Related stories

Weekly Wolverine Watch

Buckeye Leaves: News, notes, tidbits

Doug's AP Top 25 ballot

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Bradley Roby, you just returned an interception for a touchdown as your Ohio State Buckeyes beat Nebraska, 63-38, to move to 6-0. What are you going to do now?

"We're trying to go 12-0, win every single game, try to get that AP No. 1 and win a national championship," the sophomore cornerback said late Saturday night. "That's definitely our goal. We definitely want to go undefeated and we hope that's in our future."

So there it is. Halfway through the season, let's put the cards on the table and take on the two things on the minds of Ohio State fans right now.

Can Ohio State go 12-0 and maybe challenge for that top spot in the AP poll?

Can quarterback Braxton Miller win the Heisman, or at least get to New York as a finalist?

THIS WEEK'S TOP GAMES

National

No. 3 South Carolina (6-0) at No. 9 LSU (5-1), Saturday, 8, ESPN:

No. 17 Stanford (4-1) at No. 7 Notre Dame (5-0), Saturday, 3:30, WKYC Ch. 3:

No. 15 Texas (4-1) vs. No. 13 Oklahoma (3-1), Saturday, noon, WEWS Ch. 5:

Big Ten

Wisconsin (4-2, 1-1) at Purdue (3-2, 0-1), Saturday, noon, Big Ten Network:

No. 8 Ohio State (6-0, 2-0) at Indiana (2-3, 0-2), Saturday, 8, Big Ten Network:

Illinois (2-4, 0-2) at No. 25 Michigan (3-2, 1-0), Saturday, 3:30, WEWS Ch. 5

-- Doug Lesmerises

The scarlet-colored-glasses crowd was on this bandwagon early, but I'll gently take these steps knowing there was good company on the side of those wanting to see it first before declaring the Buckeyes world beaters. Coach Urban Meyer was on that side.

"I didn't think our offensive line would come together," Meyer said after Saturday night's win.

It has, and it's making a lot of things possible. Or at least putting them on the table.

In honor of the 63 points, the most scored by the Buckeyes in a Big Ten game since a 69-18 win over Minnesota on Oct. 1, 1983, here are six things about the undefeated chances and three things about Miller and the Heisman.

1. The players are feeling the roll. And that matters. They have been looking for something good since the program fell into chaos, and these past two wins in two very different ways -- a defensive struggle at Michigan State and an offensive explosion before the home fans against Nebraska -- give them proof.

"Like coach Meyer describes it, it's like pushing a ball up the hill," Roby said. "You push the ball up the hill and, at first, you can't really see much. It's cloudy. But you break through it and you see the sun and [it's like], 'We're almost there, we're almost there.' And you keep pushing, keep pushing. And tonight we saw the sun. We kept pushing and we're going downhill and nothing is stopping us now."

2. Ohio State should be favored in the rest of its six games. The road trips are to Indiana, Penn State and Wisconsin, with home games against Purdue, Illinois and Michigan. I thought the Buckeyes would play toss-up games at least five times in Big Ten play, counting Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan along with those first two wins. But the balance has tipped in Ohio State's favor.

3. Michigan State had a defense that could beat Ohio State. Nebraska had an offense. But neither team had both sides of the ball. The Buckeyes aren't perfect, but the run game led by Miller is a big play waiting to happen. The defense still can surrender a lot, but it also has four players -- defensive linemen Johnathan Hankins and John Simon, Roby at corner and linebacker Ryan Shazier -- who are playmakers that can jump you on any play. Which remaining Big Ten opponent can bring it on both sides of the ball?

4. Even at 12-0, the AP national title will be tough. The Buckeyes would have to be the only unbeaten BCS team. So it helped that Florida State's loss on Saturday killed the chances of an undefeated Atlantic Coast Conference team. But will Oregon in the Pac-12, West Virginia in the Big 12 and Alabama, Florida and South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference all go down before the bowls? Nov. 3 is a big day -- Oregon at Southern Cal and Alabama at LSU.

Heisman watch

Geno Smith, West Virginia QB, Sr.:

Braxton Miller, Ohio State QB, Soph.:

Kenjon Barner, Oregon RB, Sr.:

--

5. Style will matter, and the Buckeyes have style. Since dropping that 69 on Minnesota in 1983, the Buckeyes scored at least 50 in a Big Ten game nine other times before Saturday. Expect more 50s. If this is a goal, Ohio State needs to impress. Sorry, Indiana.

"He's always hungry for more," left tackle Jack Mewhort said of Meyer. "He told us when he first got here that he's going to score 100 points. So he loves it. He's crazy. He would score 100 every game if he could. He's always thirsty for more and we're happy with that mentality."

6. Saturday night still could help win Ohio State a national title. The real one. Just not this year. Lots of recruits were there, and some of them had to like what they saw.

"We had a bunch of recruits in that locker room afterward," Meyer said. "So you would start talking about the future, that's the name of the game, go out and recruit new players and continue and build and keep going."

And now, three things on No. 5 and his possible plans for Dec. 8.

1. West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith may have to be kidnapped to not win the Heisman at this point. The Mountaineers' offense isn't stopping anytime soon, and the Big 12 defenses won't put up much of a fight. So Miller's chances of winning are slim. But his chances of going to New York as one of the three, four or five finalists is different. Miller is 70th in the nation in passing yards, but he may be the second-best quarterback candidate behind Smith.

2. When will defenses sell out even more to stop Miller from running? He still may have to throw his way to the Big Apple, and throw the Buckeyes to a win or two, but defenses continue to look futile against him in the open field. Forget eight guys in the box. How about 10? Give him two games where his running is limited and his passing numbers aren't huge, and his chances will be re-evaluated.

3. There's always 2013. And 2014.