Buckeye Numbers: Urban Meyer's ranking among coaches in the Ohio State-Michigan game; Ezekiel Elliott's ranking all-time for rushers at OSU; and and a trio of 2015 Buckeyes rank near the top for career passer ratings all-time.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ezekiel Elliott moved into second place all-time on the Ohio State Buckeyes rushing list, and Urban Meyer improved his record against Michigan to a series-best 4-0 on Saturday.

With the close of the regular season, we've updated a number of our Ohio State databases. See the links below.

Urban Meyer sits atop the list of coaches in the OSU-UM game, at 4-0.

Among those who have coached in 10 or more games, Jim Tressel leads at 9-1 (.900), followed by Michigan's Fielding Yost at 16-3-1 (.825)

Yost and Woody Hayes have the most wins - 16 each. Hayes was 16-11-1 against Michigan

Elliott moved into second-place all-time, ahead of Eddie George, for career rushing yards at Ohio State. Elliott's three-season total of 3,812 ranks behind only Archie Griffin's four-season total of 5,589 yards.

In terms of yards per carry, Elliott at 6.7 is far ahead of OSU's other all-time leading rushers. Griffin averaged 6 yards a carry. George averaged 5.5 yards a carry.

As for quarterbacks, three of the top six rated passers in OSU history are on the 2015 roster.

J.T. Barrett is first (162.8). Cardale Jones is third (156.3). And Braxton Miller is sixth (146.7).

All-time OSU rushing statistics

All-time OSU passing statistics

All-time OSU receiving statistics

Longest OSU winning streaks

Michigan's weird loss to Michigan State wound up hurting Ohio State.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- If Michigan could have punted, Ohio State would have been celebrating a trip to the Big Ten Championship on the field at Michigan Stadium on Saturday.

The Buckeyes also probably would have controlled their own destiny for making the College Football Playoff.

Remember the Wolverines' punt fiasco that cost them what looked like a sure win against Michigan State earlier this season? It turned out to be the worst thing for Ohio State's playoff chances.

Thanks to that miracle 27-23 win by the Spartans, Michigan State locked up a trip to the Big Ten Championship with its 55-16 win over Penn State on Saturday. 

Here's how the top of the Big Ten East finished in conference play:

1. Michigan State 7-1

2. Ohio State 7-1

3. Michigan 6-2

Michigan State earned the title trip because of that head-to-head win over the Buckeyes.

Here's how the top of the division would have looked if Michigan would have held on to beat the Spartans on Oct. 17.

1. Ohio State 7-1

2. Michigan 7-1

3. Michigan State 6-2

Ohio State would have earned the trip based on Saturday's head-to-head to win over the Wolverines.

Now you are going to say that if the Spartans hadn't blown a late lead to Nebraska or if the Buckeyes had taken care of business against Michigan State last week, then things also would have changed. To that, I say ONE WHAT-IF AT A TIME.

Ohio State fans may have enjoyed Michigan's misery when it happened. We wondered at the time if Ohio State players even felt sorry for the Wolverines.

The reality finds Ohio State sitting home next week while 12-0 Iowa and 11-1 Michigan State, currently No. 4 and No. 5 in the playoff ratings, battle in what amounts to a play-in game for the playoff.

We're all spinning scenarios for what could get Ohio State into the four-team playoff without winning a conference title. But there are four spots and five power conferences and the committee has said it values conference champions. 

If Michigan had beaten Michigan State, the Buckeyes would be going to Indianapolis next week to play Iowa and try to be that conference champ.

For some Ohio State fans, that's hard to take.

Well that's depressing https://t.co/CPw1FaPOdB

-- TK (@Kemper__Fi) November 28, 2015

Just one more reason to hate ichigan. https://t.co/kANPbF5dtk

-- JP Hastings (@_JPHastings) November 28, 2015

What's the German word for regretting your schadenfreude? https://t.co/A4wKAmVwzS

-- Jeff Hanneken (@jeffjh14) November 28, 2015

[?] https://t.co/JBSYIiBZ2S

-- Matt Dunn (@MDunn44) November 28, 2015

CFB is so wonderfully weird https://t.co/QjdfJFDahT

-- Justin (@LastGreatPoet) November 28, 2015

Life is cruel. https://t.co/OjzcxB3oGa

-- Matt Kraus (@MattKraus813) November 28, 2015

"I knew that what was gonna be best for the team," Taylor Decker said. "Coach Warinner wasn't worried about it, we knew we had a veteran group. If we had issues, put on the headset and talk to him." Watch video

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Taylor Decker had a problem on the sideline, he needed to talk to Ed Warinner and Warinner wasn't there. So Decker didn't get the coaching he needed and on the next series and he went out, missed a block, Ezekiel Elliott took a good shot, fumbled and Michigan recovered.

No, none of that happened.

Whatever fears Urban Meyer had about putting Warinner up in the press box at the start of the season went unfounded during Saturday's win over Michigan. It really could not have gone smoother.

Warinner had a chance to be a real play caller, not perform some kind of crazy balancing act, coaching the offensive line while also assessing the best course of action for the Buckeyes offense on the fly. And if that doesn't sound that difficult to you, let Saturday's result be the proof you need that it isn't easy.

Warinner in the press box, his offensive linemen on the field, it went off without a hitch. Makes you wonder if it could have all along.

"I knew that what was gonna be best for the team," Decker said. "Coach Warinner wasn't worried about it, we knew we had a veteran group. If we had issues, put on the headset and talk to him."

Meyer was hesitant at the start of the season to put Warinner in the press box. He liked his presence on the sideline. Everyone did. Ezekiel Elliott carried Ohio State to a championship last year. Warinner's work with the offensive line was arguably just as important.

Meyer didn't want to lose that calming presence for the group of players he says drives the team.

Here's what happened on Saturday: That calming presence wasn't there, and the offensive line drove the team. The line controlled a game unlike it had any other game this season. In some ways, it looked like the end of last year.

"End of last year, the offensive line was at its peak performance-wise and execution-wise," guard Pat Elflein said. "We did the exact same thing today."

Ed Warinner gets redemption in Ohio State's win over Michigan

The Buckeyes had 369 rushing yards against a defense that had allowed just four games of 100 rushing yards coming in. Ezekiel Elliott went for 214. J.T. Barrett went for 141, taking advantage of a thin and banged up Michigan defensive line.

The offense moved with purpose, more than it had at any other point this season, and while the throwing numbers weren't robust (113 yards), they were enough to keep the run game going.

Why did it take Warinner this long to get up to the box again?

Because Meyer is about relationships, and he didn't want to sever the one the offensive line built with its position coach. But as it turns out, it didn't matter. Meyer said making a move like he did on Saturday would only work with a veteran offensive line, so it maybe it wont' work next year when it's possible that only one starter returns.

On Saturday, and for whatever is ahead, it will work.

Warinner has eyes and ears on the sideline. Tight ends coach Tim Hinton moved down from the press box. Former Ohio State and NFL offensive lineman, and current graduate assistant Jim Cordle was down there too. Any adjustments that had to be made on the field went through them.

And when Warinner had to reach his players directly, he got on the headset with center Jacoby Boren.

