Ohio State was impressive in every facet of the game against Rutgers.

C.J. Stroud showed why he's Ohio State's starting quarterback while the defense was dominant for the second game in a row, and we begin this week's episode of Real Pod Wednesdays by discussing the tangible improvement we saw from Stroud and from the defense in Piscataway.

Now that Ohio State is starting to look like the team it's supposed to be, the Buckeyes are beginning to re-emerge as one of this year's frontrunners to make the College Football Playoff, so we also spend a segment (beginning at 16:30) discussing why Ohio State should have a clear path to the CFP if it wins out, and why it's probably the third-most capable team of winning a national championship this year – but also how the rest of the Buckeyes’ Big Ten schedule will provide plenty of potential pitfalls.

At the 32:06 mark, we begin looking ahead to this week's game against Maryland and why it will be the biggest test of the year to date for the pass defense, even though the play of both teams last week doesn't exactly suggest that this game should be competitive.

In the final half-hour of the show (beginning at 41:28), we discuss a vast array of questions submitted by our listeners, including whether Kerry Coombs could return next season as a non-coordinator, why Tyleik Williams isn't playing more and how this Ohio State offense could stack up with the Alabama and LSU offenses that won the last two national championships.