The polls don’t really matter right now. They are meaningless until the College Football Playoff rankings start coming out each week in November. I think most college football fans understand that. But it matters to us right now. Who is No. 1? Who is No. 2? And on and on.

The two teams which have ruled college football the last four years are both unbeaten. The top of the SEC looks great. Oklahoma may have a third-straight Heisman Trophy winner.

The latest AP poll puts Ohio State at No. 4, barely ahead of No. 5 LSU. But are we sure the best team in the country isn’t Ohio State? The Buckeyes looked the part on Saturday with a 48-7 demolition of Nebraska, silencing 89,759 Cornhuskers fans anxious to turn back the clock to the 1990s.

Clemson, the former No. 1 team in the country, sweated through a barnburner with North Carolina. Alabama, the new No. 1, has been great as usual but is far from perfect. Georgia, Auburn and LSU are contenders, and Oklahoma is putting up video-game numbers on offense.

And yet through five weeks, there has been no one in the country that has looked like a more complete team than Ohio State. It’s subjective at this point, for sure. But it did seem noteworthy that Kirk Herbstreit shared that the College GameDay panel (which includes Michigan braduate Desmond Howard) all agreed that the Buckeyes had been the most impressive team in the country. And that was before Ohio State delivered a stunning all-around performance, announcing to the country that it isn’t just good enough to make the College Football Playoff; the Buckeyes are plenty good enough to win the whole damn thing.

In this era of Alabama/Clemson dominance — those two account for the last four national championships and three of the last four runner-ups — that’s noteworthy, because there hasn’t appeared to be another true contender in recent years. Georgia is the only non-Alabama/Clemson team in the last four years to even make the national title game.

Let’s just base this all on what we’ve seen this season, not the last few years. And not the preseason poll. And not your preconceived notions about the conferences. Ohio State, through five games, has shown no discernible weakness in outscoring its opponents 262-43. The same can’t be said for the other crop of the nation’s elite, which have all shown warts or are simply too untested.

— Alabama allowed nearly 500 yards vs. Ole Miss on Saturday, including 279 on the ground.

— Clemson was a 2-point conversion away from losing to unranked North Carolina and does not look like it is improving at all (and it may not have to in a poor ACC).

— Georgia has just one quality win (we can’t count a 24-point win over Vanderbilt, which lost to Purdue by 18) and doesn’t have the talent depth on offense it has had in recent years

— LSU has a shaky defense, with Texas and Vanderbilt both putting up 38 points (though the latter scored on defense).

— Oklahoma hasn’t played anyone yet; let’s reserve judgement until Texas in two weeks.

— Auburn is getting better but it is still figuring out its offense with a true freshman QB.

— Wisconsin is heavily reliant on Jonathan Taylor and when he’s bottled up, it takes defensive scores to beat a team like Northwestern.

— Florida… yeah, it’s time to cut this list off.

Ohio State’s strong start is reflecting in some of ESPN’s metrics. In ESPN’s Team Efficiencies, the Buckeyes are No. 1 — well ahead of Alabama (No. 2) and Clemson (No. 7). Those metrics say Ohio State’s offense and defense are each No. 2 in the country. A preseason No. 13 in the Football Power Index, Ohio State is all the way up to No. 2 — safely past Clemson and narrowly behind Alabama. These are useful because there’s no bias in them; it’s all about what you’ve done on the field.

This team just seems a little different than recent Ohio State teams. Let’s not discount the benefit of playing without distraction. At this time last year, Urban Meyer’s handling of assistant coach Zach Smith was a cloud hanging over the program. Ohio State seems to have adopted the personality of its first-year coach, Ryan Day. The Buckeyes are understated but intensely focused.

Through five games, we have a more clear picture of Justin Fields, and he is reminiscent of Cam Newton — but with touch. The dual-threat ability makes Fields virtually impossibly for a college defense to shut him down. He can take off at any moment, but he doesn’t overuse that part of his game. He has also shown pinpoint accuracy to all parts of the field. So lines like Saturday (15 of 21 for 212 yards and three touchdowns, plus 72 rushing yards and another score) are quickly becoming the norm. He has yet to have to throw more than 25 passes in a game, because he has been so good in completing 72 percent of his passes and accounting for 23 touchdowns and no interceptions. Who’s to say Fields isn’t the best player in the country?