"Jacoby understands what everybody does," Warinner said. "We have a test every Friday for what we're gonna do and he answers for all positions. I knew that if something was going and we needed to make some big adjustments that I could just tell him and he would understand."

So if Warinner had trepidation about the move (he found out on Tuesday, but didn't tell them line until Friday), then his fears had to have gone away pretty quickly, and he could focus on getting the Buckeyes in the right plays at the right time.

The sideline vantage point is not ideal for play calling. Coaches do it, sure. But Warinner found his spot high above Michigan Stadium much better than being on the sideline, where he couldn't always tell down and distance quick enough to know what the next play should be in a tempo situation.

It was clear he was picking things up quicker on Saturday, and Ohio State wore Michigan down.

"We played fast," Barrett said.

Faster than it has all season.

It was just a slow move for everyone to realize what should have been done all along.

 

A week after being publicly displeased with Ohio State's playcalling, Ezekiel Elliott carried the ball 30 times for 214 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes win over Michigan. That was the perfect apology. Watch video

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Ezekiel Elliott was sitting at Urban Meyer's dinner table on Thanksgiving and said, "Hey, Coach, can you pass me the mashed potatoes?" 

Then Meyer picked up the bowl of mashed potatoes, looked Elliott in the eyes and asked his star running back, "Are you sure there's enough in there for you?" 

OK - that was completely made up.

But could you imagine how awkward Thanksgiving at the Meyers could have been for the Elliott family this year because of Elliott's public criticism of Ohio State's coaching staff last week? 

What's Thanksgiving if it isn't for a little family awkwardness? 

But that awkwardness never happened. Everything was just fine at the Meyer household and there were plenty of mashed potatoes. 

"I have been going to Coach Meyer's house for Thanksgiving since I've been here," Elliott said. "The relationship we have cannot be destructed by anything. He's got my back and I've got his. And I think (the Michigan win) was a big victory for both of us, for our relationship."

Elliott opened up to the media last Saturday after he carried the ball only 12 times in Ohio State's loss to Michigan State. Elliott questioned Ohio State's playcalling, he said he felt like he deserved more than 12 carries and he announced he was going to the NFL after this season. That could've have been a strain on the relationship he had with the head coach and the program that had given him so much. 

Beating Michigan 42-13 has a funny way of smoothing things over. 

That was particularly the case because Elliott gave Ohio State the perfect apology in the win: By rushing the ball 30 times and racking up 214 yards and two touchdowns the following week against the Buckeyes' rival. 

A week after being publicly displeased with Ohio State's playcalling, Ezekiel Elliott carried the ball 30 times for 214 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes win over Michigan. That was the perfect apology. Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer 

After the game, Meyer walked into the postgame press room and addressed the media first. 

"I hate to disappoint anybody, but (my relationship with Elliott) has never been anything but perfect," Meyer said. "Whatever was said last week, I think he apologized 37 or 38 times, I lost track. I told him he doesn't need to apologize. He has banked investment with the Meyer family and the coaches, Coach (Ed) Warinner and the team.

"So, we actually did, for the third year in a row, spend Thanksgiving together. ... I hope we get four, but it doesn't look good." 

An Urban Meyer joke about Elliott leaving early for the NFL landed. The room laughed, then Meyer interrupted, "Maybe a bye week?" 

After Meyer's news conference ended and the laughter subsided, Elliott walked into the room next to quarterback J.T. Barrett. He was given the floor to make an opening statement, and he used it by apologizing to the public. 

Then again later, Elliott, who passed Eddie George to become Ohio State's second-leading rusher of all-time behind Archie Griffin, said how deeply he regretted what he said. 

Ezekiel Elliott's dominant performance against Michigan prompted Urban Meyer to push Ezekiel Elliott's Heisman campaign forward. Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer 

"It kind of ate at my heart all week," Elliott said. "The media and everybody was trying to portray me as this selfish player that only cares about himself and not about the team. I said it earlier this week, but I don't care if last week I would have got 10 yards or 150, as long as we would have gotten the 'W' and continued the playoff aspirations. That's the most important thing." 

There was no media conspiracy. He said what he said.

But lost in all the attention of that was Meyer's unprovoked decision to push Elliott for the Heisman Trophy after the Michigan performance. It was the first time Meyer spoke about Elliott's Heisman campaign all year.

Those hopes were probably dashed last week when Elliott rushed for less than 40 yards against the Spartans, but this was Meyer's opportunity to drum up the talk again. And he didn't let that chance slip away. 

"I don't lobby, maybe I do, but he should be in New York," Meyer said of Elliott. "He's one of the best players in America, he should be a Heisman guy. I don't know if he should win it -- I don't know the other players -- but he's as good of a player as I've ever been around. And he's on the team that's 11-1 and he's the best player that I've ever been around or one of the best players I've ever been around."

And .. 

"He passed Eddie? Not the other guy? Not the two-timer?" 

The Heisman means a lot to Elliott. Though he's side-stepped the questions about it all season, Elliott was asked about it point-blank before he left Michigan Stadium. He finally took the chance to give a thoughtful response on it. 

"It meant the world to hear him come out and say that," Elliott said of Meyer. "He's coached Heisman winners before and he knows what it takes. The Heisman, it would mean a lot to me and it would mean a lot to my family. 

"But honestly, I just want to have a chance to repeat what we did last year. I just pray for the opportunity to go out there and repeat what we did last year. I don't think there's any accolade or any award that could rival holding up that golden College Football Playoff trophy at the end of the year." 

Part of Elliott's frustration last week was due to the idea that Ohio State likely won't get the chance to repeat as national champions. 

But without Elliott in the backfield, the Buckeyes would have had no chance this year. 

Against Michigan, two days after Thanksgiving, he proved that again. 

"You can win a million games in a row and you lose two in a row and you're back to square one," Urban Meyer said. Watch video

ANN ARBOR, Mich.-- Consider the alternative.

Reverse the score of Ohio State's 42-13 win over Michigan on Saturday, in a game that was the No. 8 team in the nation vs. the No. 10 team in the nation, a game that flip-flopped betting favorites during the week, and imagine how the world would view Ohio State football right now.

Then go inside the Ohio State locker room after last week's 17-14 loss to Michigan State and ask if that was possible. Ask if the Buckeyes could have arrived in Michigan Stadium like they didn't want to be there.

"If you would have had a chance to be in the locker room last Saturday, you would have felt how fragile the team was," senior linebacker and captain Joshua Perry said after the win in Ann Arbor. "Just in terms of how somber it was, some of the attitudes - a team that's not used to really losing. So guys are just trying to figure it out." 

It had to get figured. 

Losing for the second straight week, following one defeat to their new rival with one to their true rival, would have opened the door to questions the Buckeyes (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) would never have wanted asked about the Ohio State program. 

Make it 42-13 Michigan, or really any victory by the Wolverines, and picture these headlines:

* Is Jim Harbaugh ready to dominate Urban Meyer in the rivalry?

* Did Ohio State's players bail on the season?

* What does this two-game losing streak tell us about the Buckeyes future?

Meyer must have imagined them before, because after the game he didn't want to imagine them again.

