Scarlet Sunrise: Buckeyes reveal players of game from win at Michigan State

COLUMBUS — Ohio State has named its players of the game from its win over Michigan State. Yes, even a defensive player of the game was announced.

A week after the Buckeyes program declined to name a defensive player of the game because defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said, “while we had some champions, we had no one who we thought really showed a ‘Silver Bullet of the Game’ performance,” Ohio State did have a defensive standout from its 38-7 win over Michigan State.

Safety Caleb Downs is the defensive player of the game due to his performance. He tied for the team lead with six total tackles and a tackle for loss.

On offense, the Buckeyes named freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith as the player of the game for that unit after his performance: five catches for 83 yards and a one-handed touchdown snag that’ll be shown on Buckeyes highlight tapes for years.

Wide receiver David Adolph was named the special teams player of the game.

Buckeyes hold steady in AP Poll as calendar flips to October

Another week, another blowout win for Ohio State. The Buckeyes keep piling those up on their way to a 4-0 start.

Of course, this was the most impressive of the four so far, as they went on the road and easily pulled away from Michigan State up in East Lansing to open Big Ten play with a 38-7 win.

That win kept Ohio State near the top of the latest AP Top 25 poll, which was released Sunday.

The folks in the media still think Ohio State is one of the three best teams in the country after beginning Big Ten pay, and they showed that yet again this week. The Buckeyes are No. 3 in the latest poll, staying put in the third spot behind top-ranked Alabama and second-ranked Texas.

No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Miami, No. 9 Missouri and No. 10 Michigan rounded out the top 10.

Buckeyes open as double-digit favorite for Iowa matchup

Ohio State is now into its Big Ten slate, starting league play with a road win over Michigan State on Saturday night. The Buckeyes dominated the game throughout — but still have a lot to fix if they’re going to reach their championship season.

Next on the calendar: the Iowa Hawkeyes. Yes, Ohio State will welcome Iowa (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) to the Horseshoe for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff with improvement on its mind.

The Buckeyes opened Sunday morning as a 21.5-point favorite over Iowa, according to the folks at Fanduel Sportsbook. The total for the matchup is the lowest total for Ohio State so far this season: 42.5 points.

Now finally with a Big Ten game on film to break down, critique and improve on, the Buckeyes can see where they stack up compared to where they want to be. Iowa will present another good test for this defense — and this program.

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Iowa: 5 days
Ohio State at Oregon: 12 days
Ohio State at Penn State: 33 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 61 days

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