By winning the Big Ten West and making the Big Ten Championship Game after going 3-9 last season, this season can already be considered a success for Northwestern.
Most people aren’t expecting the Wildcats to be successful against Ohio State this weekend anyway, as the Buckeyes are favored to win Saturday’s game by three touchdowns.
For Northwestern veterans like senior wide receiver Riley Lees, however, playing Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game is nothing new. They already won the Big Ten West and made the trip to Indianapolis to play the Buckeyes in 2018, when they suffered a 45-24 loss to Ohio State in the conference title game. Back then, just making the Big Ten Championship Game was a new accomplishment for the Wildcats, as Northwestern had never played in that game before.
This year, however, they’re not satisfied with just being Big Ten West champions.
“I think last time, we had the approach of we were happy to win the West. But I think our goals have superseded that, and our expectation now is to win the Big Ten championship, and that’s going to be our mindset going into this game,” Lees said Monday.
Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey, who’s set to play in his first Big Ten Championship Game after transferring from Indiana in the offseason, seconded that statement from Lees.
“We’re not just here to compete in this game. We want to win it,” Ramsey said. “And I think there’s a lot of experience here on this roster, the guys that have played (in the Big Ten Championship Game), that are all taking that mindset, and they’re bringing the younger guys with them as well.”
For those who were on the field in 2018, that loss served as motivation for the Wildcats to get back to Indianapolis and get another shot at winning a conference championship, which Northwestern has not done since 2000.
“It’s been 20 years since we’ve been able to win a Big Ten title, so that’s in our sights,” Northwestern linebacker Blake Gallagher said. “We were there in 2018, and didn’t get the job done, and worked our ass off to get back here in 2020 and now we gotta take advantage of the opportunity.”
“I think last time, we had the approach of we were happy to win the West. But I think our goals have superseded that, and our expectation now is to win the Big Ten championship, and that’s going to be our mindset going into this game.”– Northwestern wide receiver Riley Lees
No one on Northwestern’s roster has ever beaten Ohio State, as the Wildcats have lost their last eight games against the Buckeyes dating back to 2005. Last year, the Wildcats were embarrassed by the Buckeyes on their home field, suffering a 52-3 loss to Ohio State.
That said, they believe they are playing better on both sides of the ball this year than they were last year, and there’s more positive energy throughout the program.
“We’re playing with a lot more confidence. We’re flying around,” Gallagher said. “We’re playing with energy and passion, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in our play this year.”
While Northwestern’s defense was the strength of its team even last year – while its offense was one of the worst in the nation – Ohio State put up 480 yards and scored seven touchdowns against the Wildcats in 2019, with Justin Fields throwing for 194 yards and four touchdowns. One key improvement for their defense this season, though, has been forcing turnovers – the Wildcats have 17 takeaways in seven games this year after forcing just 14 in 12 games last year – and they believe they need to keep doing that against Fields and the Buckeyes on Saturday.
“Turnovers are a huge factor in the game,” Gallagher said. “And then just limiting explosive plays. Just keeping the ball in front of us, and not letting big plays break, and just kind of putting consistent drives together and taking the ball away, I think has been two huge keys to success for us.”
On the other side of the ball, Ramsey said “a lot stands out” about Ohio State’s defense, but he believes the key will be “making plays when those opportunities present themselves.”
“There’s gonna be opportunities for plays, whether that be in the run game or the throw game, we have to execute and we have to capitalize on those opportunities if we want to be able to beat the big boys,” Ramsey said. “Just making those plays, staying calm and executing throughout the course of the game is gonna be really big for us.”
Asked about what they learned from playing in the Big Ten Championship Game two years ago, both Lees and cornerback Greg Newsome II said they think it’s important for them and their teammates not to get caught up in the hype of playing on a big stage, and to just focus on doing the same things that have enabled them to win six of their first seven games this season.
“It’s just another game,” Lees said. “It’s a different venue, it’s inside, it’s all hyped up, but at the end of the day, it’s just football. We just have to control what we can control, stay level-headed throughout the game.”
