It still remains to be seen, but it'll be a fun ride.
Utah is probably a decent barometer. They're one of the best running teams in the country, their offensive line consistently grades out as one of the best in college football, they have at least 2 first round draft picks on the OL, and we completely manhandled them in their own stadium.
The difference this year, at least so far, is that we really pass the eye test. I've watched a lot of Tech football and this team just looks and feels different. We've completely dominated everyone we've played so far in the trenches, and we can run the ball very well.
It will be interesting to see how our numbers hold up through the 2nd half of the season:
Total offense - 1st
Rushing offense - 14th
Passing offense - 3rd
Total defense - 9th
Rushing defense - 1st
Passing defense - 41st
The main thing I am concerned about moving forward are our pass defense, which honestly hasn't really been tested, as in facing a good, veteran QB with multiple weapons. Kansas sort of fits that bill but only sort of. They have a decent passing offense, but not great. Baylor and TCU have good passing games but we don't play either team. We have good talent in the secondary, they are really good in run support, but they've really just been able to coast so far in the passing game and it's only a matter of time before they get punched in the mouth. We face [probably not 100%] Sam Leavitt this week and he has one of the best WRs in America to throw to, but who else do they have beyond that? Not much, really.
The secondary thing is the obvious one: Morton's health. Dude has the absolute worst luck, got his leg rolled up on in the Kansas game in a really awkward way that re-aggravated some calf/ankle issue he's been dealing with. I think he probably could have kept playing, but it's good that we can pull him and keep him out as a precaution because there's not much drop off between him and Hammond. Still, we need him to stay healthy and play well to get where we want to go.
We kind of have the same questions as Ohio State, not trying to draw a comparison here between our programs at all, but who have they really played? No shade to Texas, I'm pretty much discounting entirely a week 1 game against a super green Arch Manning that had just been handed the keys facing the defending national champions in their own building. Outside of that game, they have really played nobody at all and there's a chance they won't play another ranked team for the rest of the season unless Michigan turns their season around. It's difficult to know exactly how good they are. Same thing with Oregon, they got physically dominated by the only good team on their schedule so far, in their own building, and the only good team left on their schedule is USC in late November.