MY THOUGHTS.....Northwestern

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes turned in workmanlike performance in Wrigley Field, downing the Northwestern Wildcats 31-7.  Despite a slow start by the defense, and allowing the Wildcats to strike first, the defense was stout after that, allowing Northwestern a mere 50 yards on the ground and under two yards per carry.  Arvell Reese came off the bench and had his best game, tied for the lead with Jack Sawyer with seven tackles.  Sawyer forced a fumble that stopped Northwestern’s first drive that had the defense on its heels.  Sonny Styles had six stops and two sacks.  Caden Curry, C.J. Hicks and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. joined Styles in the sack column and David Adolph blocked a punt that led to Ohio State’s first touchdown.  Northwestern coach David Braun adopted a strategy of ball control for Northwestern’s offense, and for a while, it worked until the superior athletic talent of Ohio State finally won out.  Despite having the ball for 32 minutes of the game and getting into the ”red zone” four times, the ‘Cats were able to score just the one touchdown. 

                The Ohio State offense shook off the slowness as Quinshon Judkins led the way with 76 yards and two touchdowns.  TreVeyon Henderson contributed 74 yards and averaged nearly seven yards per carry.  Will Howard threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns and Jeremiah Smith turned in a 100-yard receiving game on four receptions.  It was the second game this year in which Smith did not have a touchdown catch, but Carnell Tate had his best day with four catches and both of Howard’s touchdown passes. 

                This brings up the second top five matchup for Ohio State this season as undefeated Indiana comes to town next week.  Ohio State will need to avoid the slow starts on both sides of the ball and be on their game for the full 60 minutes.