The Big 10: Clemson survives, Ohio State keeps rising and — hello — here comes Penn State

Well, maybe you saw it. No. 1 Clemson nearly went down in a heap at rebuilding North Carolina. The Tigers survived 21-20 after stopping a late two-point conversion attempt by the Tar Heels, and how about that?

The sweet, sultry stench of college football chaos was so tantalizingly close.

The nation’s brave pollsters put the defending national champs in their place — another way of saying they aren’t ranked No. 1 anymore.

As though it matters.

Clemson’s road back to the College Football Playoff is lined with strawberries, candied flowers and vanilla frosting. It’s still a cakewalk. This young team will improve. The rest of the teams out there still are fighting for three spots.

On to the rest of the ‘‘Big 10’’ (where 10 actually means 10):

2. You’re ‘‘it’’: Forget Clemson. Forget Alabama. OK, neither thing is possible, but forget Georgia and Oklahoma, too, since we’re on a nutty tear.

Ohio State is the ‘‘it’’ team this season.

The Buckeyes led 48-0 at Nebraska on the way to a 48-7 victory that defined both teams pretty clearly.

One is so good, so well-rounded, so off-the-charts talented, it hardly seems to matter that Urban Meyer is doing studio work. The other is so sad, soft and sorry that all those Big Ten media members who picked the Huskers to win the West Division should be staring at their shoes in shame.

3. Nits picking: Then again, some of us picked Penn State to win the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions announced their intentions in a huge way with a 59-0 victory at Maryland. Quarterback Sean Clifford had a monster game. Penn State’s defense was insanely good. Did we mention the Terps had won their first two home games by a combined 122 points?

The Nittany Lions must play at Iowa, at Michigan State and — yes — at Ohio State this season. Indeed, it’s a tough road. But this team is capable of blowing the doors off anybody.

4. Strongest Heisman Field ever? It really might be. Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor and LSU quarterback Joe Burrow are that outstanding. For now, though, I’m sticking with the 2008 gang led by a trio of quarterbacks: Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Texas’ Colt McCoy and Florida’s Tim Tebow. What a star-driven season that was.

5. Rush week: Notre Dame beat upstart Virginia 35-20, and that ‘‘W’’ doesn’t happen if not for an eight-sack eruption led by Julian Okwara’s three and Khalid Kareem’s 2½. A tip of the helmet to those two mad men.

6. Empty credit? Here’s to Northwestern’s defense, led by indefatigable linebacker Paddy Fisher, which bottled up Taylor and eliminated Wisconsin’s passing game in a 24-15 loss in Madtown. But the key word is ‘‘loss.’’ The Wildcats’ offense is so bad, even a lowest-rung bowl berth might be out of reach.

7. Devonta Smith, your table is ready: The Alabama receiver caught 11 passes for 274 yards and five touchdowns in a 59-31 victory against Mississippi. Imagine that: The Crimson Tide have their latest unstoppable receiver. Who could have seen it coming?

8. But Jerry Jeudy: He still plays for Alabama, and he’s even better than Smith. Translation: The Tide have their best quarterback of the Nick Saban era and a pass-catching twosome as dangerous as any before it. Sounds fair.

9. That’s what he said: ‘‘It’s hard to face them in the locker room, knowing how hard they played.’’

That was Indiana coach Tom Allen, whose Hoosiers fell to 0-2 in the Big Ten with a surprisingly competitive 40-31 loss at Michigan State. He’ll probably have five or six more chances to get used to the feeling.

10. And another thing: There are 18 unbeaten teams left in the land. If there are more than half that many two weeks from now, be pleasantly surprised. If there are more than four or five heading into November, we’ll have the party of the century on our hands.