"I don't want to go where you're headed, what if we didn't do that, because it would be dire straits right now," Meyer said. "You can win a million games in a row and you lose two in a row and you're back to square one."

Square one may have landed the defending National Champions third in the pecking order in the Big Ten East behind the Spartans and Wolverines. Square one would have meant irrelevance in bowl season while the Spartans or Iowa Hawkeyes competed for a national title.

No. 8 in the College Football Playoff Rankings, the Buckeyes will stay home next week and watch while Michigan State and Iowa meet for the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis. That will hurt them to watch. The Buckeyes cost themselves that chance last week, and they'll live with that while others ponder their chances of making the four-team playoff despite not winning a conference championship.

Not impossible. But not likely. 

That's something the Buckeyes couldn't control on Saturday. So they controlled the things in their grasp, like the line of scrimmage,

"Our offensive and defensive lines controlled the game," Meyer said.

They'll have the what-ifs. If Michigan doesn't botch a punt against the Spartans to lose that game in October, tiebreakers would be sending the Buckeyes to Indy with playoff hopes in place. If the Buckeyes had found their offense against the Spartans last week, they'd be on that path as well.

"Offensively, this was definitely our most dominant win, our most dominant performance," senior left tackle Taylor Decker. "Even though we didn't really throw the ball a lot, we just kind of asserted our will on them."

Why did it take this long, in week 12, for it to happen?

"If I knew," Decker said, pausing, "it would have been fixed earlier."

The past was gone. It's the future that was on the line Saturday.

Meyer moved to 49-4 at Ohio State and 4-0 against Michigan as a Buckeye (his bowl loss at Florida to the Wolverines will forever require that caveat) and the difference from 48-5 and 3-1 was bigger than the holes Ezekiel Elliott found.

One win was everything, reinforcing what Ohio State is and Michigan yet isn't. This was Meyer-Harbaugh I, but it felt like Tressel/Meyer-Carr/Rodriguez/Hoke X, an Ohio State domination that sent O-H-I-O chants ringing around the stadium in the closing moments and Buckeye songs of victory echoing in the concourse when it was over.

"Against a team that's an excellent team," Meyer added, "a team that had as good a defense as there is in college football. You come walking in this stadium and it was rocking."

Questions about playoff scenarios are far more preferable than questions about lack of motivation or locker room discourse. Given Elliott's critical comments after last week's loss, this team had a chance to be viewed as selfish or distracted by NFL futures. The talent had been too obvious while the results too lacking.

The first win over a ranked team this season - and that team in this way - won't erase the Michigan State loss. But it allows that loss to be blamed more on physical mistakes and play calling errors and less on a team that checked out.

The leaders knew that. They knew exactly what they were playing for.

"You would have known this game was huge for that," Perry said, "coming out here and playing the way that we did.

"As we got back to work this week, you could tell the guys genuinely enjoyed being around one another. And then guys are just competitors. We wanted to come out here on a big stage in the greatest rivalry game there is and show everybody what we have."

Last week Decker, who along with Perry has served as one of this team's clear spokesmen all season, admitted he didn't want to talk after the game because he was too upset.

Saturday, in his last regular-season game, after leading a rushing attack that gained 369 yards and averaged 6.8 yards per carry, he sat front and center, aware of what had been accomplished.

It was a win over a rival on a Saturday in November, and a reaffirmation of Ohio State football.

"After the loss last week, people were saying, 'Oh, there are locker room issues, there's this, there's that,''" Decker said. "And there isn't. We lost a football game. Not everybody handled it great, but it sucks to lose, so you don't have to be happy about it.

"I do think that it's huge to bounce back and show what our program is about. Not just for one game, but show everybody, show the country, show ourselves, that this is for real.

"And it couldn't have gone any better."

 

The St. Edward Eagles will play in their third state final since 2010.

PARMA, Ohio – St. Edward will defend its Division I state title at Ohio State next week after a dominating 45-7 win against Stow in Saturday’s state semifinal/regional final at Parma’s Byers Field. 

The Eagles (13-1) will play the winner of Cincinnati Colerain and Huber Heights Wayne Dec. 5. The Eagles defeated Wayne in last season’s Division I final, their second title in five finals appearances. The game time will be announced late Saturday night by the OHSAA.

Check cleveland.com/hssports for more stories, along with several videos, from this game, including action highlights.

It’s also a return to the state finals for first-year coach Tom Lombardo, who won a Division III title with Lake Catholic in 2001. Lombardo can become just the second Division I coach to lead a team to a repeat title in his first year.

The Eagles led 38-0 at halftime, dominating the scoreboard and the first-half stats. They outgained the Bulldogs 342-110, had 15 first downs to the Bulldogs’ seven, and held running back Jayson Gobble (2,000-plus yards, 32 touchdowns this season) to 22 yards on 12 carries.

When the Bulldogs tried to kick a 43-yard field goal in the final seconds of the first half, the Eagles blocked it. The Eagles began the second half by rotating in their backups and enjoying the running clock.

The Bulldogs (13-1), in the playoffs for the fourth time in school history, were in their first state semifinal. They set school records this season for games won, and playoff games won.

A Kyle Vantrease touchdown pass to Monte Board late in the third quarter avoided a shutout for the Bulldogs. But it didn’t erase a first half in which they had no answers for the Eagles.

Instead of featuring running back Cole Gest, the Eagles’ went to the air in the first half. They evenly split their 34 first-half plays between runs and passes, a stat that usually leans toward running plays.

Eagles quarterback Jimmy Keefe had his best game of the playoffs, and did it in one half. He was 14-of-16 passing for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Receiver Teddy Gordon had six catches for 102 yards in the first half.

Gest has 12 carries for 65 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

The Eagles continued their dominance of Northeast Ohio teams in the playoffs, improving to 21-5 since a first-round playoff loss to Solon in 2000. Only Mentor, St. Ignatius and Glenville have defeated them during the stretch.

For more high school sports news, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Contact high school sports reporter Scott Patsko on Twitter (@ScottPatsko) by email (spatsko@cleveland.com) or log in and leave a message in the comments section below.

Check out Ohio high school football OHSAA state semifinal playoff scores from across the state for Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Here are Ohio high school football statewide scores for Saturday, Nov. 28 for the state semifinal round of the OHSAA playoffs.

Click the links at right for printable and interactive brackets for all seven divisions.

Division I (games were also regional finals in this division)

St. Edward 45, Stow 7

Division IV

Columbus Hartley 26, Middletown Fenwick 14

Steubenville 28, Youngstown Ursuline 0

Division VI

Kirtland 13, Cols. Grandview Hts. 9

Maria Stein Marion Local 34, Defiance Tinora 10

For more high school sports news, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. 

ESPN's Jon Gruden laments the fact Johnny Manziel won't play much over the final six games: 'It's a dose of reality' and maybe 'turning point for him off the field.'

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- ESPN analyst Jon Gruden, in town for Monday night's game between the Browns and Ravens, hopes that Johnny Manziel's demotion to third string quarterback marks the beginning of his NFL career and not the end.

"If he wants to be a great quarterback and realize his potential, let this be the day he gets awakened,'' Gruden told cleveland.com Saturday night before giving a Chalk Talk to high school players and coaches at Dick's Sporting Goods in  Mentor. "He's an inactive quarterback. He's on a 2-8 team. There's a lot of disappointment and frustration and he's the headline of it.''

