After one quarter, Northwestern’s game plan was nearly flawless. They had to control the ball, keep Ohio State’s offense off the field, and not make any mistakes. It was 0-0 after the first 15 minutes and the Wildcats were even able to punch it in with 12:34 until half to give Northwestern a 7-0 lead. Despite turning it over on the first drive, things were going well. Then came the grand slam at Wrigley.
Ohio State scored 31 unanswered to secure its ninth victory of the year.
Ohio State Overcomes Slow Start, Hits Grand Slam at Wrigley
Happy Homecoming
Through 10 games, the Ohio State offense has been one of the best in the country, albeit quietly, oddly enough. It ranks 12th in scoring (37.8 points per game), 31st in passing offense (267.6 yards), 40th in rushing (183.8 yards), and 17th in total offense (451.4 yards). Against Northwestern, the offense was efficient. In eight drives (excluding the end-of-game kneel-downs), Ohio State scored on five straight possessions with two punts and one turnover on downs.
Leading the way was Chicago native and often forgotten weapon, Carnell Tate. In his return to Chicago, Tate logged his first career multi-score game off a pair of impressive touchdowns. The talented sophomore got the Buckeyes down to the one-yard line which was paid off by a Quinshon Judkins touchdown. On the next drive, he hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass in the front corner of the endzone while diving for the ball. On the next drive, Tate took a lazy slant off an RPO eight yards into the endzone for a second score.
His quarterback was great as usual. Will Howard finished the day with 247 yards and those two touchdowns to Tate. In terms of completion percentage, it was Howard’s worst game since he only completed 60.2 percent in Week 1 against Akron. On the Buckeyes’ first possession, Howard launched a near-perfect 37-yard pass for Jeremiah Smith to score the game’s first touchdown. After a review, it confirmed that the talented freshman did not have control and the Buckeyes had to punt.
Howard has started to trust his arm a bit more over the last few games. While he may not have a cannon of an arm, he can put it where his receiver can go get it, as evidenced by that Smith ball and Tate’s touchdown. With one of the better offensive lines in the country, Howard can set up and push the ball to his great weapons.
All Three Phases
The offense playing well is to be expected. At the same time, the expectations for the Ohio State defense are sky-high. The Buckeyes have the best scoring defense (10.3 points per game, tied with Army), sixth-best passing defense (160.1 yards), fourth-best rushing defense (90.7 yards), and second-best total defense (250.8 yards). This elite defense gives Ohio State the top win differential in college football.
It was the sixth time this year that the Buckeyes’ defense held opponents to seven or less. It was the seventh time the defense allowed one or fewer touchdowns.
Sonny Styles added another strong performance to his Butkus Award candidacy. The safety-turned-linebacker was everywhere yet again and finished with two sacks, two tackles for loss, and two pass breakups. On the first Northwestern drive, Jack Sawyer forced a fumble that bounced right to Davison Igbinosun for the Wildcats’ only turnover on the day.
Against Purdue, Caden Curry blocked a punt that catalyzed the Ohio State scoring en route to a 45-0 win. Against Northwestern, the Buckeyes took advantage of a bad snap and subsequent blocked punt to take the lead and never looked back.
Heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, Ohio State is firing on all cylinders.
Looking Ahead?
Out of the gate, it looked like the Buckeyes were a bit sluggish. After a scoreless first quarter, it felt like another game like the close win over Nebraska. Against the Cornhuskers, the Buckeyes got caught looking ahead to a top-five matchup against Penn State. This time, Northwestern tried to take advantage of the fact that a top-five matchup with Indiana looms.
The Hoosiers have been the talk of the town and will come to Columbus with arguably the best team in program history. Indiana has won 10 games already, and it has set a new program record. Curt Cignetti kicked off his tenure with a fiery speech where he claimed, “Purdue sucks! And does Michigan and Ohio State!”
Thus far, he’s 1-0 against that group of three with the other two coming up. Needless to say, Indiana is significantly better than Northwestern. The Hoosiers are a vastly different team, so getting off to a slow start will not be quite as easy to overcome.
Either way, with another dominant victory, Ohio State moves to 9-1 and still controls its destiny in the race for the Big Ten.
