by Photo via Charles Rex Arbogast, AP
The No. 2 Ohio State football team took to the road on Saturday afternoon, beating Northwestern at Wrigley Field in Chicago. While the Buckeyes got off to a slow start (a trend that plagued them at the beginning of the season), they recovered nicely, scoring 31 unanswered points to secure the road victory. With the win, Ohio State now stands at 9-1 (6-1 Big 10) with just two key weeks remaining in the regular season.
A major key early on for the Buckeyes that caused the slow start was that the defense just couldn’t stop anybody. On Northwestern’s first drive of the game, the Wildcats calmly and effectively moved into Ohio State territory. It wasn’t until Northwestern got to the 18-yard line when defensive end Jack Sawyer was able to strip quarterback Jack Lausch of the ball, which was recovered by cornerback Davison Igbinosun. A narrow escape to say the least.
However, after a punt by the Buckeyes, Northwestern once again marched down the field, scoring the first points of the game on a rushing touchdown by Lausch. Thankfully, though, that’s about the extent of the Wildcats’ highlights for the day, as it was all Ohio State after that. On their next drive, quarterback Will Howard orchestrated a smooth drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown run by Quinshon Judkins.
Then, at the end of Northwestern’s ensuing drive, a slew of Buckeyes blocked the Wildcats’ punt, gifting Ohio State the football at Northwestern 1-yard line, where once again, Judkins punched in a touchdown to give the Buckeyes the lead. To end the half, Howard stood strong in the pocket and found wide receiver and Chicago native Carnell Tate for the 25-yard score, putting Ohio State up 21-7 going into the break.
The Buckeyes kept their foot on the gas after halftime, as Howard found Tate in the endzone once again to begin the third quarter. From there, Ohio State scored a field goal on their next drive, and neither team was able to put up any points in the fourth quarter, resulting in a convincing victory for the Buckeyes.
Howard had a nice performance, throwing for 247 yards and two touchdowns against a subpar defense. While his play still has questions against better opponents, it’s nice to see that he doesn’t stoop to lower competition. Also, it may be a bit late, but Howard is inching up Heisman boards…
Elsewhere, Judkins looked sharp after struggling last week against Purdue. Along with his two touchdown runs, he finished with 76 yards on 15 carries. Judkins’ partner in the backfield, TreVeyon Henderson, also looked good, going for 74 yards on 11 carries. They’ll both need to be at their best next week against the league’s best run defense.
In the receiving room, Tate excelled in his hometown with a pair of touchdowns. He might be overshadowed once again, though, by Jeremiah Smith who put together a big day with four catches for 100 yards. It was the third time this year that the superstar freshman has gone into triple digits in receiving yards. Also, Gee Scott Jr., the Buckeyes’ starting tight end left the game with an injury, so his status should be monitored in an already limited tight end group. Finally, Emeka Egbuka had under 35 receiving yards for the fourth straight week. Against better competition, he’ll need to get going.
Defensively, the Buckeyes certainly picked things up after their slow start. They were headlined by Sonny Styles, who led the team in tackles and had two sacks on the day. After moving from safety to linebacker in the offseason, Styles seems to have ended his growing pains and is really coming into his own in the middle of the defense. Arvell Reese, C.J. Hicks, Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Curry also had a half a sack each. The only true point of concern for the unit may be in the secondary, where the Buckeyes’ looked vulnerable, especially cornerback Denzel Burke. The group as a whole consistently lost Northwestern receivers in pockets of space early on, a trend that can’t continue going forward. On the bright side, defensive tackle Tyleik Williams returned from injury and looked like the force he is.
After the Penn State win, we knew it would be two easy weeks with Purdue and Northwestern and that it was. Now, however, Ohio State will be playing for their season in every ensuing game. Next week, coming to Columbus will be No. 5 Indiana, the upstart team led by Head Coach Curt Cignetti and quarterback Kurtis Rourke. If the Buckeyes can win, they’ll put themselves in prime position to compete for the Big 10 Championship.