Gruden, who spent about three days with Manziel before the start of training camp in July, tried to help him get his mind right before his second pro season.

 "We grinded pretty hard,'' he said. "We went straight at it. We were right out in the open. One day I think we played golf. We talked about some deep and philosophical things. It was very unusual for me, but I care about him. I care about his family. I want to see him realize his potential. So far obviously I haven't succeeded."

Gruden emerged from his time with Manziel -- initiated by the quarterback -- optimistic about his 2015 season after a wasted rookie year.

"I felt like he was in a good place,'' said Gruden, who first got to know Manziel when he featured him on his pre-draft QB Camp series on ESPN. "I feel he's a lot like a lot of young people in this country that I meet. This is not college anymore. This is not the amateurs. This is the big leagues. Hopefully this awakens him; this is a dose of reality that maybe can be a turning point for him off the field.''

As for his playmaking ability, Gruden is still as high on Manziel as he was before the draft, when he reportedly urged the Raiders to select him in the first round.

"He's made great progress on the field,'' said Gruden. "I can't tell you how impressed I am with the progress he made last year to this year. Hopefully, we can put this behind him and he can get it together and consistently become the leader and the player we expect him to be."

Gruden didn't bother to lecture Manziel, who spent 73 days in an addiction treatment center in the offseason, during their brief time together in Tampa this summer.

"He knows what he has to do,'' said Gruden, who expressed concern in September about Manziel's elbow tendinitis. "You don't need to keep telling him what he has to do. He has to go out and do it. I wasn't aware about the rehab part of his life. We didn't get involved too deeply with that stuff.

"I'm not the expert on him. I'm a supporter of his and I'm going to continue to be that. I have a lot of confidence he's going to turn the corner. If you stay with him you're going to be glad you did."

Related: Mike Pettine doesn't deny that Manziel lied to him, and teammates were informed the cover-up led to the demotion

Like Manziel fans from coast to coast, Gruden wanted to see Manziel the final six games of the season, beginning with Monday night's nationally-televised game. His demotion, largely for lying to coach Mike Pettine about partying over the bye weekend, came just seven days after Pettine named him the starter for the rest of the season.

"(I was) obviously disappointed - not just because I'm a broadcaster,'' said Gruden, a Sandusky, Ohio native and friend of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam.  "I wanted to see him. I thought he was showing great progress. This is a setback, so obviously I was disappointed just like I'm sure Mike Pettine and the Browns were."
 
Fresh off a production meeting at the Browns facility, Gruden didn't get a chance to spend time with Manziel, who will likely be inactive for the game behind starter Josh McCown and backup Austin Davis. But Gruden plans to reach out to him again soon.

"I've texted him, stayed as close to him as I can during the season,'' he said. "There are a lot of guys I take interest in. He's a young kid (he'll be 23 on Dec. 6). He should still be at Texas A&M. Sometimes you have to remember that."

Gruden compared Manziel's off-the-field personna to that of a young Brett Favre, who's now a Hall of Fame semi-finalist.

"It's not the first time (for me),'' said Gruden. "We traded for a guy when I first got to Green Bay that Atlanta said was a little bit of a hell raiser and it turned out okay for us. You know what I mean?''

Perhaps no NFL analyst was higher on the former Heisman Trophy winner pre-draft than Gruden, and he still feels the same.

"Yeah, I do,'' he said. "I think if you asked the Buffalo Bills when they scrimmaged against the Browns this summer, I think the Browns coaches would tell you 'wow.' I think the Pittsburgh Steelers brass would say, 'That guy really is impressive.'

Likely to talk plenty about Manziel Monday night during the clash between two losing teams, Gruden acknowledged that the former Aggie draws a strong reaction either way.

"He's a polarizing guy,'' said Gruden. "You love him. You don't like him. Everybody has their own feeling, but deep down, I know there's a good person in there, a lot of talent, and somebody is going to tap into it. I believe that."

The qualities that Gruden saw in Manziel at Texas A&M, he still sees now, including the play during the 30-9 loss to Pittsburgh in which he spun out of a Jarvis Jones' jersey grab, faked a pass and scrambled 11-yards to within inches of the goal-line.

"He's a playmaker,'' Gruden said. "His improvisational skills are tremendous. He's a legitimate dual threat. He can run or pass. He can learn quick and he's clutch. He's got a lot of guts."

If Gruden were Manziel's coach, what would he tell him?

"I don't think we can report that,'' he said with a smile.

As for whether or not he'd want to coach again, Gruden said, "I'm going to coach tonight (at the Chalk Talk). We'll see what happens. I have a great job. I'm excited to be with the guys I work with and I haven't lost a game in five or six years. I feel pretty good about it."

But if he were Manziel's boss, one of the first things he'd do is surround him with more talent.

"I think they've got to get a running game,'' he said. "I don't know if Duke Johnson dies at halftime or what happens to him. They have to play better football around him. They don't have the biggest receivers I've seen.

"There are things they can do to certainly enhance him on the field, but forget about all that for now. The kid can play.''

Unfortunately for Gruden, and legions of Manziel fans, that won't be on display Monday night.

Get the latest updates and analysis on the Cleveland Cavaliers game against the Brooklyn Nets.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Cavaliers are in action, playing the second game of a back-to-back against the Brooklyn Nets.

Follow along in the comments section as Chris Haynes, Joe Vardon and Chris Fedor bring you observations and analysis throughout the game.

Make sure to follow Haynes, Vardon and Fedor on Twitter.

Scoring Summary:

End of 3rd Quarter - Cavs lead the Nets, 69-68. Kevin Love leads all scorers with 23 points. LeBron James has chipped in with 14 points while Mo Williams has 12. The Nets are led by Brook Lopez, who has 18 points. 

End of 2nd Quarter - Cavs trail the Nets, 50-44. Brook Lopez leads all scorers with 16 points on 7-of-10 from the field. Jarrett Jack has added eight points. The Cavs have three players in double figures, led by Mo Williams' 12 points. 

End of 1st Quarter - Cavs trail the Nets, 24-17. Mo Williams leads the way with six points. Kevin Love has added four points. The Nets are led by Brook Lopez, who has 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. 

Game 17: Cavs (12-4) vs. Nets (3-12)

Tip off: 7:30 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena

TV/radio: Fox Sports Ohio; WTAM AM/1100, WMMS 100.7 FM, 87.7 FM (ESP)

Cavs probable starting lineup: Mo Williams, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love and Timofey Mozgov.

Nets probable starting lineup: Jarrett Jack, Joe Johnson, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez.

For every game during the Cleveland Browns 2015 NFL season, Plain Dealer illustrator Chris Morris sets them up with storylines worth illustrating, fans with opinions to share, statistics to compare and match-ups to watch. The link below will take you to the previous games this season, and this post will be updated every week with new pages as they are drawn....

For every game during the Cleveland Browns 2015 NFL season, Plain Dealer illustrator Chris Morris sets them up with storylines worth illustrating, fans with opinions to share, statistics to compare and match-ups to watch. The link below will take you to the previous games this season, and this post will be updated every week with new pages as they are drawn. The printed version will be in the Plain Dealer's Browns Extra section.

