Ohio State has been at or near the top of the national scoring chart seven years in a row, and the Buckeyes have been especially prolific at home.
Their 56-14 win over Indiana on Saturday made them the first Big Ten team since the 1903 Michigan Wolverines to score at least 45 points in six straight home games in the same season, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
The Buckeyes’ streak started after they managed just 21 against Notre Dame in the opener. They set a national season high with 77 against Toledo two weeks later.
Ohio State is scoring 50.6 points per home game this season, and it’s averaging a Bowl Subdivision-high 48.4 points over 45 games at Ohio Stadium since 2016, according to Sportradar.
Tennessee is the 2022 season leader in home scoring, at 55.3 points per game.
THIS GUY CAN PLAY
Central Michigan freshman Bert Emanuel Jr. turned in the best rushing performance by a quarterback in three years when he ran for 293 yards against Buffalo in only his second collegiate game.
The Chippewas’ coaching staff had wanted to give some playing time to Emanuel, who can play up to four games and still preserve his redshirt.
He ran 24 times and finished with 30 snaps in relief of Daniel Richardson in the 31-27 win Wednesday. Of his 293 yards, 274 came in the second half, and he scored on runs of 75, 87 and 1 yards.
Emanuel’s rushing total was highest by a quarterback since Navy’s Malcolm Perry amassed 304 yards on 29 carries against Army in 2019.
The week’s only other 200-yard game was by Oklahoma’s Eric Gray, who went for 211 on 25 carries against West Virginia.
GREAT START, BAD START
Pittsburgh led Virginia 14-0 just 16 seconds into their game after Brennan Armstrong’s first two passes were intercepted and returned for touchdowns.
M.J. Devonshire’s pick-6 went for 29 yards and Marquis Williams’ for 39. It was each player’s second interception return for TDs this season.
The game was Pitt’s first with two interception returns for TDs since Sept. 2, 2006, when Darrelle Revis and Clint Session had pick-6s against Virginia.
It was a tough day for Armstrong. He was sacked eight times and finished 17 of 33 for 152 yards and a touchdown. Only two FBS quarterbacks have thrown more than Armstrong’s 12 interceptions this season.
THREE FOR ME
Miami’s Kamren Kinchens intercepted three passes against Georgia Tech, making him the fourth FBS player with at least three picks in a game. He ran back the third one 99 yards for a touchdown, the second-longest pick-6 of the season behind John Torchio’s 100-yarder for Wisconsin against Illinois State on Sept. 3.
TACKLE TIME
Louisiana-Monroe backup linebacker Michael Batton had his breakout performance against Georgia State, making a national season-high 15 solo tackles.
Batton, who played a career-high 68 snaps, also had a pass breakup and forced fumble and assisted on a tackle to finish with 16. His previous highs were two solo tackles and five total.
FINE ON FOURTH
South Alabama went 6 for 6 on fourth-down conversions against Texas State. The Jaguars have now converted nine straight fourth downs over three games after having been successful on just three of their first 10 opportunities this season.
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