Only one team – Florida State in 2013 – has had an average margin of victory of more than 40 points in the past 15 years.
With eight straight victories of 24 or more points in the first eight games of the season, including the 38-7 win against Wisconsin in Saturday's top-15 matchup, Ohio State could have a chance to join the Seminoles. This year's Buckeyes will enter their second off week of the season knowing nothing but blowout wins.
They beat Florida Atlantic by 24 points. Beat Cincinnati by 42 points. Beat Indiana by 41 points. Beat Miami (Ohio) by 71 points. Beat Nebraska by 41 points. beat Michigan State by 24 points. Beat Northwestern by 49 points. And now, beat Wisconsin by 31 points.
The Badgers, at No. 13, were the top-ranked team the Buckeyes have faced at this point in the season. In Damon Arnette's mind, the four-touchdown win doesn't stand out from the rest, though.
“On the outside looking in, y'all will probably think that this win is huge, but we prepared for Wisconsin just like we prepared for Northwestern, just like we prepared for Cincinnati, FAU, everybody that we've already played,” Arnette said. “And the reason that we did that is because the results keep coming out the same, so why change anything. We don't play a name. We just prepare for the name.”
Clearly, there's no reason to change what they're doing.
“I feel like until we've got three rings on our fingers, nobody's going to be satisfied,” Arnette said. “They could have us at 4, 3, 2 or 1. We're going to keep attacking until this thing is over. All of the accolades and everything like that is good, but we're not asking for that. We want the championship.”
Chase Young's play through eight games has allowed the Buckeyes to mention the possibility of those rings.
In one of the most dominant games by a defensive player in the history of Ohio State, Young tied the program record by recording four sacks on Saturday. He added two more tackles, including another for a loss, and two forced fumbles.
Having seen Young up close plenty of times, Justin Fields has sympathy for Jack Coan and the other quarterbacks who have to deal with college football's premier pass rusher.
“I just feel bad for him to be honest because Chase, in practice, he can get back there pretty much whenever he wants,” Fields said. “Chase is a great player. Everybody knows that. He's probably the best defensive player in the country, so I'm just glad he's on my team.”
In each of the past 10 games, Young has recorded at least half of a sack.
“I feel like it's the same story every weekend,” Arnette said. “It's like, 'All right, cool. Do it again.' Because that's what he does. Make plays.”
After his fourth sack in Saturday's game, Young walked off the field with his arms outstretched, which he said was a tribute to his grandfather, Carl Robinson.
“I felt my grandfather with me,” Young said. “I've got him tatted on me, and I felt like I just felt his presence randomly out of nowhere. That was me just putting my arms out just to acknowledge him.”
Arguably Young's best asset – and there are dozens to choose from – is his quick get-off from the line of scrimmage. So, in Ryan Day's mind, how does that attribute stack up when comparing it to that of other pass rushers?
“The best I've been around,” Day said. “I had a chance to see Nick Bosa last year and I coached in the NFL and saw some really good players at different times. But he is as good as I've been around, again, because he's so versatile. This is a game that was set up for him to kind of get eaten up with multiple surfaces and multiple tight ends. You kind of get lost in the running game, and he dominated. I think it goes to show you how tough he is. His leadership has been off the charts. His energy – he's the one who's driving and pushing those guys up front. I can't say enough good things about him.”
Young now has 13.5 sacks through eight games, putting him half of a sack away from Vernon Gholston's single-season program record of 14 sacks, which he will presumably smash.
“I thought the Heisman was supposed to be for the best player in college football, and everybody talks about Chase Young is the best player in college football,” Arnette said. “So just give him the trophy, shoot.”
Throughout the first half – and especially the first quarter – Ohio State had to rely on its defense as its offense took its time to get rolling.
The score was tied at zero after the first 15 minutes, and the Buckeyes needed a late touchdown to enter halftime with a 10-0 lead. They managed just 40 yards on offense in the first quarter.
