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I have been a student at Ohio State for four years. I have written at Eleven Warriors all of those years. In that time, Ohio State has won four straight Big Ten Championships. Thank me later I guess.
Ohio State ran over Northwestern to the tune of 399 rushing yards. The Buckeyes outscored Northwestern 16-0 in the second half.
#VARSITY will now enter the College Football Playoff 6-0, likely taking on Clemson once again in what will be a rematch of last year's heartbreaker.
The Short Story
Offense
Justin Fields played his worst game as a Buckeye (hard to believe after the atrocious Indiana performance a few weeks ago), throwing for just 114 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Luckily, Trey Sermon went into superhero-mode, rushing for an Ohio State record 331 yards on 29 carries (11.4 ypc) with two touchdowns.
Trey Sermons first five games:
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 19, 2020
55 carries
344 yards
1 touchdown
Trey Sermon against Northwestern:
29 carries
331 yards
2 touchdowns
With Chris Olave and Jaxon Smith-Njigba out due to COVID-19 protocols, Ohio State needed the ground game to be effective, and it was, all day. But Ryan Day insisted on throwing the football for about 2.5 quarters, leading to two interceptions and countless stalled drives.
Luckily for Ohio State fans, Day reversed course late in the game (he almost had to) and Sermon took advantage, ripping off countless big plays behind an offensive line that played very well save for Harry Miller.
Defense
If you would've told me Ohio State would have only allowed 10 points, I would've thought the game ended in a blowout.
That was obviously not the case, but that is to take nothing away from the job that Haskell Garrett, Tommy Togiai, and Justin Hilliard did against the Wildcats.
Hilliard, the sixth-year senior from Cincinnati, played the game of his life yesterday. Flying all over the field, the linebacker who was only in the starting lineup due to Baron Browning's COVID situation led the way with nine tackles, two TFL, and an interception. It was simply an immaculate performance from a guy who has been waiting six years to do so.
Haskell Garrett and Tommy Togiai were dominant on the interior again. Garrett had a sack and two TFL. In the secondary, Marcus Williamson stepped up with seven tackles (including a very important one-on-one stop midway through the game). The Buckeyes forced three very important turnovers, as well.
Obviously, 10 points is a number you will take any time.
Unsung Heroes
It was yet another game in which role/reserve players had to step up due to COVID issues surrounding the Ohio State team. We talked about Hilliard already, but there were several other big performances from players you would not have expected to see put on a show before the season started.
Zach Hoover
The backup, walk-on punter delivered an impressive performance in the absence of Drue Chrisman. Hoover punted three times for an average of 39.3 yards per punt, with two of those punts being downed inside the 20 yard line.
Most importantly, he didn't screw anything up. It is unclear when Chrisman tested positive, thus making his status for the College Football Playoff semifinal unknown. In a pinch, it looks like Hoover can certainly fill in at a quality level.
Tuf Borland
The three-time captain playing against his home-state team in his return from COVID did what he had done all season: be a rock in the middle of the Ohio State defense.
Much maligned in 2018, it is remarkable to see the transformation into the extremely above-average Big Ten linebacker that he is now. Racking up seven tackles yesterday (plus 0.5 sacks), it is clear that Ohio State's defense is on another level when Borland is in the game.
Nicholas Petit-Frere
Speaking of a guy who went from being very bad to being very good, how about Nicholas Petit-Frere's improvement?
Last year against Northwestern, Petit-Frere started for an injured Thayer Munford and was so bad that the Buckeyes ended up putting Munford into the game. This year, that level of performance from Petit-Frere would almost be unimaginable as he has been one of the best linemen in the Big Ten.
Jim Tressel's Favorite Moment
Jim Tressel LOVED this game. It is so obvious that Pat Fitzgerald and Kirk Ferentz are two of Tress' favorite coaches of all time, and Fitz did his best to make this a game Tress would be proud of.
Ryan Day probably threw it more times than Tressel would have liked, but here is a list of things that got Jimmy out of his seat.
- 331 rushing yards by Trey Sermon, an Ohio State record
- Three field goals by Blake Haubeil (although he did miss one... obviously irritating The Vest)
- Zach Hoover's very well-done substitute performance, and Bradley Robinson's immaculate long snapping, as always.
- The defense allowing just 10 points and forcing three turnovers.
Overall, this is the type of game that Tress won so many times. So many.
Biggest Question Going Forward
Ohio State will now probably play Clemson in the first round, a team that beat the Buckeyes last year and a team that thwacked Notre Dame yesterday.
Trevor Lawrence will be the No. 1 overall choice in next year's NFL Draft, and he and his weapons will be tasked with defeating a much-maligned and undermanned Ohio State secondary.
If the Buckeyes want to have any shot at beating the Tigers, they will have to see some uptick in the quality of play from the secondary. Does that have any shot of happening?
