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College Football Upset Alert, Week 16: Championship Weekend edition

By Sonny Martinez

ACC Championship Game participants Clemson (left) and Notre Dame both remain in contention to make the College Football Playoff field, to be announced Sunday.Ndfootball
ACC Championship Game participants Clemson (left) and Notre Dame both remain in contention to make the College Football Playoff field, to be announced Sunday.Ndfootball /
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Dec 12, 2020; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Northwestern Wildcats players celebrate their win against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 12, 2020; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Northwestern Wildcats players celebrate their win against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /

Big Ten: Ohio State (-20) vs. Northwestern

Ohio State might be looking to put up “style points” against Northwestern, and that’s not good news for the Wildcats.

Northwestern is a good team. They’re ranked 14th and their only loss was a bad loss to Michigan State. For comparison, Ohio State beat Michigan State 52-12. They’re not great, and they’re absolutely not on Ohio State’s level.

There are two keys to a Northwestern win: the Wildcats need to force turnovers against Ohio State to have a shot in this game. Short field will be big to put some quick points on the board. Forcing punts isn’t good enough. Taking away possessions and forcing uncharacteristic mistakes is a must.

The second, almost in 100 percent contradictory to the first, is time of possession. Northwestern needs to have several long drives that result in points to keep the ball away from an explosive Buckeye offense. Given how quickly Ohio State can score, Northwestern will likely have the ball longer, but they need to dominate in time of possession.

Would it be an upset? One of the biggest, if not the biggest, of the season. It’s going to take a minor miracle for Northwestern to win this game. Honestly, if you’re a Northwestern fan, you should be more concerned about keeping the score within the spread.

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