The best part about Fields? As exciting as he is on the field, he seems very boring off it. And I mean that as a compliment. His interviews are full of cliches. He’s all business. That should be exciting to Ohio State fans because with Fields locked in, good luck. Fields also spreads the ball out. There may not be a Jerry Jeudy on the Buckeyes, but there is depth. Five Buckeyes scored Saturday, and that didn’t even include J.K. Dobbins, who quietly has more rushing yards (654-559) and yards per carry (7.1-6.7) than Jonathan Taylor — albeit in one more game.

It’s immediately apparent how much better this defense is than last year, too. Giving up 39 points to Michigan, or any team, seems like a long shot. Edge rusher Chase Young may be the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and at the very least, he looks to be the top non-quarterback. He is an absolute disruptor, and opposing quarterbacks are constantly worried about him. Cornerback Jeffrey Okudah, who had two interceptions against Nebraska, also could go in the top five.

It was just one game against an overrated team, but it was a resounding statement in the Buckeyes’ first non-afternoon game of the year. The gap between Ohio State and Nebraska is ginormous. How big is the gap between Ohio State and the rest of the Big Ten? It appears to be substantial. The Buckeyes will surely be challenged (they have the 19th toughest remaining schedule in the country, according to ESPN), but this was a game that announced them as not only good enough to win the Big Ten but good enough to win a national championship.

Notebook

A look around the Big Ten

Nebraska’s time may be coming, but it’s a long ways away

This was supposed to be a great weekend for Nebraska. And it started that way.

It began Friday afternoon with the announcement of the luxurious new practice facility. It continued Saturday morning with College GameDay rolling into town and hosting its weekly show on campus, with actress Gabrielle Union serving as the celebrity picker. And it extended into Saturday evening, as ABC’s No. 1 crew of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit set the scene from a sold out Memorial Stadium.

But then the game started and unfortunately, that killed most — if not all — of the good vibes. All Nebraska had to do was not be terrible on national TV, but it really couldn’t have been much worse. The only saving grace for Nebraska is that I think most people realize that Ohio State will do that to a lot of teams this season, because the Buckeyes are that good. But think of Nebraska had just kept it respectable? The Cornhuskers could have gone on their merry way, continuing to build in Scott Frost’s second season. But this will likely be the first thing in the mind of the casual fan when the topic of Nebraska comes up, and that’s truly unfortunate.

This weekend was never about beating Ohio State. It was all about Frost selling his vision for Nebraska football to a primetime audience to build for the future. Did he do that? No.

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It was no coincidence that athletic director Bill Moos decided this was the time to unveil the new facility. Maybe the actual game gets out of hand (which it did), but at least there are some positives to hype the program to future recruits and leave the weekend feeling good about. From a PR standpoint, it seemed like a smart strategy.

Combined with Union and Dwayne Wade serving as the celebrity guest pickers, Nebraska looked like a great place to be. In terms of making Nebraska football look cool, you can’t ask for much more. Union isn’t going to be like Matthew McConaughey is with Texas and have an official role with the program, but she was impressive in representing the program on a national stage.

The problem is the on-field product is sorely lacking. Adrian Martinez at one point had more interceptions (three) than completions (two). He looks to be a bit over-hyped at this point, and I’m wondering if Frost ever considered making a switch. Nebraska was never going to win this game, but it needs to regroup quickly. Nebraska (3-2) looks worse in the first five games in 2019 than it did in the last six of 2018, and that’s not something anyone expected.

Penn State worthy of ranking

Upon further review, Penn State is undoubtedly worthy of its lofty ranking. I wrote that I wasn’t sure Penn State was the No. 12 team in the country, and technically, I was right. Penn State looked underrated in this 59-0 shellacking of Maryland — the perennial darling of the first two weeks of the season.

There is an argument to be made that this is the best win for any Big Ten team this season. The only two games even in the conversation for me are Wisconsin’s win over Michigan and Ohio State’s rout of Nebraska. Consider Penn State’s case:

— Maryland sold out the game, with an announced attendance of 53,228 fans. And it looked every bit that full, too. The atmosphere was electric. Well, at least for the first five minutes until Penn State led 14-0.

— Maryland had actually shown the capability of being a good team, routing the supposed No. 2 team in the ACC (Syracuse). Nebraska and Michigan have not given us any indication they are a good team

— Penn State out-gained Maryland 619-128. You’d think the Nittany Lions were playing a JV high school team with that discrepancy.

— Maryland came in averaging 53 points per game, including a 63-point outing against No. 21 Syracuse. Mike Locksley has been universally praised as an offensive genius, and Penn State’s defense dominated from the beginning.

