Even with the excuse of having Chris “Beanie” Wells sitting out the game with a foot injury, the fact that Ohio State needed a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull out a 26-14 victory over Ohio on Saturday is pretty shocking. Especially considering the following facts:

• Ohio committed six turnovers
• They were playing with their back-up quarterback for most of the game after their starter was knocked out early
• Ohio’s head coach is Frank Solich, a man whose tenure as Nebraska head coach was so disastrous that Husker faithful actually thought Bill Callahan was a better option

Needless to say, this is not the way to inspire confidence in your fans as you prepare to travel across the country next week to take on the No. 1 team. It’s enough to make Jim Tressel sweat through his sweater vest. If the Buckeyes’ offensive line was getting dominated for three quarters against the Bobcats, you can imagine how excited Rey Maualuga and friends are to see them come to their house.

The Big Ten wound up 7-0 in their early games, and Penn State (currently up 28-0 on Oregon State) looks a good bet to make it 8-0. But there were some potential stumbles. Wisconsin, perhaps looking ahead to their Top 25 road clash with Fresno State, spotted Marshall 14 points early before scoring the final 51.

Meanwhile, Rich Rodriguez picked up his first win as a Michigan coach, although beating Miami of Ohio 16-6 isn’t going to make anyone dance in the streets of Ann Arbor any time soon.