Previous week's Brownstown

Chris Morris, The Plain Dealer 

"I'm very angry at that. It's a high standard," Bell said. "They aren't supposed to be on the field."

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Ohio State will get credit in some circles for putting together a complete game against a good team, finally, in Saturday's win over Michigan.

Just don't tell Vonn Bell that.

He sat on a chair in the corner of the postgame interview room inside Michigan Stadium, not fuming, because the Buckeyes won after a bad loss last week. But he wasn't happy. You could call it angry.

"I'm very angry at that. It's a high standard," Bell said. "They aren't supposed to be on the field."

Bell was unhappy with Ohio State's performance on third down, especially in the first half. The Wolverines converted 8-of-11 third down tries in the first half, including three on the final drive of the second quarter when Michigan cut Ohio State's lead to 14-10 heading into the break.

The Buckeyes can hang their hat on keeping Michigan out of the end zone in the second half while forcing two punts, two turnovers on downs and an interception by Joey Bosa on a great individual effort where he tipped the ball then plucked it out of the air.

Bell is gonna stew over those third downs, and Michigan's 307 passing yards, for a little while longer.

"We really didn't have a complete performance," Bell said. "We had a lot of mess ups on third down, we have to get off the field. I don't really think that's a complete performance, we gave up too many passing yards."

It was the first 300-yard passing game Ohio State has allowed this season. Minnesota threw for a previous-season-high 281 against the Buckeyes three weeks ago.

Here are more notes, quotes and nuggets from Ohio State's win over Michigan:

* The 29-point margin of victory was the largest for Ohio State in Ann Arbor since the Buckeyes won 50-20 in 1961. It was the Buckeyes 12th win in the last 14 meetings with Michigan.

Urban Meyer is now 4-0 in his Ohio State career against Michigan.

* It was the first known instance of Meyer dancing in the locker room. That's not a fact, but it's a fair assumption.

* With 30 carries for 214 yards and two touchdowns, Ezekiel Elliott passed Eddie George for No. 2 all-time on Ohio State's career rushing list. Elliott now has 3,812 career rushing yards. He won't catch Archie Griffin, who had 5,589.

It was Elliott's last effort to earn a trip to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation.

""I don't lobby, maybe I do, but he should be in New York," Meyer said of Elliott. "He's one of the best players in America, he should be a Heisman guy. I don't' know if he should win it -- I don't know the other players -- but he's as good of a player as I've ever been around."

Read more about Elliott's day here.

* Ohio State's 16-play scoring drive in the third quarter was its longest in Big Ten play this season in terms of number of plays. The Buckeyes had a 17-play scoring drive against Hawaii.

"Yeah, you could see that their defensive linemen were gassed," offensive tackle Taylor Decker said. "They played hard, but they didn't have a ton of depth and we knew that."

* Bosa's interception was the first of his career. He also had a sack and a forced fumble.

* Michigan retired the No. 21 jersey of Northeast Ohio native Desmond Howard during Saturday's game.

The 2015 Stow football team is, hands down, the school's best to ever step on the field, according to Bulldogs coach Mark Nori.

PARMA, Ohio -- When people think back on the 2015 Stow football team, they likely won't remember it for Saturday's 45-7 loss to St. Edward in the Division I state semifinals at Byers Field. 

Instead, they'll remember a team that averaged better than 38 points per game and set a school record by winning its first 13 matchups en route to the program's first appearance in the final four.  

They'll remembers watching Jayson Gobble averaging more than 166 rushing yards per game and picking up over 2,000 total. 

Kyle Vantrease's impact with his arm and his legs will also remain a vivid part of the team's legacy as well as Joe Andrassy, Logan Lindsay and Monte Board and their tremendous abilities as receivers and in the secondary.  

For these reasons and more, many Bulldogs left the stadium after their loss to the Eagles with their heads held high, adding yet another positive aspect this year's Bulldogs team can be remembered for: poise. 

"It's all smiles right now," Board said. "We've got to be happy for what we did. You can't be sad that it's over, you've got to be glad that it happened. I feel really proud of how I've influenced the younger guys and I hope they're not satisfied and want to win a state championship for Stow. I would have loved to win it myself but as long as Stow wins it, I'll be just as happy."

Linebacker Jakob Madgar recognizes that he and his teammates have numerous reasons to be proud. 

"We just played more games than any team in Stow history has played so that's a pretty good accomplishment," Madgar said. "We had probably one of the best locker rooms we've ever had in there." 

Madgar also gave a shootout to the fan section, which was voted the best in Northeast Ohio by cleveland.com readers, saying he couldn't believe how many people came out to support the team on Saturday. 

The Bulldogs will lose 14 seniors for next year but return several key starters, including Vantrease, Andrassy, Lindsay and two-way, 6-foot-4, 285-pound lineman Mike Miranda. 

Stow coach Mark Nori encouraged his seniors to be proud of what they accomplished this year and is a optimistic for what the future holds for his returning players. 

"They're the best team to ever walk the halls at Stow High School and I'm extremely proud of them," Nori said. "They're trailblazers, as far as I'm concerned, because of what they did. Our motto this year as a team was 'take it to the next level' and they certainly did that. We're not satisfied because we, obviously, want to win a state title but they've raised the bar quite a bit." 

Nori said that the key to making a deep playoff run as his team did this season begins in the offseason and he looks forward to embarking on that journey again for next year. 

Follow our high school sports Twitter account @NEOvarsity and tag your high school sports Tweets and score updates with the #NEOVarsity hashtag.

Contact high school sports reporter Robert Rozboril by email (rrozboril@cleveland.com), on Twitter (@rrozboril) or on Facebook (facebook.com/rrozboril). Or log in and leave a message in the comments section below.

Check out action highlights from St. Edward football's 45-7 Division I state semifinal win against Stow on Saturday at Byers Field.

PARMA, Ohio -- The St. Edward football team proved why it is ranked No. 1 in Ohio in a 45-7 Division I state semifinal win against Stow on Saturday at Byers Field. 

Eagles running back Cole Gest had several key plays, including a pair of touchdown runs while quarterback Jimmy Keefe made a slew of big throws that led to big gains. 

On defense, St. Edward's Roberto Roena stripped a fumble from Stow QB Kyle Vantrease and recovered it himself deep in Bulldogs territory and Kevin Dever came up with a second-half interception. 

Vantrease made a couple of impressive plays, scrambling for significant gains on a couple occasions. 

Those plays and more are included in the action highlights video above. 

Follow our high school sports Twitter account @NEOvarsity and tag your high school sports Tweets and score updates with the #NEOVarsity hashtag.

Contact high school sports reporter Robert Rozboril by email (rrozboril@cleveland.com), on Twitter (@rrozboril) or on Facebook (facebook.com/rrozboril). Or log in and leave a message in the comments section below.

The stunning crash against Michigan State still dominates conversations, as reasons are advanced for that debacle and Saturday's triumph.

ANN ARBOR, Michigan - So, where is the switch located?

Did the sleet and rain short it out last Saturday in Columbus?