— Penn State lost its best defensive player, Micah Parsons, halfway through the first quarter when he was ejected for targeting. And yet there was seemingly no drop-off.

Penn State came into this one with plenty of question marks. The Nittany Lions routed Idaho, but they struggled against Buffalo for a half and barely beat Pitt. They were the only Big Ten team that had yet to play a road game. They had an unproven quarterback. But maybe they deserved a little more credit.

Just look at what there three opponents did in Week 4: Idaho beat a good program in Eastern Washington, Buffalo took down Temple and Pitt upset No. 15 UCF. Suddenly, Penn State’s non-conference slate looked pretty good. And that’s just the nature of college football. You hope you dominate your opponents on gameday, but then every other week, you root for them to win so your program looks better. It certainly looks good for Penn State now.

But after Friday night, that’s not even necessary. Penn State passed the eye test with flying colors. Sean Clifford had a breakout game in completing 26 of 31 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns to go along with 54 rushing yards and another score. The Nittany Lions have a ton of talent. Try to arm tackle guys like KJ Hamler, and he’ll bust a big play on you.

https://twitter.com/SeanMMontiel/status/1177741060812005377?s=20

The defense lived up to the hype, too. It has the sideline-to-sideline speed to contain dynamic athletes like Anthony McFarland. It has a furious pass rush featuring potential first round pick Yetur Gross-Matos.

The schedule is tough, with games at No. 14 Iowa, vs. No. 20 Michigan and at No. 25 Michigan State on tap after a home game at Purdue. And there’s that Nov. 23 game at Ohio State, plus a game at Minnesota. But suddenly, Penn State has joined Wisconsin as the greatest challengers to Ohio State in contending for the College Football Playoff.

The blueprint to beat Bucky

Arguably the Big Ten’s most impressive team through four weeks, Wisconsin came back to Earth on Saturday against Northwestern. The eighth-ranked Badgers, who were 23-point favorites, survived 24-15. While it was by far Wisconsin’s closest call this season against a struggling Northwestern team, I’m not lowering my opinion on the Badgers at all. On GameDay, Kirk Herbstreit predicted this would be an ugly game for Wisconsin coming off the high of that Michigan game last week. And he was spot on.

Northwestern, however, did reveal the blueprint to beat Wisconsin, a team that had looked unbeatable (by every non-Ohio State team) in outscoring its first three opponents 145-14.

The team that beats Wisconsin is going to contain Jonathan Taylor on first and second down and force Jack Coan to beat it. That’s what Northwestern was able to do as it trailed just 7-3 late in the third quarter until Wisconsin’s two defensive touchdowns put the game out of reach. Wisconsin was out-gained 255-243 by Northwestern, which is one of the worst offenses in the country. Wisconsin converted just four of 16 third-down attempts.

Big weekend for quarterbacks

It was a huge weekend for Big Ten quarterbacks, with four of them having arguably the best games of their careers.

— Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan was outstanding, completing 21 of 22 passes for 396 yards and four touchdowns. Per Big Ten Network, Morgan’s 95.5 completion rate is the highest ever in any game by a Big Ten player (minimum 15 attempts). It was a confidence-building performance for Morgan, who set career highs in passing yards (he almost had that by halftime) and touchdown passes. Most importantly, it was also just his sixth career game (out of 13) with no interceptions.

— Michigan State’s Brian Lewerke threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns. It was the senior’s highest yardage total in games in which he didn’t throw an interception. Lewerke added a team-high 78 yards on the ground as Michigan State rallied past Indiana 40-31. It’s a breath of fresh air for a team that has struggled offensively, and it comes at a great time with a visit to Ohio State looming. With all the talk of the Spartans struggling offense, it is strange to note that Lewerke leads the Big Ten in completions (104) and yards (1,325), but he is just 11th in yards per attempt at 7.6.

— Indiana is clearly a different team with Michael Penix Jr. in the lineup. The redshirt freshman returned after missing two games due to injury and put up 286 passing yards and four TD (one rushing). The three passing scores were a career high. Penix Jr. set a school record for consecutive completions with 20 (and it was the second longest in a conference game in Big Ten history, just short of Chuck Long’s 22 straight in 1984). And he did it all against one of the top defenses in the country. Indiana is still searching for that elusive win over a ranked team, but if Penix Jr. keeps delivering performances like that, it’ll come in due time.

— As mentioned above, Sean Clifford looked the part in Penn State’s romp of Maryland. He did throw an interception on a deep ball, but he was otherwise nearly perfect in completing 26 of 31 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns, plus 54 rushing yards and another score. The first-year starter had never eclipsed 280 yards or completed more than 72 percent of his passes. And to do all that in his first road start? Not bad, not bad at all.

