Game Recap: #6 Ohio State vs. Northwestern

Buckeye fans were hoping to see a great bounce back game from Ohio State after their devastating upset loss at Penn State last week. However, those fans were left a little disappointed. After the Nittany Lions handed the Buckeyes their first loss of the season, OSU fell to #6 in the rankings (and Penn State joined the top 25). After playing the last two games on the road, the 6-1 Buckeyes returned home to face the Northwestern Wildcats, a team that had struggled in the early part of the season but had been playing much better the last few weeks.

In previous weeks the Buckeye offense had struggled on early game possessions; just last week they got shutout in the first quarter. However, against Northwestern, Ohio State jumped out to an early lead. On their first drive they put together an impressive 9 play, 94 yard touchdown drive capped off by a Mike Weber 1-yard plunge into the end zone. The Buckeyes added a Tyler Durbin field goal and after the first quarter the lead remained 10-0 Ohio State.

Northwestern could have easily rolled over and given in to a much more athletic and talented Ohio State team, but the Wildcats just kept fighting. The Northwestern offense responded with an impressive drive of their own that lasted 6:45 and Wildcat QB Clayton Thorson put his team on the board with a 1-yard touchdown run. The Buckeyes then answered back with a drive that lasted 8:34, over half of the second quarter! Mike Weber found the end zone again from 23 yards out to put the Buckeyes up by 10 again once more.

While the Wildcats could not come up with a touchdown at the end of the half, they did piece together a 12 play, 82 yard that led to a field goal. The young Buckeyes took a 17-10 lead into the locker room, perhaps lacking some confidence. Their confidence did not receive a boost in the third quarter. The Buckeyes offense sputtered in the third quarter, punting on all three of their offensive possessions. Northwestern, meanwhile, scored a game-tying touchdown with 3:41 left in the third to push the score to 17-17 to end the third quarter.

While a very anxious 100,000 in Ohio Stadium nervously watched, Buckeye QB J.T. Barrett engineered a crucial touchdown drive, as running back Curtis Samuel found the end zone. Northwestern responded with a promising drive but the Buckeye defense stepped up and held Northwestern to a field goal. With a 24-20 score, the Wildcats kicked off to the Buckeyes with 3:31 left in the game.

The Buckeyes, wanted to avoid any late-game drama, took matters into their own hands, picking up critical first downs, burning Northwestern's timeouts, and ultimately running out the clock for the close victory. It certainly wasn't pretty, but the Buckeyes got the job done in the end. Surprisingly, the Wildcat offense hung with the Buckeye offense, as both teams finished with around 400 total yards and just over 20 first downs. The Buckeyes will face another tough test next week as the Nebraska Cornhuskers come to town.