Ohio State Football: 3 takeaways from road blowout over Northwestern
By Zach Bigalke
1. Shutdown Ohio State defense leaves no chance of an upset
It is hard to imagine that Northwestern would have done much better against a stout Ohio State defense if Hunter Johnson had been able to play. With junior backup Aidan Smith getting his second start of the season, though, the Buckeyes basically forced the Wildcats to keep the ball on the ground if they hoped to have any production whatsoever.
The Wildcats finished with 157 rushing yards, but the hosts needed 47 carries to get to that mark. At 3.3 yards per carry, the Northwestern backfield never managed a rushing attempt longer than 16 yards over the course of the game at Ryan Field.
Without the running game, things would have been even uglier for the Wildcats. Smith threw for only 42 yards on 6-of-20 passing, and he threw an interception deep in his own territory that the Buckeyes quickly flipped into seven points the other direction.
Smith came out at times in the game to give playing time to sophomore backup Andrew Marty. The underclassman only attempted one throw, and it was picked off by the Buckeyes to miss the last chance of the night.
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Other than a field goal late in the first quarter, Northwestern could do nothing to change their fortunes against the Buckeyes. The competition increases next week when the Badgers come to town, but a team that can hold a conference rival under 200 total yards is always going to have a good time of keeping the wins coming in.