The most demoralizing play of the season

Has there been a more costly play this season than in the Minnesota vs. Purdue game? Purdue’s two best players, Elijah Sindelar and Rondale Moore, sustained injuries on the same play. Sindelar needed to be helped off the field and to the locker room with an apparent shoulder injury after taking a big hit during the first quarter. Moore hurt his knee while running a route. He tried to walk off the field and his leg gave out. Without those two players, Purdue cpuldn’t quite keep up with Minnesota.

https://twitter.com/SchutteCFB/status/1178039705859952641?s=20

Not that it would’ve mattered on this day because neither Sindelar or Moore can defend an RPO. Turns out, Purdue’s defense can’t either. Tanner Morgan exploited the middle of Purdue’s defense over and over and over and over and… you get the picture.

Purdue coach Jeff Brohm admitted it didn’t look good for Sindelar and added he wasn’t yet sure on Moore’s status.

Three Up, Three Down

Up

1. Michigan State kicker Matt Coghlin

Just two weeks ago, Coghlin was the goat (the original kind of goat where you let the team down) after he missed a game-tying field goal against Arizona State in the final seconds. He redeemed himself Saturday in Michigan State’s win over Indiana, nailing a 21-yard field goal with five seconds remaining in a tie game. The final score of 40-31 looks weird because IU did that lateral thing and Michigan State recovered a fumble for a touchdown as time expired. But good for Coghlin, who began the day by missing from 43 on the opening possession but rebounded to make a 44-yard attempt in the fourth in addition to the game-winner.

2. Shea Patterson

Playing well against Rutgers wasn’t going to prove to anyone that the Michigan quarterback is capable of winning big games for the Wolverines, but playing poorly would’ve definitely been alarming. Patterson did throw an interception, but he was otherwise solid in completing 17 of 23 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown, plus three rushing scores on the ground.

3. Nate Stanley

He continues to quietly have a solid season, the latest being completing 17 of 25 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns in a 48-3 win over Middle Tennessee State. Stanley (eight TD passes) and Fields (16) are the only Big Ten starting quarterbacks who have yet to throw an interception this season.

Down

1. Targeting calls in Penn State vs. Maryland

I understand cleaning up the game and ridding it of dirty hits. If you watched the Packers and Eagles on Thursday Night Football, you know what I’m talking about. It was cringe-worthy. But the targeting penalties sometimes baffle me.

The Penn State/Maryland game is a great example of the difference. Micah Parsons deserved his targeting penalty as he led with his head and went for the head of the quarterback. But to me, there’s such a big difference between that and Maryland defensive back Deon Jones’ targeting penalty. Jones was protecting himself and bracing for a charging wide receiver. He was not the aggressor.

Each player was ejected and now has to sit the first half next week. They sure don’t seem like the same thing, though. Here’s a look at both.

https://twitter.com/ftbeard_17/status/1177752515749695488?s=20

2. Unsportsmanlike conduct on Wisconsin

Noah Burks made a great play to intercept Aidan Smith and took it to the house. It was a huge play as Wisconsin remained unbeaten. But he was flagged him for throwing the football in the air as he got to the end zone.

To me, unsportsmanlike conduct is showing up the other team. This definitely wasn’t that. It was just genuine excitement. The 15-yard penalty didn’t matter in this game, but it definitely could. I know there is a line in what should be tolerated, but to me, this doesn’t cross it.

3. Nebraska and Maryland

It doesn’t get much worse than hyping a game all week and then falling behind by two touchdowns five minutes in during primetime with a national audience watching. I don’t think either has to worry about tuning out their fan bases, but lay an egg like that often enough and you’re really pushing it. Both fan bases deserved better showings.

Looking ahead

Four of the league’s six ranked teams will be playing one another. And the schedule lines up well for Big Ten fans, who can begin their day with No. 14 at No. 20 Michigan at noon, squeeze in a nap if needed during the second slate of games and then close out the day with No. 25 Michigan State at No. 5 Ohio State at 7:30.

At first glance, the rest of the schedule looks a bit weak. Maryland at Rutgers isn’t getting anyone excited at this point, and Penn State figures to handle Purdue at home. Northwestern could put a scare into Nebraska like it did to Wisconsin. Illinois and Minnesota could be a sneaky good game.

But all eyes will be on Ann Arbor and Columbus as four of the league’s top programs square off.