Did two quarterbacks, which the critics say means you have none, mess up the wiring?

1. I've never been a big believer in "The Switch." I don't think teams can flip this magical device all of a sudden.

I believe in incremental improvement, which builds confidence and can lead to quantum jumps in performance.

Still, so pronounced was the difference in Ohio State's play against Michigan State, at home, and Michigan, on the road, in its last two games that it makes you seek an alternative explanation to flipping the switch.

My own theory is that the offensive explosion that blew away Michigan, the Buckeyes' ambitious would-be challengers, which had been awaited eagerly since the last two quarters of the Virginia Tech game on Labor Day Night, was a result, first, of a serious thirst for redemption by the players.

But it also came from playing loose and free, without the suffocating pressure of a 23-game winning streak, without the aptly named "grind" of trying to repeat as national champions against inspired opponents week after week.

2. Even after the rout of Michigan, the stupefying handcuffing of Ohio State's offense by Mark Dantonio's Spartans, as well as Ohio State's game plan, remained a big press box topic.

The best I can offer is actually the theory of the Mansfield News-Journal's Jon Spencer, like me a long-time Buckeyes chronicler.

Spencer said, and I agree, that it was a whole messy conglomerate of stuff - the wicked weather, with rain, wind and sleet; the fact that Ezekiel Elliott had spent three days in the hospital during the week, fighting a leg infection, which led to  Ohio State coaches' attempt to "save" him as much as possible; and the belief that the Buckeyes could win ugly against Michigan State with starting quarterback Connor Cook out.

By the way it only made sense to put Ed Warinner in the press box to call plays. The sideline is one of the worst vantage points in football.The long overdue move was made against Michigan.

3. I'd add the wave of injuries that took the bomp from the bomp bah bomp bah bomp for Ohio State and stole the ram from the ram a lama ding dong of the offense.

Corey Smith was a proven fifth-year wide receiver. Noah Brown had coach Urban Meyer excited in fall camp. Johnnie Dixon was the apple of backup quarterback Cardale Jones' eye. All are gone with leg or knee problems or injuries.

"Live and learn," said quarterback J.T. Barrett, when asked his views of the MSU loss.

It could apply to the coaches as much as the players.

4. The injuries in the receiving corps forced the Buckeyes to patch and plug, most notably with the heralded and, sadly, often irrelevant former quarterback Braxton Miller and with exciting redshirt sophomore Jalin Marshall, a former high school quarterback.

5. Dontre Wilson's performance never matched the hype. He's an amber-encased gadfly, frozen in the collective memory by his touchdown catch while playing on a broken foot in the pivotal game against Michigan State last year.

6. And good as Michael Thomas is, he doesn't bring the electrifying speed of Joey Galloway, Terry Glenn, Ted Ginn Jr., Santonio Holmes, or Devin Smith. In the national championship 2014 season, Smith was as much a "stretch" guy to defenses as heroes of tall tales are to the truth.

7. Miller's final season was surely not what he hoped it would be -- 40 carries for 234 yards (5.9-yard average) and one touchdown and 25 receptions for 324 yards (13.7-yard average) and three TDs. He threw one "pop" pass on the jet sweep for 3 yards.

It's been two years since we saw him at his swerving, spinning, dime-cutting best. Injuries and the difficulties of learning how to play wide receiver should never dim the memory of him as a two-time Big Ten Most Valuable Player. He was one of the most exciting broken field runners in Ohio State and college football history.

8. I'd love to know how many of J.T. Barrett's TD passes last year were on jet sweeps with short, basketball-style chest passes, which are glorified handoffs. I'm betting at least 10, although it's impossible to tell from the play-by-play sheets. 

It's a very safe play. If dropped, it's an incomplete pass, not a potentially devastating fumble, as on a handoff.

It's also a stat-inflating device for QBs. When Purdue's Drew Brees held the Big Ten touchdowns record for one season, which Barrett broke, Brees never had that dinky play in the game plan. It hadn't been invented yet.

9. I'm not ready to say the Buckeyes are really most sincerely dead for the Rose Bowl, although without a conference championship it is very hard to see them being advanced into the College Football Playoff

If Michigan State wins the Big Ten Championship Game, Iowa would have one loss, as would Ohio State. Iowa was last in the Rose Bowl 25 years ago, losing a shootout to Washington, 46-34. Ohio State has been in and won two Rose Bowls since then.

Iowa has won ugly so often, it's easy to discount the Hawkeyes. The consensus seems to be that the top two East Division teams (OSU and MSU) would be solid favorites against them, and Michigan might be slightly favored.

10. In the old BCS days, two teams from the same division, the SEC-West, Alabama and LSU, played a crushingly boring rematch for the national championship. That ls not a precedent Ohio State can count on to join the Big Ten champion in the four-team playoff.

The College Football Playoff has new rules and it's all up to the committee that selects the four playoff teams. Also, no one profited as handsomely from the BCS cabal as Ohio State.

11. The first installment of the Urban Meyer-Jim Harbaugh rivalry was a dud. When Harbaugh has recruited his own players, the chances are the season-ending battle of traditional powers will heat up as if microwaved.

LeBron James changed the identity and culture of the Cleveland Cavaliers, writes Chris B. Haynes.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Early on, the Cleveland Cavaliers are feeling the pressure of LeBron James' obsession with bringing a title to the city of Cleveland.

His teammates might have thought they understood the magnitude of the city's championship drought and what James' return truly means, but they had no idea how much James would be in their ear in Year 2.

Based off last season's performance, they probably felt they had a firm grasp of what it took to be an NBA champion. They came up two games short without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

Despite the Cavs boasting an Eastern Conference-best record of 13-4, James has been extremely critical of his locker room mates. In the heat of competition, you'd see him scolding players for lackadaisical effort and casual slipups.

In mid-October James questioned the culture of the team, leading to internal changes when it came to professionalism and promptness. It was all addressed in a team meeting before the regular season tipped off.

Those Hoverboards some players cruised around on through the corridors of The Q during The Finals and during preseason play, the organization banned them from the arena, cleveland.com was informed.

Also, that meeting caused some players to spruce up their pregame and postgame attire. James, Tristan Thompson and Mo Williams consistently lead the charge in the fashion department. They take pride in what they wear while at work.

"I think it starts with how you dress off the court," Thompson told cleveland.com. "This is a billion-dollar business. When the front-office people come to the games, they come in suits, or slacks, or dress shirt or nice-cut jeans. I think it's the same way with us. Just because we're the guys that put the jerseys on, doesn't mean we can't clean up nice. At the end of the day, you're a professional and you have to represent yourself.

"It's sad to say, but some judge a book by its cover," Thompson continued. "So if you think about a prototypical athlete, you think about a guy that's a jock. You think he doesn't know much. He's somebody who has God-given talent but doesn't really know anything else. But we're trying to change that whole culture, especially myself. I take that real personal. You don't know whom you're going to meet. If I meet a gentleman for the first time, he may not know much about me but that I play basketball. If I dress nice, dress maybe even better than him, it gets his attention that I'm serious."

And that's the message the Cavaliers are sending: They are serious.

