In the opening week of the preseason, er, regular season, the top dogs all rolled out of bed and handled business against inferior opponents. Ohio State handled a completely out-matched but gamely Buffalo squad, 40-20, Toledo fell to Florida in the Swamp, 24-6, and UMass woke up in Wisconsin after a 45-0 beatdown wondering what happened.
In typical Urban Meyer fashion, his Ohio State squad put their foot down early, jumping out to a 23-0 lead in the first quarter. He went for two on his opening scores, with Kenny Gutlon running for one and passing for another. Jordan Hall and Devin Smith each racked up TDs of 45+ yards, and this one was over almost as soon as it began.
The Gators amassed 415 yards against Toldeo with 112 on the legs of RB Mack Brown. He scored twice on 23 carries, while QB Jeff Driskel was 17/22 for 153 yards and a score, doing enough, but little to boost concerns about Florida's offense. The Gators also racked up 10 penalties, another weakness from last season.
Wisconsin piled up nearly 600 total yards against UMass, with 393 coming on the ground. Three running backs, Melvin Gordon, James White, and Corey Clement, ran for over 100 yards and four running backs (all of the previously mentioned backs plus Joel Stave), scored touchdowns. Jared Abbrederis added two scored on 122 yards receiving, and that was pretty much that.
