Ohio State Football: 3 takeaways from road blowout over Northwestern

Ohio State football ran up the score on Northwestern over the course of a Friday-night rout in Evanston. What did we learn about the Buckeyes?

There was little expectation that Northwestern was going to have the firepower to hang with Ohio State when the Wildcats hosted the No. 4 Buckeyes at Ryan Field. Coming to Evanston as 27-point favorites, Ryan Day’s team earned their seventh win of the season with ease as they took down their hosts 52-3 in a big Friday night mismatch.

Hunter Johnson was once again sidelined for Northwestern. After a hard hit sustained against Wisconsin kept him out of the Nebraska game, the lingering injury prevented the Clemson transfer from suiting up for the Wildcats against Ohio State. That left Pat Fitzgerald’s squad even more undermanned than they already were against a team like the Buckeyes, making an upset that much less attainable.

Barring a Saturday upset by Illinois over the Badgers, Ohio State gets to prepare for a Week 9 visit to the Horseshoe by Wisconsin in what will likely be a battle of top-six programs. Confident after rolling over yet another opponent, the Buckeyes will look to burnish their College Football Playoff credentials at home in what could be a preview of the Big Ten championship game.

What can we take away from a game that was never in doubt as they pulled out to a large lead before halftime and never looked back? Here are three things we learned about Ohio State in their blowout of the Wildcats on Friday night.