Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 3: The book is out on Ohio State

4

Ohio State Buckeyes (1-1)

Last week: 1-0 record
Last rank: 2nd

Things are not looking good in Ohio State right now. While their offense didn’t play well for much of the game against Indiana, many people believed the team that showed up in the second half was more indicative of what they’d see. But Oklahoma took all of their weaknesses and exposed them on a grand scale.

The biggest one, of course, being J.T. Barrett. His statline of 19-for-35 with 183 yards and an interception was borderline cringeworthy. He’s seemingly allergic to passes of greater than 10 yards – it’s like he’s turned into Sam Bradford before going to the NFL. It’s also not a good look when people are calling for Barrett to get benched.

On defense, the Buckeyes’ best chance of winning was by getting stops on third down and in the red zone. They did that in the first half, but they had no answer in the second. Oklahoma’s offensive line bullied Ohio State’s defensive line, and even when they got past them, Baker Mayfield did an amazing job of moving in the pocket. He also exploited the Buckeyes’ pass defense, which now ranks 72nd in the FBS, by spreading the ball around to nine different receivers.

While Ohio State looked bad, Oklahoma earned this victory, which is why Mayfield planted the flag on the logo:

As was the story during the game, nobody could stop him from doing whatever he wanted. The talent on Ohio State’s roster is why they’re still a top 10 team in the AP Poll, but thanks to Oklahoma, the book is out on how to stop them. While Oklahoma successfully bounced back from this loss last year, it’s tough to imagine Ohio State running the table and winning the Big Ten East.

3

Michigan Wolverines (2-0)

Last week: 1-0 record
Last rank: 3rd

A win is a win, but Michigan was a five-touchdown favorite against Cincinnati. Everyone expected this game to be a massacre, especially after the fast start the Wolverines got off to. So when it was a 17-14 game in the third quarter, it led to boos in the Big House. Thankfully, they were able to close out the game with 19 straight points.

After Wilton Speight through two interceptions, both returned for touchdowns, against Florida, he still played poorly. He coughed up the ball on a fumble twice, and routinely overthrew his receivers. While he’s been poor so far, he hasn’t convinced Jim Harbaugh to start John O’Korn instead. Plus, he has a reliable weapon in the backfield in Ty Isaac, who improved on his great performance against Florida by running for a career-high 133 yards.

Once again, the saving grace for the Wolverines was the defense, which limited the Bearcats to 2.3 yards per carry and accounted for 16 points. As long as their offense is unable to complement their ferocious defense, they won’t make any significant noise in their own division. Either this game will be a wake-up call, or a sign of what Michigan truly is.