by Fitzgerald is one of my favorite coaches in all of college football. He is perhaps the most underrated out there. Fitzgerald is usually not working with a plethora of five and four-star recruits. Rather, he will turn two and three-star prospects into tough, determined and aggressive college talents. The way he runs his program is admirable and he maximizes the potential of his whole group.
Whenever he has a good quarterback, the Wildcats win games. Several years ago, when Northwestern fell to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship, Clayton Thorson led the way. He was an outstanding leader and player. After Thorson, the Wildcats fell off while struggling to find a solid starter.
In the offseason, Peyton Ramsey transferred from Indiana to Northwestern. Ramsey was good with the Hoosiers but lost his job to Penix Jr. In high school Ramsey wanted to go to Northwestern but they did not offer him a scholarship. In fact, no other D1 program offered Ramsey but Indiana. Everything has now come full circle for the quarterback from Cincinnati.
Ramsey has been a leader and steady all season. His numbers don’t compare to the numbers at Indiana because the Wildcats run the ball a lot more. But Ramsey is still 124-210 for 1,218 yards and 9 touchdowns with 6 interceptions.
The Buckeyes will need to generate pressure on Ramsey past a physical offensive line. Limiting Ramsey will slow their offense to a run only attack, forcing a super slow pace unable to keep up with the OSU scoring.
Many runners will touch the ball on Saturday. Drake Anderson and Isaiah Bowser account for the majority of the touches in the backfield. They are not the only players with double digit carries though. Evan Hull, Cam Porter, Ramsey, Kyric McGowan and Jesse Brown will also run plenty when given the opportunity.
No surprise that former star linebacker in Fitzgerald has a star linebacker corps. Senior Paddy Fisher leads the way in the middle accompanied by senior Blake Gallagher and senior Chris Bergin. The three lead the way in tackles and keep running backs from bursting to the last level of the defense. They must contain Fields, Teague and Sermon come Saturday.
Well written.