With Simon Clancy away, Matthew Sherry becomes the Big Man On Campus for one week only, exploring the latest twists in the college game and picking the ones to watch this weekend…

LEAD OFF

For most schools, under most coaches, a 30-5 record over three seasons would be fantastic. But Ohio State are not most schools, and Urban Meyer is not most coaches.

The expectations in Columbus are different so, when the Buckeyes lose five games by an average margin of 21.8 points, questions will be asked. And the queries will only grow louder after the coach narrowly avoided losing his job a few months ago for seemingly covering up domestic violence allegations relating to one of his staff.

The worst part about Saturday’s 49-20 defeat to Purdue was how predictable it was; heck, we tipped it on the podcast. Yet, even myself and Simon could not have quite foreseen the nature of the beatdown. Ohio State were completely run off the field by a team who, although admittedly in form, began the year 0-3.

Worse yet, the problems that had shown themselves over recent weeks for the Buckeyes – namely a running game going nowhere and a defense that can’t tackle – were on full display again. It was, simply put, one of the worst defeats of Meyer’s career and a continuation of a recent trend; the Buckeyes were beaten 31-0 by Clemson in the College Football Playoff two years ago, and lost by margins of 15 and 31 – to Oklahoma and Iowa respectively – last time out. The evidence suggests that not only are Ohio State beatable but, if you get on top of them, they’ll wilt.

The question now is whether Meyer can regroup his team and help the Buckeyes run the table to reach the Playoff. The challenge? They have college football’s hottest team not named Alabama standing in their way. Worse yet, it’s their hated rival.

Yes, Michigan is back. They are back on the strength of college football’s best defense, and an offense that has a different dimension now that, nearly five years in, Jim Harbaugh finally has the quarterback he has been waiting for.

Harbaugh entered this campaign under much scrutiny and it only grew after a frustrating Week 1 loss to Notre Dame that featured many of the hallmarks of last season’s disappointing campaign. Yet the Wolverines have gradually bounced back, winning the games they should win and watching Shea Patterson improve along the way before the big tests against Big 10 heavyweights.

We’re now at the point of the latter, and Michigan are passing with flying colours. Having run Wisconsin out of the Big House last week, the Maize-and-Blue rode across the state to East Lansing and held Michigan State under 100 yards of total offense in a 21-7 triumph. Most impressive, though, was the play that broke the game open. The Spartans had hung around despite being out-gained hugely until late in the third quarter, when Patterson dropped back and unfurled a dime to star wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones. Seventy-nine yards later, he was in the end zone and it felt like a weight had been lifted off the shoulders of Harbaugh – who entered the campaign with a 1-5 records versus Michigan State and Ohio State.

Yet it isn’t completely lifted. Harbaugh has yet to trump the Buckeyes, meaning all eyes point to November 24, when the Wolverines will ride into the Horseshoe with a Big 10 title and CFP spot potentially on the line. Will the Wolverines roar on, or can the Buckeyes bounce back? It’ll be fascinating finding out…

THIS AND THAT

Few teams entered the year under a darker cloud than Washington State, who saw Luke Falk leave for the NFL before his presumptive replacement, Tyler Hilinski, tragically committed suicide. Which makes what Mike Leach is doing right now – the Cougars are 6-1 and likely would be 7-0 were it not for an awful missed targeting call in their loss to USC – absolutely incredible…

Those unfamiliar with Leach should look him up; he’s one of football’s great characters and it was a pleasure to see him lead Wazzu to victory on the day the ESPN College Gameday cameras finally rolled into Pullman…

Speaking of teams on the charge in the Pac-12, Utah are suddenly atop the Southern section following a fine 41-28 win on the road at a USC team who had seemingly been heading in the right direction. Can they win a first divisional title? It remains to be seen, but don’t rule out a Washington State-Utah game for the crown…

I flicked ESPN Player over to the start of the Alabama game this weekend and, within four minutes, had moved on. The Crimson Tide do dominance in games where they are favourite better than anybody else; by the end of the first quarter, Nick Saban’s men were up 28-0. It’s just incredible what they’re doing, largely thanks to Tua Tagovailoa – who now boasts over 2,000 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and ZERO interceptions. Oh, and he’s still yet to play in the fourth quarter. TUA GOOD!..

At least the next game should be a test; ‘Bama has a bye before heading to Baton Rouge to face a LSU team who handled a top-25 team comfortably for the second week running, beating resurgent Mississippi State 19-3…

From ‘Bama, I darted across to Death Valley (not the LSU one) to catch up on mine and Simon’s favourite college signal-caller, Trevor Lawrence. And I saw a passer who’s really starting to fulfil the hype and show why Dabo Swinney benched Kelly Bryant. Everybody we spoke to in the US last year told us this kid would be special and he’s now led the Tigers to dominant wins over Wake Forest and unbeaten N.C. State since suffering a concussion versus Syracuse. Saturday’s game, against an opponent ranked No. 16 on the back of an unbeaten start, was his first with 300 passing yards. There’ll be many more…

Also, nice first win Scott Frost; it’s about time!

GRIDIRON’S TOP 10

1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. Notre Dame
4. Clemson
5. Michigan
6. Texas
7. Florida
8. Washington State
9 . UCF
10. Oklahoma

GAME OF THE WEEK

No. 9 Florida @ No. 7 Georgia (8.30pm)
Georgia have gone from college football darlings to afterthought following their loss to LSU, but Kirby Smart’s squad can catapult themselves quickly back into voters’ consciousness by beating Florida in Athens. Dan Millen’s Gators are ahead of schedule in his first year and believe they have the key combination – a dominant defense and rushing attack – to beat the SEC East’s favourites. It should be a thriller

OTHERS TO WATCH

No. 18 Iowa @ No.17 Penn State
Iowa might be the best team in the Big 10 West; Penn State are spluttering.

No. 14 Washington State @ No. 24 Stanford
The tests keep coming for Leach’s crew… Can they pass another?

HEISMAN FIVE

1. Tua Tagovailoa – Alabama (1)
2. Kyler Murray – Oklahoma (3)
3. Dwayne Haskins – Ohio State (2)
4. Darrell Henderson – Memphis (5)
5. Travis Etienne – Clemson