The Minnesota Golden Gophers enter Saturday's game against the Ohio State Buckeyes with a Top-10 defense in the entire country. Will the Buckeyes have their hands full, or will they be just fine?

This isn't a typo. The 3-1 Minnesota Golden Gophers have the ninth-best defense in the country in terms of yards given up per game. Statistically speaking, the Buckeyes will have their hands full on Saturday. Context tells a different story. 

Ohio State: Previewing the Buckeyes' Matchup with the Minnesota Golden Gophers The Ohio State Buckeyes head home for a matchup with the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday night inside the Horseshoe. The Gophers' defense is formidable,...

Minnesota's outstanding defensive stats are weighted heavily by their lopsided performance against the Northwestern State Demons, where they surrendered just 41 total yards on the afternoon. The Demons passed for just 23 yards and rushed for 19 yards on the ground.

A performance like this significantly weighted down a loss against the California Bears and over 400 yards given up against Rutgers. 

The Buckeyes' offense will have the opportunity to have a major day against the Gophers when they have the football. 

Before diving into the details on Minnesota, we discuss the crazy weekend that was in college football. The SEC had a major weekend as Alabama defeated Georgia in an instant classic game. Tennessee fought off a pesky Mississippi State team that is on the rise, and Ole Miss knocked off the LSU Tigers. 

In the Big Ten, the marquee matchup of the weekend was Oregon's trip to Happy Valley. In a Big Ten Championship Game rematch, the Ducks needed overtime heroics to fight off a valiant comeback from the Penn State Nittany Lions to head back West as one of the best teams in College Football.

Mixed into the weekend of great college football was Ohio State's business-like trip to the upper Northwest. From players to fans, Ohio State invaded Seattle, Washington, and left with their heads held high. 

On the field, the Buckeyes took care of business. It wasn't the cleanest of games for the offense but they were able to put a couple of scoring drives together in the second half to pull away. 

The entire week leading up to the game, the main storyline was how rowdy an environment Washington was going to have. Many were excited to see it, including many Buckeyes' fans as they invaded Husky Stadium. Roughly estimated, it was a 60-40 split between Husky fans and Ohio State fans. Scarlett flooded the Purple throughout the stadium, and at times it sounded a lot like a Saturday afternoon in Columbus.

From a personnel perspective, Ohio State made a big leap in Week 5 as they finally leaned into Bo Jackson being the starting running back. Jackson got the lion's share of carries, finishing with 17 attempts for 80 yards. He didn't find the endzone last weekend, but showed that he has all of the tools to be the next great Buckeyes' back.

As Ohio State turns its attention to the Golden Gophers, we finish the show by listing our offensive keys to the game. The Buckeyes have another great opportunity to get to 5-0 and continue their pursuit of the National Championship.