As Beanie Wells hobbled to the sidelines after re-aggravating his hamstring on a 42-yard run from scrimmage, Daniel “Boom” Herron trotted onto the field for the first meaningful snap of his first game in action against the rival Wolverines. Herron did not disappoint Buckeye fans, and on the very next play busted a 49-yard run along the Buckeyes sideline for a touchdown to put OSU up 28-7 and ultimately seal the game, which ended in a 42-7 rout of “That Team Up North” by the Bucks.

While Beanie Wells continued his trump of the Maize and Blue (134 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown), Boom may have started his own run of success against Rich Rodriguez’s squad. The red-shirt freshman rushed for 80 yards on 8 carries and later added a two-yard score in the game to finish up with two touchdowns on the day. Herron continued to run with a toughness and tenacity that has been on display the last few weeks, breaking tackles and busting through holes with an extra burst that you expect out of a number one tailback.

With his performance against Michigan, Boom wiped away all doubts that he could not be the successor to Wells, should the junior opt for the NFL Draft this coming April. While the team has three very good back coming in (Jaamal Berry, Carlos Hyde, and Jordan Hall), along with Brandon Saine returning for his junior campaign, Herron will be the front runner to take over the starting job, once Beanie leaves Columbus.

Jim Tressel always says greatness at Ohio State is measured by how well you perform against Michigan. If that is truely the case, Boom Herron just took his first step towards greatness.