“It was raining sideways,” Day said. “It was hard early on. It was a mess out there. In a game like this you can't be foolish and you can't take chances early in the game. The defense is playing good you can't let your ego get in the way. And tried not to do that, even that first drive, it's third and whatever, we just hand the ball off and punt. Trust me, it's harder for me to do that than anybody in the country. I hate doing that. But I just knew that you can't all of a sudden throw an interception now; you'll put yourself behind the eight ball. So we hung in there. We knew it was going to be that way. And the rain let up a little bit and we were able to get the pass game going and it opened up things for us.”
Ohio State's offensive line needed some time to get Wisconsin's front seven under control, too. Wyatt Davis said the Badgers were frequently blitzing, often using more complex looks to try to fool the Buckeyes.
“After that first two quarters, we were kind of still trying to figure them out,” Wyatt Davis said. “And then at halftime, we figured out where the mistakes were being made at and then how to correct them. And then I feel like what just happened is a product of our corrections we made during halftime and just making sure everyone was on the same page. Once we figured out what they were truly doing on defense – they were running a lot of stuff – I feel like that's when we really started busting plays wide open.”
By the end of the second quarter, the line – and J.K. Dobbins – began to find a groove.
Facing a team that had dominated opposing rushing attacks, Dobbins carved up the Badgers for 163 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 20 carries.
“It's just so much adrenaline pumping, especially, too, once J.K. was breaking off those big runs,” Davis said. “It really lets you know that you're doing your job well, so just seeing him going down there, especially when he scored, I don't even know how to describe the feeling. We just go crazy. It's really fun when that type of stuff happens. It was really good seeing him doing that type of stuff.”
No matter how well Dobbins ran, though, he still believes he sees nonbelievers.
“My outside sources,” Dobbins said. “I feel like people are doubting me.”
Behind Dobbins' 163 rushing yards and Justin Fields' 167 passing yards, Ohio State's offense piled on 431 yards and 38 points, both of which were season-high marks by teams facing the Badgers.
“I think our motto as an offense is nobody can stop us except us,” Fields said. “We knew what we had to do out there. We just had to go out there and actually execute it, so we weren't worried at all we just had to go out and execute the play and just everybody do their job.”
For a moment, in the second quarter, Ohio State was dealt an injury scare. Fields headed to the medical tent before exiting and putting on a jacket over his pads. He didn't miss any snaps, though.
“It was just from the touchdown,” Fields said. “I kind of went on my back a little bit, but I should be good.”
Though Fields had season-low marks in passing yards (167) and passing touchdowns (two), Day left Saturday impressed with his grit.
“I tell you what, I thought he played a tough game,” Day said. “It may not show statistically that he had as gritty a game as anybody on our team. He got banged out there. He had to make tough runs against one of the best rushing defenses in America. He did early on. And then he cracked and got that two-minute drive going and threw the ball to Olave, in the second half kept doing the same thing. When we couldn't get things going, we had to run him a little bit. And he did it. And he was physical. He was powerful. He kept third downs alive. I thought he played really well in this game and he played tough and I'm proud of the way he performed.”
And Fields exited the game wondering whether the Buckeyes left points on the field.
“I think in all honesty we could have put up 50,” Fields said. “I think if the weather was different I think we could have threw the ball more and put up way more points than we did. Overall I'm just glad we got the win and we're 8-0.”
On the other side of the ball, Arnette wondered how Ohio State allowed any points at all.
“We really should've shut them out,” Arnette said. “But can't take that back. We're going to get better, fix whatever led up to those points being scored. But I'm proud of everybody because we held our composure after that touchdown and got a three-and-out the next series, which led to the offense scoring. I'm proud of everybody.”
The Buckeyes have two weeks off until they return to action. By that point, the first College Football Playoff rankings will have been released, and they'll be nearing their stretch run of games against Penn State and Michigan.
“In November, we've got to buckle up our chinstrap and tie up our shoes a little tighter because it's the stretch now,” Arnette said. “Everybody's racing to the finish line, that Big Ten championship. Everybody's trying to get to Indy. it's all conference games left. We know everybody else is going to come out swinging as hard as they've got with us. That's why we can't let up at all.”
