The virtual Buckeyes take on the virtual Wildcats in Week 12.
College football finally returned to the virtual world in 2024 with the release of EA Sports College Football 25, allowing fans of all 134 FBS schools to take control of their favorite team. For Buckeye Nation, that means getting to dominate with one of the best rosters in the game.
The new game also allows us to get a glimpse at what the season could look like, at least if the computers had their say. Each week, Land-Grant Holy Land will simulate Ohio State’s real-life matchup to see what our AI overlords think will happen.
Here are the results of our Week 12 sim:
Ohio State 49 – Northwestern 13
Unfortunately, as Wrigley Field isn’t one of this year’s bowl game sites, we were unable to have this week’s matchup played at its real life location. Instead, Ohio State took on Northwestern in front of a sold out crowd of around 12,000, rather than the 41,000-plus that the home of the Chicago Cubs will allow on Saturday.
The Buckeyes must not have liked the more intimate atmosphere of Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, because it was a slow start for Ryan Day and Chip Kelly’s offense. Quinshon Judkins punched it in from a yard out on Ohio State’s first possession, but that would be all the team would muster until another short touchdown run by Will Howard to end the first half. In between scores, the Wildcats knocked through a pair of sub-40-yard field goals, as OSU took a 14-6 lead into the half.
The third quarter is when the Buckeyes finally turned it on. Jeremiah Smith opened up the second half with a five-yard touchdown, and shortly after a Northwestern turnover, TreVeyon Henderson ripped off a 34-yard touchdown run. Howard would add his second rushing touchdown of the day on a four-yard scamper later in the quarter as Ohio State now held a more respectable 35-6 lead.
The Wildcats scored their lone touchdown of the game to begin the fourth quarter on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Jack Lausch to A.J. Henning, but the Buckeyes tacked on two more scores on a 15-yard touchdown by Gee Scott Jr. and a third TD run by Howard to put the exclamation point on a 49-13 victory.
It was a huge day for Howard, who in addition to his three touchdown runs completed 20 of his 26 pass attempts for 291 yards and two scores. Ohio State was efficient running the football, with Henderson and Quinshon Judkins combining for 164 yards on 25 carries, highlighted by 11 rushes for 95 yards by Judkins. All three of the Buckeyes’ top receivers recorded at least 70 yards, led by Smith with five catches for 78 yards and a TD. Carnell Tate and Emeka Egbuka added four grabs each for 70 yards and 72 yards, respectively.
Defensively, Ohio State got an impressive showing out of Cody Simon, who led the team with eight total tackles to go along with an interception and a tackle for loss. The Silver Bullets recorded seven tackles for loss overall, with three by Tyler Bourne (J.T. Tuimoloau), two for Tyleik Williams and one by Jordan Hancock, and Lorenzo Styles recorded the group’s second interception of the game. Tuimoloau, Williams and Kayden McDonald each tallied one sack, and Lathan Ransom led the way with two pass breakups.
Overall, Ohio State put up over 530 yards of offense and was 6-of-10 on third down, compared to 242 yards of offense and 2-of-12 on third down for Northwestern. The two picks by the Buckeyes’ defense were the only two turnovers of the game. The Wildcats also committed nine penalties for 67 yards, while OSU had only four flags for 23 yards. Neither team went for it on fourth down.
While the real life Buckeyes are 8-1 with a chance to move to 9-1, the virtual Buckeyes move to a perfect 10-0 on the year. Check back next week to see how Ohio State actually performed on the field compared to the simulation, and see how they fare in our Week 13 simulation against Indiana.