COLLEGE FOOTBALL

End Zone: OSU Buckeyes

How will a 100 point game go over with voters?

11/21/2013

My conservative prediction is Ohio State and Indiana will dust the over/under line of 81 points — by far the highest projected total this week.

Then the second quarter will begin.

With voters head over heels enamored by Baylor — a team that has soared from unranked in the preseason to third nationally on the strength of its video-game numbers against more flour than even OSU's cake-filled schedule — expect the Buckeyes to make a final play at their their touchdown-loving hearts Saturday. Maybe that 128-0 win over Oberlin in 1916 isn't in danger. But OSU's school-record 22-game win streak might not be the only history to fall.

While OSU is the Big Ten's latest Point-a-Minute incarnation, the Hoosiers defense has given a decidedly non-yeoman's effort — unless you're talking about the Yeomen who visited Columbus in 1916. The yin to their mighty offense, they rank 124th of 125 FBS teams and have yielded 191 points over the last four league games. A columnist for the Indianapolis Star called for defensive coordinator Mark Mallory's firing this week after IU allowed 554 rush yards to Wisconsin.

If OSU keeps scoring 60 points in the Big Ten, it will not make a sound with voters. But what about 100?

Contact David Briggs at: dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084 or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.