The Buckeyes head to Chicago this weekend to play their last road game of the season at historic Wrigley Field.
When Ohio State visits the Windy City to play Northwestern this weekend, the Buckeyes will not be making their customary pilgrimage to Ryan Field. Nor will they be checking out Northwestern’s temporary stadium along Lake Michigan because, well…. I’m not real sure.
Frankly, I don’t understand spending nearly a billion dollars to renovate Ryan Field, creating a unique gameday experience on the water (!), and then hosting OSU at a baseball stadium. But who am I to argue with decision makers at the “Harvard of the Midwest”?
If nothing else, the move to Wrigley allows more than 12,000 fans (Martin Stadium capacity) to attend this game featuring one of the biggest brands/names/teams in college football.
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Of course, the Wildcats will be there, too. David Braun’s team is a bit lower (than the Buckeyes) on the CFB food chain, although you wouldn’t know it or believe it when listening to the 2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year. He exudes the confidence and leadership one typically desires in a head coach. And despite being thrust into the position unexpectedly, under bizarre circumstances, Braun and Northwestern have far exceeded expectations since the former took over in January of last year.
That being said, many would be surprised if the Wildcats gave the Buckeyes a game on Saturday. Northwestern is just 4-5 on the season, with their best win coming against… Maryland? I guess? The Cats’ offense has struggled immensely all season, and though some of the defensive metrics are good (21.9 PPG allowed), Braun’s squad allowed 40+ to both Indiana and Iowa.
There’s always the possibility that Northwestern devised a solid, game-shortening gameplan during the team’s bye week, however, I fully expect Ohio State to “go yard” and round the proverbial bases at Wrigley.
Here are a few more things you should know about the Northwestern Wildcats:
Northwestern University is one of the most prestigious universities in the country, if not the world. You probably know this (already) because, among other things, Northwestern produces copious amounts of journalists and media personalities. And those individuals love to remind, tell, and/or educate others about it.
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Northwestern has also produced several Nobel Prize laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, National Medal of Science Winners, and titans of government and/or industry, among the university’s many (many, many) accomplished and esteemed alums. So yeah, Northwestern pumps out some important folks.
But the school also educated/gave us Meghan Markle and Ross from Friends, so…
Willie the Wildcat is Northwestern’s mascot… And he’s not alone. Because Kansas State’s mascot is also Willie the Wildcat, although sometimes “the” is omitted when referring to the latter.
Both mascots also have or dress in similar colors. So the question now becomes, has anyone ever seen Willie and Willie in the same place, at the same time? Or did the brilliant minds at “Nerdwestern” devise a plan to pull one over on us simpletons?
The Wildcats’ football program somewhat surprisingly boasts (at least a share of) eight Big Ten titles. Northwestern enjoyed a hell of a run during the mid-to-late 90’s, winning at least a share of the conference title in ’95, ’96, and 2000. Their other five titles were claimed decades earlier.
One of the best and most successful head coaches in Northwestern(s) history gave us Rudy! Ara Parseghian coached the Wildcats from 1956-1963, winning just over half of his games. He then moved on to Notre Dame, where he won two national titles and gave Rudy Ruettiger a spot on the Irish’s scout team in 1974.
Current head coach David Braun was “only” supposed to be Northwestern’s defensive coordinator. Braun was hired by Pat Fitzgerald in January of 2023, after a successful run as North Dakota State’s DC. When Fitzgerald was fired months later, Braun was (somewhat?) surprisingly named the Wildcats’ interim head coach.
Braun then became the first HC in program history to lead the Wildcats to a bowl game in his opening season, which they won. Northwestern had already removed the interim tag by then, tabbing Braun as their guy after just 10 games.
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This Wildcats defense is a handsy bunch. Northwestern’s D has been credited with 39 (!) passes defended this season, well above the national average. And given Will Howard’s tendency to throw at least one puzzling pass per game, that could spell trouble inconvenience for the Buckeyes.
But their offense is one of lowest scoring units in FBS. The Wildcats rank 121st out of 134 FBS teams in points scored per game.
Northwestern has given Ohio State fits recently. OSU won the last two matchups between these teams – in 2020 and 2022 – but only by an average of 13 points. Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud were completely stifled by NU’s defense and/or the weather in both of those games, ultimately forcing them to hand the car keys to Trey Sermon and Miyan Williams, respectively.
But alas…
The Wildcats have not defeated the Buckeyes on the gridiron in 20 years. Northwestern did emerge victorious from the teams’ 2004 battle, defeating the Buckeyes for the first and only time.