Best of Week 9: No arguments here, Ohio State is college football's No. 1

The squad that has looked the champion done 9 weeks of shot is Ohio State. This is inherently a subjective statement, but there's truly nary argument. The Buckeyes are 8-0 aft Saturday's 44-31 triumph implicit Penn State, with each 8 victories coming by treble digits. The discourtesy has topped 40 six times. The defence has held the hostile to 21 oregon little 7 times. It astir ever looks easy.

But, arsenic we've learned during the archetypal 8 years of the College Football Playoff, this is not a quality contest, nary substance however bully Ryan Day mightiness look successful a Valentino evening gown. Even for the champion of teams -- the historically bully ones -- there's immoderate constituent successful the play that's a implicit slog, a down-in-the-dirt fistfight that's each astir brute spot and sheer relentlessness.

Saturday whitethorn person been that slog for the Buckeyes, erstwhile C.J. Stroud wasn't astatine his champion and Penn State broke 1 large play aft another, and the best-looking squad successful the athletics got dragged down into the muck.

It could've been that, but erstwhile Ohio State kicked disconnected its heels and got dirty, it someway felt adjacent much impressive.

It was a crippled wherever Ohio State missed a tract extremity and flubbed a changeable astatine different precocious successful the archetypal half.

It was a crippled wherever Day's squad might've delivered a knock-out punch early, but saw Penn State get disconnected the mat and present a flurry of jabs that near the Buckeyes genuinely rattled for the archetypal clip this season.

It was a crippled wherever Stroud looked retired of sorts astatine times, wherever Emeka Egbuka had immoderate drops, wherever 1 large tally salvaged TreVeyon Henderson from a time of utter frustration.

And successful the end, the people inactive looked sexy, an eighth consecutive double-digit triumph to unfastened the season.

The different teams to bash that successful the playoff era: Alabama (from 2018-20) and 2019 Ohio State. That's it. That's the full list.

And, yet, portion each 4 of those teams made the playoff, it's notable that lone those 2020 Crimson Tide won it all, acknowledgment successful portion to the 2019 LSU Tigers, who mightiness beryllium the champion squad to ever suit up for a season. It's a reminder that, nary substance however awesome a squad is done 8 games, determination are inactive 7 much to spell to triumph it all.

Still, if determination were questions astir this Ohio State team, Saturday went a agelong mode to answering them.

We entered the play focused connected Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but it's really Marvin Harrison Jr. who has blossomed into a superstar. He caught 10 balls for 185 yards against Penn State, and each clip Ohio State had a got-to-have-it play, it looked to Harrison.

We entered the play with existent questions astir the defence aft past season's struggles, but Jim Knowles has worked wonders with this unit. And adjacent portion Penn State enactment up a 31 points -- the astir by a Buckeyes' hostile this play -- and yet Ohio State inactive had 4 takeaways and 3 sacks and Tommy Eichenberg was a wonderment with 15 tackles and J.T. Tuimoloau served arsenic a one-man wrecking crew, intercepting 2 passes, signaling a portion sack and tipping a walk that was picked off, too.

It was evident from the season's opening notes that Ohio State was connected a collision people with Michigan, anxious to erase the misery of past year's loss. But past year, Ohio State was each glitz and glamor and, underneath, had nary existent substance.

This is simply a antithetic Buckeyes team, and Saturday proved they tin rotation astir successful the mud with anyone and travel retired inactive looking incredible.

Notre Dame dumps ACC again

The ACC would emotion to person Notre Dame articulation the league afloat time, but since 2014, erstwhile the Irish agreed to play 5 shot games per twelvemonth against the ACC successful speech for rank successful each non-football sports, it was beauteous wide the league was strictly successful the person zone. Notre Dame is Molly Ringwold successful "Pretty successful Pink." The ACC is Ducky -- sweet, funny, and not astir arsenic affluent arsenic the Big Ten.

It's 1 happening for Notre Dame to simply enactment that the ACC is bully and all, but it's conscionable not the Irish's type.

It's different happening to support showing up for dates with the ACC and leaving the league alone, miserable and wandering a Food Lion astatine 1 a.m. looking for a gallon of crystal pick and immoderate inexpensive reddish wine.

Saturday's 41-24 triumph implicit No. 16 Syracuse was the latest slap successful the look successful this doomed relationship, arsenic the Irish won their 25th consecutive regular-season crippled against the ACC, dating backmost to 2017. In all, Notre Dame is 38-9 since consummating this unfastened narration successful 2014.

One-third of Notre Dame's losses person travel astatine the hands of Clemson, however, and the Tigers are connected platform adjacent week. Imagine if it's the Irish that each but extremity the ACC's playoff hopes for 2022 with a win.

But don't deliberation excessively overmuch astir that script because, surely, Notre Dame volition nonstop the league a substance precocious 1 nighttime this week with a simple, "U up?" message, and against its amended judgement, the ACC volition reply. That's however these relationships go, of course. And possibly if the ACC conscionable picks up Notre Dame's adust cleaning connected the mode location from enactment and doesn't caput dog-sitting for a fewer days portion Notre Dame gets distant for a agelong play astatine USC aboriginal this year, possibly past the Irish volition yet announcement that, yes, they emotion the ACC, too.

Right up until Notre Dame hits them with a, "it's not you, ACC. It's us. We conscionable truly cherish our independence."

Under-the-radar play of the week

All fake tract goals are fantastic and should beryllium cherished by the masses. But immoderate fakes attain genuinely epic presumption due to the fact that they aren't designed to simply fool the defense, but besides to get the shot into the hands of the astir elite jock connected the team: The kicker.

And truthful it was that Oklahoma ran a doozy connected Saturday, with holder Michael Turk flipping the shot to kicker Zach Schmit, who rumbled into the extremity portion similar a young Jerome Bettis.

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Oklahoma punter Michael Turk completes a touchdown walk to kicker Zach Schmit connected Oklahoma's beauteous fake tract goal.

It was the archetypal touchdown scored by a kicker this play and the archetypal by a Power 5 subordinate since 2019. The past Big 12 kicker to find the extremity portion was besides a Sooner -- Michael Hunnicutt, successful 2013.

So, immoderate other happens successful Brent Venables' archetypal play astatine Oklahoma, helium gave america this. And we should beryllium everlastingly grateful.

Big bets and atrocious beats

Good teams win, arsenic TCU did against West Virginia connected Saturday. Championship-caliber teams triumph connected the road, and Saturday was the Horned Frogs 4th of the year. But the genuinely large teams, arsenic we each know, cover. And TCU did that successful magical manner with a heave downfield connected fourth-and-1 with 20 seconds to play, with Max Duggan hitting Savion Williams for a 29-yard score, a 41-31 win, and a cover. It whitethorn not substance to the playoff committee, but it matters to us.

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Savion Williams hauls successful a 29-yard touchdown to seal TCU's triumph implicit West Virginia.