In choosing to skip the starting lineup introductions and instead, standing at half court, waiting for the opposition to hit the floor says the Cavs are all business. Without saying a word, their stance is telling the opponent to hurry your little huddle along and come get some.

And with all this happening with the Cavaliers, the Golden State Warriors are steamrolling through the competition. It's fueling James' fire even more. He's not going to let off the gas. He'll continue holding players accountable.

It will not be the last time Timofey Mozgov and J.R. Smith get an earful from James. The stakes are high. It's go-time, regardless of who is healthy enough to play.

This season for Cleveland is about unfinished business. And the proper way to accomplish the ultimate feat is in a business-like, professional manner. You can see the off-court, on-court adjustments made. It's a new culture and identity in Cleveland.

It's "All In" or nothing.

One Michigan beat reporter had it right: He picked Ohio State in the press box before the game, and basically said, there's nothing more important than talent.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There was enough hype for the first battle between Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh to match the entire previous decade of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.

Maybe Ohio State losing to Michigan State the previous week had something to do with this, but by the time kickoff arrived, there were some sportsbooks that had the Wolverines as a favorite.

Now that Ohio State's 42-13 victory over Michigan is in the past, it's hard to fathom that a team that has at least seven more future first-round NFL draft picks could ever be an underdog in college football. 

Yes, I understand that betting spreads are about perception and public opinion. And even I fell for the idea that the rivalry would breed a close game, that there's no way that Harbaugh, who has already proven to be Michigan's savior, was going to let the Wolverines get blown out in his first game against Ohio State. 

But consider this: Betting expert R.J. Bell said that Ohio State was favored by 16 points during futures betting lines released back in June. 

Ohio St favored by 1.5 points at Michigan. Back in June, Buckeyes opened as 16 POINT FAVORITES over the Wolverines!

-- RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) November 28, 2015

That spread was probably based on one thing: Talent. 

A lot of things change. Ohio State was the defending national champion who blew out Alabama and Oregon, and that memory was propping them up. That line was out before the Buckeyes muddled around through their regular season before eventually losing to Michigan State. It was also before Harbaugh led Michigan to nine wins and only two losses, both of which came to quality opponents. 

There was a lot at stake in the Big House on Saturday. 

But one Michigan beat reporter had it right: He picked Ohio State in the press box before the game, and basically said, there's nothing more important than talent. 

Ohio State proved him right. 

2. Michael Thomas is underused: Ohio State rushed for about 400 yards against Michigan and didn't need to throw the ball. I get it. But Michael Thomas is one of the top receivers in the country, and looking back at it, he was underutilized in the Michigan game. Wait, I mean all season.

When he's matched up in single coverage, most of the time he's going to have a chance to make a play. Ohio State didn't throw balls his direction enough, and I think we won't see how truly good he is until he's in the Pro Bowl in the NFL. 

3. Jake Butt, a Columbus native, is really good: Earlier this year I said that Ohio State made the wrong decision when it took Marcus Baugh from California in the 2013 recruiting class instead of Butt. On second thought, that was probably a bit harsh. Butt stands out more in games than Baugh because he catches more passes in Michigan's system. Butt is a legitimate NFL prospect, but maybe Baugh would be doing the same thing in a similar system. 

There's still time for Baugh to really leave his mark, and he's started already. Meyer has mentioned Baugh as someone who has really come on in practice and his playing time has increased because of it. And with Nick Vannett moving on after this year, Baugh will be the starter next season as a redshirt junior.

Butt is really, really good. But when a prospect comes to Ohio State, sometimes it takes time to get your opportunity. There's still time for Baugh to even the score, and he'll have to do big things because of what Butt has accomplished, but I was out of line for saying it was a mistake. 

4. Ezekiel Elliott apologizes in right way: I wrote a 1,000-word story about his relationship with Meyer after the game and how his performance may have gotten him back into the Heisman talk, but Elliott said something that didn't sit right with me. He said that the media was trying to twist his comments into something they weren't and create a feud and perception of him that wasn't true. 

No, there was no media conspiracy. He said what he said, and when you speak that way, it makes everyone question those things. I buy that it was a mistake for a kid and it happens when a competitor loses, but the fallout wasn't anyone's fault but his.

5. Could that performance have beaten Alabama? Ohio State dominated the best defense it saw all season on the ground on Saturday, but would that one-dimensional approach have beaten Alabama? I guess that doesn't matter because it seems the Buckeyes are going to be left out of the College Football Playoff, but that wasn't the balanced attack that made Ohio State so good in last year's title run. 

Peppers had 7 rushes, two catches and five tackles in Saturday's loss to Ohio State.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jim Harbaugh laid out the blueprint on Michigan's first drive: Here's how you use a dynamic talent like Jabrill Peppers.

Ohio State could have been taking notes: Here's how use a dynamic talent like Braxton Miller. Figuring out how to use Miller is just one of the confusing things that has bogged down this Ohio State offense all season.

And I know the Buckeyes had a good day on Saturday. They deserve credit for that, but that doesn't change what happened in the past. Ohio State had maybe its best day of the season offensively. Did you notice that Braxton Miller had nothing to do with it?

Miller had one catch for five yards, three rushes for seven yards. Again, he was a forgotten part of Ohio State's offense. Now that it looks like there's one game left, the experiment of Miller at receiver/H-back is all but over. It didn't really work.

Michigan, meanwhile, has a similarly dangerous player in Peppers, and uses him well. Peppers had seven rushes for 29 yards, and he was the Wolverines' leading rusher on a day when the Michigan rushing attack was bogged down by Ohio State's defense. Peppers also had two catches for 25 yards, and tried to throw it twice. That all came when he wasn't playing safety, where he finished with five tackles. 

Those stats don't jump off the page at you, and Michigan lost so Peppers' impact was obviously nullified a bit. But it's about more than what you see, it's what you feel when a player like Peppers has the ball in his hands.

"What Jabrill Peppers does for that team is just phenomenal, being able to play both ways," Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott said. "Every time he just touches the ball, you kind of hold your breath." 

That's good recognizing good. Elliott and Peppers had an exchange on Twitter after the game, too.

@JabrillPeppers good game brother. Your special. Keep balling brother and good luck with the rest of your season.

-- EzekielElliott#15 (@EzekielElliott) November 28, 2015

Appreciate it bro! Keep doing your thang man, good luck the rest of the season, real recognize real[?] https://t.co/gJkraSoT89

-- PeppyPep (@JabrillPeppers) November 28, 2015

Peppers took handoffs like a real running back. He took sweeps like an H-back, he tried to throw like a quarterback and ran routes and caught passes as well as any receiver on the field on Saturday. Each time he touched the ball, it felt like he could score.

That's a feeling people used to have with Miller. Instead the few times he's had the ball over the last three weeks, Miller looks indecisive, too unsure of what to do to make the right cut and just run by guys like he used to.

And maybe that's because the threat of the throw was never there, so direct snaps to Miller were just wasted opportunities. Perhaps if he took more direct handoffs like Peppers, Miller would have had more of an impact. Miller showed he was a good threat catching the ball downfield, and the ball seldom got to him.

Michigan made sure Peppers was a part of the gameplan. Ohio State often forgot Miller was there.

