Notes & Impressions

• Yards Per Play: Ohio State 6.5, Michigan 6.6
• Plays: Ohio State 57, Michigan 67
• Miller Time: 14/25 passing, 235 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; 16 carries, 100 yards, 1 TD
  
• Both offenses had great games. We knew stopping Denard Robinson would be a challenge, but I doubt Michigan had any idea they would receive such a stern test from Braxton Miller and Jim Bollman. Even though he missed a few big throws, Miller was the clear MVP for Ohio State and gave us every reason to be optimistic for the future.
• Did Christian Bryant's injury cost us the game? The sophomore defensive back was injured against Penn State and could not recover in time for Michigan. His replacement, Corey Brown, filled in fine on nickel downs, but Bryant's absence became a big issue once Orhian Johnson injured his leg. Instead of Bryant replacing Johnson at safety, we now had Zach Dominicone, a career back-up who had seen little playing time. If Bryant plays, Robinson has more trouble passing and rushing.
•  Michigan angered many Ohio State players with their postgame celebration. The Wolverines gathered together, threw a ball into the air, and then mimicked a grenade explosion and fell down. Choice tweets about the incident come from Zach Boren, Nate Oliver, and Jeff Heuerman.
  
• Jim Tressel spoke to the team before the game. Ari Wasserman of Scout.com captured Mike Brewster's reaction to the speech following the game:

It was great. Coach Tress is someone I have so much love for. He's an unbelievable coach and unbelievable human being. To be able to see him again, hear a few words for him, it definitely got us pumped up. It was an honor.

It was emotional for some guys, myself included. It stinks when you feel like you got robbed a year of your life with him. He didn't skip a beat. It was like you blinked and it was like 'man, is everything a nightmare' because it seemed like he's still here.

• Yards Per Play: Ohio State 4.9, Penn State 5.7
• Plays: Ohio State 60, Penn State 57
• Ohio State ran more plays for fewer yards than the Nittany Lions. The difference? Big gains. Penn State had three tailbacks--Stephfon Green, Silas Redd, and Curtis Drake---each break off a big run of 38 yards or more, and Derek Moye corralled a 20-yard pass from Matt McGloin.
  
• Braxton Miller Watch: 7/17 passing, 83 yards, 1 TD. 18 carries, 105 yards rushing, 1 TD. Miller turned in his typical day, finding great success on the ground but struggling through the air. He has continued avoiding interceptions, which is rare for a young quarterback and bodes well for the future.
  
• Ryan Shazier. With Andrew Sweat's absence, the true freshman was thrown into the starting job and played pretty well. He missed a few keys and over-pursued a few Penn State runs, but that was to be expected given his inexperience. Shazier has a bright future, and he hits like a missile. These growing pains will pay off in the future.
• Will Travis Howard return for a fifth season? The redshirt junior could jump to the NFL Draft, but he would not be picked in the first four rounds. If he returns, can he keep a starting job? Bradley Roby has one cornerback position locked up for the future, and there are a host of youngsters on Howard's heels for the other spot.
• Bill Livingston, writing in the Plain Dealer, believes an Urban Meyer hire would be especially good for Braxton Miller.

If Urban Meyer becomes the coach at Ohio State next season, quarterback Braxton Miller will win the Heisman Trophy before he is done.

Miller's quickness and improvisation have been the lone spark -- OK, Dan Herron you have helped too -- in this season of injuries and suspensions. But Jim Bollman, the holdover offensive coordinator from the staff of the deposed Jim Tressel, has no clue how to use Miller. When Bollman stumbled onto the pistol formation with Miller and Herron to good effect against Wisconsin, he just as quickly abandoned it.

