CFN Analysis: Ohio State Blows By Penn State

Braxton Miller and the Buckeyes take their spot on top of the Leaders.

By Phil Harrison
Follow me @PhilHarrisonCFN

The foundation continues to be poured for the future building of the Urban Meyer tenure at Ohio State. The Buckeyes hammered another part of the frame in place by making a statement on the road against the Nittany Lions 35-23.

Fact is, nobody really knows what to think of this year’s Buckeye team. They seems to play up or down to the level of their competition each and every week, they are inconsistent on both sides of the ball, and they have flown a little under the radar because of the bowl ban and ranking exile this year.

Still, much like Notre Dame, this year’s Ohio State team simply continues to win. And it has done it in a variety of fashions. There have been victories via the shootout variety against Nebraska and Indiana, defensive gems against Michigan State and Purdue, and everything in-between.

And now, at least there is a light at the end of a long tunnel.

There is no national carrot to play for, but with the win in Happy Valley, OSU has now put itself firmly in the driver’s seat for being proclaimed champion of the defunct Leaders Division. With the loss by Wisconsin and the struggles of Indiana, Illinois, and Purdue, Ohio State would have to lose two of its last three games for Penn State or Wisconsin to sniff a chance at notching a division crown. Since the ‘not so Fighting Illini’ are one of those three, you have to figure that the Buckeyes would have to bomb out in its last two games at Wisconsin and at home versus Michigan.

Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that motivation has not seemed to be a problem with this year’s team like the underachieving 2011 version. Last year, it was apparent that the program was in college football purgatory as it seemed highly disinterested aside from games against Wisconsin and Michigan. The season was simply a bridge to a new beginning.

The coaching staff has seemed to exorcise those demons as the calendar turns to Halloween week. Meyer has somehow been able to rally the troops and get them to play hard and finish games despite the adversity that the team has gone through both on and off the field. The culture has changed, quarterback Braxton Miller is blossoming, and play-makers are beginning to emerge.

It sounds like a solid construction project that any foreman would be proud of. It’s just too bad nobody can decorate until next year.

By Bart Doan
Follow me @Bart_cfn

If you found it somewhat heartwarming for the student athletes on Penn State’s football team it was nice while it lasted. Kudos to a coaching staff that could have seen the wheels barrel off after an 0-2 start. But the big problem tonight against Ohio State? Get used to it, as they ran into a deeper team with more talent and it was treated as such.

Ironically it was the much verbally steamrolled Ohio State defense that really won the game. So much has been made of their tackling issues, so much of their lack of discipline, but when the offense sputtered against a deft game plan as Braxton Miller felt himself through his first really scary collegiate injury, the D allowed only seven in the first half and one upped their own excellence when Ryan Shazier took a pick to the house that broke the tie.

From there, the curtains seemed to at least be taken out of the package. PSU responded with a field goal, but the defense started a 21-3 run that put it out of reach. The talent gap between the two teams in the Emmert Bowl was evident when Ohio State would at times make up for not being in position with better recovery speed, especially in the defensive backfield. It’s hard to wonder where this Penn State team is minus the defections, but this was the blueprint that will be used probably for the better part of a decade, more talent as PSU rebuilds.