2. Elliott and Peppers had a meeting on the field, too, on a four-yard run from J.T. Barrett in the third quarter.

THIS @EzekielElliott BLOCK https://t.co/1mKHWm4yBF

-- Sports Nation Ohio (@SN_Ohio) November 28, 2015

3. Call Elliott's tweet to Peppers a kind of passing of the torch. Elliott is gone after this year. Peppers, a sophomore, is now the best player in this rivalry as long as he sticks around at Michigan.

Urban Meyer is a great recruiter, but there isn't a player on Ohio State's roster, or one coming in who does what Peppers does.

4. Allow me to get way hyperbolic here: Peppers could become the best player in the country depending on how Michigan decides to use him next year. If he's as big a part of the offense moving forward as he was on Saturday, he'll be doing things reserved for some of the greatest players in the history of college football.

Peppers wrote a piece for Derek Jeter's website, The Players Tribune, this week before The Game in which he detailed his love for Charles Woodson. That's a high bar, but that's where Peppers wants to be: On the same level as the last two-way guy to win the Heisman Trophy.

5. That Love for Woodson helps explain why Peppers is at Michigan in the first place. While I was marveling at what Peppers was doing on the field, I was also wondering how a five-star talent like that from New Jersey ended up at Michigan.

He didn't commit to Harbaugh, which would've made sense. He committed to Brady Hoke at an uncertain time for the program.

Now that he's at Michigan, he can help establish a pipeline to a recruiting hotbed back home in Jersey.

Three spots are locked up, which means Ohio State's chances come down to a familiar SEC matchup.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Hey, Gators, my old friends. Sooooo ... you guys feel like you've got a big win in you?

Urban Meyer's message to the college football program he called home for six years is clear this week.

Help.

After Ohio State's win Saturday and a few other games that went Ohio State's way, and a few that didn't, the chances of the Buckeyes returning to the College Football Playoff will rest on one game. It's a game that Meyer knows very well.

Florida vs. Alabama in the SEC Championship.

Here's why - three spots in the playoff are already locked up, and Ohio State doesn't play again.

* The winner of the Big Ten Championship between No. 4 Iowa and No. 5 Michigan State is in.

* No. 3 Oklahoma, whose season ended with a 58-23 drubbing of No. 11 Oklahoma State on Saturday night, is in.

* The ACC champions is in. Some will dispute this, but you can see how the selection committee will think. No. 1 and undefeated Clemson is obviously in with a win. But North Carolina at No. 11 is 11-1 overall, riding an 11-game winning streak since a season-opening loss to South Carolina and would be coming off a win over the No. 1 team in the country.

Winning a conference title, beating No. 1, proving they're hot with that win streak - all those things would greatly favor North Carolina over Ohio State. Those conference titles really matter.

So that leaves one spot, and only because two things happened last night to help Ohio State.

First, No. 6 Notre Dame lost on a last-second field goal to No. 9 two-loss Stanford. If the Irish had won, they'd be in position to benefit from an Alabama loss and the Buckeyes would most likely be totally done.

Second, No. 13 Florida State dominated No. 12 Florida to hand the Gators their second loss. If Florida had won, the Gators would have been a one-loss SEC Champion with a win over Alabama and they would have been in.

So Ohio State has hope. Slim hope. Some argue that two-loss Stanford, if it beats USC for the Pac-12 title, would be in better position than Ohio State. Again, the committee does value conference champions. 

I don't think that's the case. But that's not really the issue.

The issue is how the Gators, coming off a 23-2 loss, can rise up and knock off Alabama. Maybe Meyer can offer a little pep talk. 

This will be the sixth time those teams meet in the conference championship. Meyer was part of the previous two. In 2008, Florida beat Alabama on the way to the National Championship. In 2009, Alabama beat No. 1 Florida on the way to Nick Saban's first title with the Tide, as the loss proved to be the beginning of the end of Meyer's time in Gainesville.

Last year, Meyer dealt with any leftover Alabama angst when the Buckeyes dispatched No. 1 Alabama in the playoff semifinals on their way to a title. Now, Florida is back in his life.

And he needs them. 

ESPN is broadcasting the game with WKYC showing the game locally as well. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens renew their rivalry on Monday night. The Browns previously beat the Ravens in overtime.

The game will be broadcast by ESPN. WKYC Channel 3 is broadcasting the game locally. The Browns radio network will broadcast the game on WKRK/92.3 FM, WKNR/850 AM and WNCX/98.5 FM and on Westwood One. The game starts at 8:30 p.m.

The game can be watched online at ESPN.com for cable customers that provide access to WatchESPN. NFL Game Pass allows users to listen to games live online. It also offers replays of all games and condensed games. There is a cost associated; however, the service is offers a 7-day free trial.

For complete coverage of the game, check out cleveland.com/browns.

The Buckeyes moved up two spots with Saturday's win over Michgian.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State is No. 6 and sitting around.

The Buckeyes moved up two spots in the polls from No. 8 after beating Michigan on Saturday and watching two teams ranked above them - Notre Dame and Baylor - lose over the weekend. Ohio State almost assuredly will be in the same No. 6 spot when the only rankings that matter from the College Football Playoff selection committee are released on Tuesday.

That's not quite enough.

The polls are only a meaningless illustration of the help that Ohio State needs in order to get into the top four and make the playoff. Iowa and Michigan State, both ranked ahead of the Buckeyes, are playing in the Big Ten Championship with the winner assured a playoff spot and the loser out.

The Buckeyes, who are done and won't be playing in a conference title game, need to make up one more spot.

The best chance for that will come with a loss by No. 2 Alabama to No. 18 Florida.

* Buckeyes hopes rest on Gators beating Tide

And even that may not be enough.

Here are the full polls and my AP ballot, which also has Ohio State at No. 6.

Full AP poll:

1. Clemson (53)

2. Alabama (8)

3. Oklahoma

4. Iowa

5. Michigan State

6. Ohio State

7. Stanford

8. North Carolina

9. Notre Dame

10. Florida State

11. TCU

12. Baylor

13. Northwestern

14. Oklahoma State

15. Oregon

16. Ole Miss

17. Houston

18. Florida

19. Michigan

20. Temple

21. Utah

22. Navy

23. LSU

24. USC

25. Wisconsin

Full coaches poll: 

1. Clemson (53)

2. Alabama (8)

3. Iowa (1)

4. Oklahoma (2)

5. Michigan State

6. Ohio State

7. Stanford

8. North Carolina

9. Florida State

10. Notre Dame

11. TCU

12. Baylor

13. Northwestern

14. Oklahoma State

15. Florida

16. Oregon

17. Ole Miss

18. Houston

19. Michigan

20. Utah

21. Temple

22. Navy

23. LSU

24. USC

25. Wisconsin

My AP ballot:

1. Clemson.

2. Alabama

3. Michigan State

4. Oklahoma

5. Iowa

6. Ohio State

7. North Carolina

8. Northwestern

9. Stanford

10. Notre Dame

11. TCU

12. Houston 

13. Florida State

14. Baylor

15. Oklahoma State.

16. Florida

17. Oregon

18. Ole Miss

19. Michigan

20. USC

21. BYU

22. Navy

23. Georgia

24. Utah

25. Temple