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Ohio State Football: 3 takeaways from 2020 Big Ten title win over Northwestern

By James Costanz

Dec 19, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Trey Sermon (middle left) holds the Big 10 Conference championship trophy as quarterback Justin Fields (middle) and head coach Ryan Day (right) look on after defeating the Northwestern Wildcats at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 19, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Trey Sermon (middle left) holds the Big 10 Conference championship trophy as quarterback Justin Fields (middle) and head coach Ryan Day (right) look on after defeating the Northwestern Wildcats at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 19, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Trey Sermon (8) runs the ball against Northwestern Wildcats linebacker Blake Gallagher (51) and defensive back Brandon Joseph (16) during the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 19, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Trey Sermon (8) runs the ball against Northwestern Wildcats linebacker Blake Gallagher (51) and defensive back Brandon Joseph (16) during the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Trey Sermon saved Ohio State’s season

Coming into this game, Ohio State’s lead rusher was Master Teague with 87 attempts and 426 yards. In fact Trey Sermon had not carried the ball more than 13 times in a game this season.

But Sermon was the Buckeyes’ most efficient runner on the year, averaging 6.3 yards per carry on 55 carries.

On Saturday, Sermon put on an absolute show and carried the Buckeyes on his back en route to a Big Ten Championship. The senior transfer from Oklahoma finished with 29 carries for 331 yards and two touchdowns.

Sermon was able to offset the lack of passing production and give this talented Northwestern defense a major problem.

Justin Fields was expected to be the most important player for the Buckeyes. But he had the worst game of his college career in Indianapolis. Fields finished 12-for-27 with 114 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Not playing with Chris Olave had a significant impact on the Buckeyes’ offense. Coming into this game, no Buckeye player had more than 10 receptions other than Olave and Garrett Wilson. Combine that with a Northwestern secondary that is one of the best in the nation and you got 60 minutes of struggles.

However, the lack of passing attack was offset by the dominant performance by Trey Sermon. Sermon was explosive and displayed great breakaway speed on many different runs throughout the day. Without this performance, Ohio State was looking at a perfect season slip away from them. But, for now they will move forward as a 6-0 conference champion.

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