…And that will do it. The 2018-2019 regular season is wrapped up. Ohio State won yet another league title but will miss out on a return trip to the “playoffs” thanks to Purdue stomping them in an upset so big, Ohio State just couldn’t climb out of the hole it created. Perhaps smashing Northwestern in such a lopsided way, maybe another 59-0 style win, would have done the trick but Northwestern played a brilliant third quarter to make the game tight before Ohio State eventually regained control in a dominant fourth quarter to win big, just not big enough.
Team of the Week – Ohio State – A- – As expected, Northwestern’s crafty defense made Ohio State work for yards and made them one-dimensional. After all the Bucks only had 108 rushing yards on a pitiful 2.3 yards per. The problem is Ohio State’s one-dimension was really amazing. Dwayne Haskins had a career day with his most yards (499) and third highest completion percentage (82.9) of the season. His five touchdowns were too much for Northwestern to handle. Ohio State also used their depth to triumph. Johnnie Dixon had a hot and cold season this year, including just one catch a week ago against Michigan, but he shined in the title game. His seven catches for 129 yards and a score were key as Northwestern was doing a decent job bottling up the other big play makers at the Buckeyes’ disposal. Lastly the defense didn’t have a banner day but they kept NU in check to start the game, making the 24-7 halftime lead too big to climb out of, even with Northwestern playing well in the third quarter.
Northwestern – B- – Northwestern got under Ohio State’s skin. 2 turnovers, 9 penalties for 90 yards, and shutting down OSU’s running attack reflects that. Northwestern also played a solid third quarter to make it a ten point game, putting them in prime position for a fourth quarter rally and upset. The problem is their pass defense had a poor day and three giveaways were more than enough to tip the scales. Is Ohio State 21 points better than Northwestern? Probably not if the game is played 10 times, but that doesn’t matter because they squared off just once and in that one point of data, Northwestern didn’t play a complete enough game to pull the upset.
Gambling Report Card:
- Northwestern vs Ohio State, Under (61.0)
At 24-7 at halftime I was nervous but the Northwestern defense played well in the third quarter and while NU gained some ground, at 31-21, I felt like a victory might be eked out if the game ended up 38-21 or something close to that. Instead the two teams combined for 17 total points in the final frame resulting in 69 total points.
Week Record: 0-1-0
Season Record: 69-63-1
Big Ten and Counting 