State hosts Louisiana-Lafayette on November 12.  

 

Next: Indiana comes to the Horseshoe Saturday at noon. The Hoosiers are… well, they’re awful; 1-8, with four of their five Big Ten losses by three touchdowns or more. They were scorched at home by struggling Northwestern last Saturday, yielding 616 total yards in a 59-38 loss. It’s an opportunity for the Buckeyes to stay healthy after the grueling four-game stretch that started with Michigan State and ended with Wisconsin.