Besides earning a victory to move into first place in the Coastal Division, Georgia Tech’s goal this week was to make sure that their upset over Virginia Tech last Saturday counted for something.

With their impressive 34-9 win over the Cavaliers in Week 8, the Yellow Jackets accomplished their goal.

With all due respect to Virginia Tech’s Ryan Williams, the combination of Jonathan Dwyer, Anthony Allen and Josh Nesbitt gives Georgia Tech the best backfield in the ACC. The trio rushed for 310 yards on 56 carries against Virginia on Saturday as the Yellow Jackets’ triple option once again took over the game. The Cavilers were very much in control in the first half, but Georgia Tech ran away (excuse the pun) with the game in the third and forth quarters.

Virginia also blew plenty of opportunities offensively in the red zone. But give credit to Georgia Tech’s defense for producing a couple of big plays, perhaps none bigger than Rashaad Reid’s hit on Kris Burd in the end zone to break up what could have gotten the Cavaliers back in the game in the second half.

If the Yellow Jackets’ defense continues to match the production of the offense, then they’ll stay atop the Coastal Division standings. It’s time to stop calling Georgia Tech a one-dimensional team and start giving Paul Johnson’s program credit for being a sound football team.

Coming into this weekend’s slate of games, the Ohio State Buckeyes were prime targets for the media as a team that could get caught looking ahead. With a date against No. 3 Penn State coming up next week, it would have been easy for OSU to get caught with their pants down and allow an upcoming Michigan State program to come away with an upset, right?

Wrong.

The Buckeyes absolutely crushed the Spartans 45-7 in East Lansing on Saturday, proving their focus is unwavering right now. Freshman sensation Terrelle Pryor needed to attempt just 11 passes to beat MSU, while Heisman Trophy candidate Beanie Wells finally shook off the lingering affects of a foot injury to rush for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries.

This win does a couple things for Ohio State. One, it shows that Jim Tressel’s team isn’t overlooking anyone and is competing on a week to week basis. Two, it sets the Buckeyes up to make a leap back into the top 10, which is something they’ve been attempting to do since they were steamrolled by USC in mid-September. And finally, it sets up the game of the year in the Big 10 next week, as Penn State cruised over Michigan 46-17 after some first half struggles and remain undefeated on the season.

Next week’s game should be a thriller. Penn State’s offense has been nearly unstoppable this year, but OSU’s defense is playing about as well as any team in the nation right now.