Buckeyes court voters with big wins

The Big Ten already knows that Ohio State is the most dominant team in the conference. The fourth-ranked Buckeyes want to prove they belong among the nation’s elite. And Saturday night, they made a strong statement to the poll voters with a 63-14 victory over Penn State.

With the Big Ten considered one of the weaker BCS conferences this year, Ohio State needs to win with style and win big. That they did.

Led by Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde, Ohio State thoroughly dominated from the start. So much so that many of the starters took a seat for a large chunk of the second half.

Coach Urban Meyer downplayed Ohio State’s intention to make a statement, but he knows his team needs to convert the unbelievers who kept Ohio State at No. 4 in the latest Associated Press and USA Today coaches’ polls released Sunday. The Buckeyes also remained No. 4 in the more important BCS Standings well behind No. 3 Florida State.

“I think it helps,” Meyer said. “That was certainly not our mindset. Our mindset is to find a way to win this game against a very talented team.”

Michigan State doesn’t have the most talented team in the Big Ten, but the Spartans routed Illinois 42-3 to move to 7-1 and are No. 22 in the BCS Standings.

One spot ahead at No. 21 is Michigan, which had a bye before a key matchup at Michigan State this week.