The Buckeyes played on a baseball field, so scoring fewer points was only natural.
Ohio State went to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field to play a football game against the Northwestern Wildcats, which was weird, and unfortunately, there was no getting away from the distraction of that as the broadcast team went out of its way to make baseball references throughout the game.
The Buckeyes came home with a 31-7 win, but at times — particularly early in the game — it was a bit annoying and seemingly harder than it had to be.
Here are the things that gave me cat scratch fever on Saturday.
Early Defensive Issues
Ohio State’s defense wasn’t ready for Northwestern’s 131st-ranked total offense at the start of the game. The Buckeyes missed a sack on the game’s first offensive snap, and then quickly got a Sonny Styles sack after Jack Sawyer missed the quarterback again on second down.
Ohio State then gave up a conversion on third-and-12 to the Wildcats’ No. 128 third-down offense when Sawyer took a wide rush up the field, allowing room underneath for an easy Cam Porter run for a first down. Barely-over-50%-passer Jack Lausch then turned into Patrick Mahomes, completing passes of 20 yards and 15 yards to work his team into scoring position.
Sawyer made up for his earlier miscues by forcing Lausch to fumble in the red zone. Davison Igbinosun recovered, making up for allowing one of those catches, and Ohio State finally took over after the Wildcats had taken seven minutes off the clock. One of the country’s worst offenses shredded the OSU defense to open the game, speaking to a lack of preparation and attitude.
Unnecessary Trickeration
The Buckeyes took over at their own 33-yard-line and started driving down the field. It wasn’t necessarily smooth sailing, as Ohio State had to convert a third down and a fourth down along the way, but the latter set the Buckeyes up at the Northwestern 38.
Chip Kelly then got cute for some reason, calling what appeared to be a reverse pass, as Emeka Egbuka took the ball from left to right looking to throw it. However, instead, he was tackled for a 5-yard loss, which put Ohio State behind the chains. Three plays later, the drive ended in an OSU punt.
The fourth-down conversion should have provided momentum, but instead, the Buckeyes got a bit too clever and stalled.
More Defensive Issues
Lausch played way over his head in the early part of the game, hitting big plays down the field against Denzel Burke and Jermaine Matthews Jr. on the second Northwestern drive. The Wildcats took over on their own 8-yard line to start the possession and converted two more third downs, including a third-and-10 on a throw beating Burke.
The final two plays of the drive were the most humiliating, as Porter ran for 11 yards and Lausch capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run — both right up the middle against the heart of the defense. Northwestern took a 7-0 lead after the 13-play drive.
Kickoff Return Woes
Ohio State may have dynamic athletes, but the kickoff returns against the Wildcats were ill-advised. TreVeyon Henderson decided to return the kick right after Northwestern’s touchdown and couldn’t get past the 15-yard line. To open the second half, Henderson again chose to return a kick and did slightly better, but the drive still started in poor field position due to a holding penalty.
While the special teams have blocked a couple of punts the last two games — on Saturday only due to an abysmal snap — Ohio State’s special teams continue to disappoint, and it’s an area where the Buckeyes should theoretically excel.
Scheduled Grumpy Old Buckeye Complaint: Weekly Igbinosun Pass Interference
Former OSU offensive tackle J.B. Shugarts got a reputation for committing a false start just about every week. It got to be a running joke on Twitter that I still see in my feed whenever the Buckeyes move early. Davison Igbinosun has become the defensive equivalent, and his penalties cost Ohio State a lot more yards than Shugarts ever did.
Igbinosun again got grabby on Saturday, giving Northwestern a first down at Ohio State’s 21-yard line. Like he did at Penn State, Igbinosun made up for the penalty by making a play to end the drive, defending a fourth-down pass to turn the Wildcats over on downs. The veteran cornerback has to rein in his physicality and trust in his coverage a bit more, otherwise at some point, he’s not going to be able to make up for the error.
Those are the items that had me giving my cats serious side eye when the Buckeyes played Northwestern. Most of the game was fine, but the OSU defense didn’t seem prepared to play on the first couple of Northwestern drives. The offense was fine once it settled into the game.
It would by hypocritical of me to throw too much shade after a 31-7 win when I predicted a similar final score of 38-6. I suppose if there’s one other nit to pick, it’s that the starters stayed on the field about one drive too many.
Next up: The competition steps up in difficulty as the Buckeyes welcome the unbeaten Indiana Hoosiers to the Horseshoe at noon (yep, again) on Saturday.