Stats & Impressions

• Yards Per Play: Ohio State 4.5, Purdue 4.6
  
• Plays: Ohio State 65, Purdue 79
• When Bill Connelly releases his advanced metrics for this game at Football Outsiders, if he chooses to, the numbers will reveal that Purdue beat Ohio State in one key category: success rate. While the two teams were about even with yards per play, Purdue ran considerably more plays because they gained more first downs and moved the ball in efficient, but not explosive, chunks.
• Braxton Miller Watch: 8/18 passing, 132 yards, two touchdowns; 16 rushes, 43 yards, one touchdown.
• Ross will tell us how Purdue stopped the Ohio State run game, but for now, it just matters that they did. Boom Herron, Jordan Hall, and Carlos Hyde combined for 38 carries and 120 yards, for only 3.2 yards per carry. That just won't do when you have no passing game.
• Barring a Michigan upset of Wisconsin, the Big Ten Championship dreams died a windy death in West Lafayette.
• Plain Dealer Ohio State reporter Doug Lesmerises is wondering what's up with the defense:

The defense appears to be battling two issues against offenses like Purdue and Indiana a week ago, teams that do some zone-read runs and fire passes at the softer middle of the OSU zone. Their older players -- Etienne Sabino, Storm Klein, Moeller -- don't have the speed to make tackles in space, and their younger players -- sophomore safeties C.J. Barnett and Christian Bryant -- sometimes lack the discipline.

 Lesmerises errored by including Moeller in the analysis, but otherwise, his point is spot-on. Sabino is plodding and struggles in space, and Klein just disappears against spread teams.

When weakside linebacker Andrew Sweat left the game, Ohio State replaced him with a speedy but young Ryan Shazier. Shazier has the physical talents to play now, but his youth contributed to the discipline issues Lesmerises notes in the secondary.

• Yards Per Play: Ohio State 7.03, Indiana 4.75
  
• Plays: Ohio State 57, Indiana 70
• Indiana put a scare into the Buckeye defense, but they performed about average. True to form, they ran a great number of plays yet struggled to find consistent success. A few big passes skewed the yards and kept them in the game.
• Ohio State ran fewer plays than against Wisconsin for a higher yards per play. The Buckeyes had eight plays of 20+ yards for a total of 304 yards. More explosion, less consistency. In Bill Connelly's parlance, it means a higher points per play and a lower success rate.
  
• Offensive MVP: Dan Herron, again. 14 carries for 141 yards, or 10.1 YPC, and a touchdown. He's the best offensive player we have.
• Defensive MVP: Always, a case could be made for John Simon. I'll give this week's award to Travis Howard for his late, game-sealing interception, however.
• Should Fickell receive the permanent job? Paul Myerberg thinks the Buckeye's recent stretch strengthens Fickell's case:

The Buckeyes went 2-2 in October, losing by a field goal against Michigan State and blowing a huge lead at Nebraska — a slide that coincided with an injury to Braxton Miller. Over the last two weeks, the Buckeyes have imposed their will on Illinois and beat then-No. 15 Wisconsin.

With Indiana and Purdue preceding a home date against Penn State and a trip to Ann Arbor, it’s well within the realm of possibility that this team finishes the regular season with an 8-4 record. And if it does, Fickell should deserve some consideration for the permanent job — even if the idea of landing an Urban Meyer appeals greatly to Ohio State.

Stats & Impressions

• Yards Per Play: Ohio State 5.1, Wisconsin 5.6
  
• Plays: Ohio State 70, Wisconsin 61
• Ohio State Offensive MVP: Dan Herron, 33 carries for 160 yards, or 4.8 YPC.
• Braxton Miller Watch: 7/12, 89 yards, one TD passing. 19 carries for 99 yards and two TDs rushing.
• Etienne Sabino redeemed himself for a poor performance against Nebraska. Sabino played well throughout the day, but he really made himself known late in the 4th quarter. Wisconsin went for a 4th down near midfield, Montee Ball ran left, Sabino turned the offensive tackle into Ball's path and then engaged Ball before he could gain the needed yards.
• Braxton Miller's throw will hopefully propel him to greater heights the rest of the season. There can be no better confidence-builder than a 40-yard backyard touchdown pass against one of the best teams in college football.
• Four games left-- Indiana, Purdue, Penn State, Michigan. The first two should be used to prepare for the final two. Indiana and Purdue are awful. Fickell should spend a little time each week preparing the team for the challenges Penn State and Michigan will offer. In Penn State's case, especially, Braxton Miller will need help against the 4-3 Over, Cover 3 defense the Nittany Lions run. And Michigan is Michigan.

Since Ohio State did not play last weekend, there is no animated drive chart to report. As a substitute, I thought it would be fun to check out one of the wackier games you'll ever see in animated drive form.