The victory by the Buckeyes over the Wildcats at Wrigley Field was the football equivalent of a quality start in baseball.
After months of anticipation, Ohio State and Northwestern finally squared off in Wrigley Field. Despite there being concerns about some of the features of the field heading into the game, the latest edition of a football game being played in the “Friendly Confines” went off without a hitch.
Nobody ran into the walls just behind the end zone and was injured, the turf held up a lot better this year than it did for Northwestern’s game with Iowa last year, and the weather didn’t have an impact on the game, unlike when the Buckeyes and Wildcats played in 2022 in Evanston.
Since this game was played in a baseball stadium, there’s no better way to put a bow on Saturday’s game between the Buckeyes and Wildcats than by using some baseball terminology to describe what we saw during the game, as well as where things stand for Ohio State as they turn their attention to home games against Indiana and Michigan over the next two weeks.
The win by the Buckeyes was their 11th-straight over Northwestern, pushing their significant edge in the series to 66-14-1.
Curtain call
If there was anybody who deserved a curtain call in today’s game, it was wide receiver Carnell Tate. The sophomore returned to his hometown and had himself a game, catching four passes for 52 yards, finding the end zone twice in the victory. The two touchdown receptions not only doubled his season total, it marked the first time in his young career that Tate has scored twice in a game.
What was most impressive about what we saw from Tate on the field today is he made some tough catches over the middle of the field that really had no business being caught. One of those grabs put the Buckeyes on the doorstep of the end zone, with Quinshon Judkins cashing in Ohio State’s first touchdown of the game soon after.
Teammates Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka often overshadow what Tate does on the field, but quietly the Chicago native is having a strong season. Tate has 31 catches for almost 460 yards on the season. Smith, Egbuka, and Tate are making a strong case for the best receiving trio in the country this season.
Two-bagger
The other Buckeye who found the end zone twice today was running back Quinshon Judkins, who was responsible for the first two scores of the day for Ohio State. Both scores for the Ole Miss transfer were from a yard out.
The first touchdown tied the score at 7-7, allowing Buckeye Nation at Wrigley and watching on TV to breathe a little easier. Then not long after, Judkins was the beneficiary of the second blocked punt in two weeks by the Buckeyes, gaining possession after the punt block went out of bounds at the one-yard-line.
Judkins finished the game with 76 yards on 15 carries.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The performance by Judkins was massive since he had really been struggling lately, having failed to reach 30 yards rushing in three of his previous four games. So far this season there haven’t been many games where both Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson were clicking in the same game. This was one of the better games for the duo, with Henderson rushing for 74 yards.
The good news is with both running backs shouldering a lighter workload than they have been used to over the past couple years, they will be fresher for the important stretch the Buckeyes have coming up, as games against Indiana and Michigan over the next two weeks will determine if Ohio State plays in the Big Ten Championship Game, and what their seeding could be in the College Football Playoff.
Gas
Since the Oregon game, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has been dialing up some fiery blitzes. Over the past three contests, Cody Simon had been used a lot to put some heat on opposing quarterbacks.
Against Northwestern, Sonny Styles got his turn to leave his mark in the opposing backfield, registering two sacks in the game. Styles finished the game with six tackles, tied with Simon and Caleb Downs for second-most by a Buckeye in the game, just one stop behind the seven tackles Arvell Reese and Jack Sawyer recorded.
Sawyer’s tackle output in the game set a new career-high.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Speaking of Sawyer, the defensive end thwarted Northwestern’s opening drive of the game when he punched the football out of Northwestern quarterback Jack Lausch’s hands with the Wildcats driving inside the red zone. The football bounced directly to cornerback Davison Igbinosun who picked it up and returned it 17 yards before being run out of bounds.
Over the last two weeks, Sawyer has played his best football of the season, hopefully mirroring the finish to his 2023 season when he was a menace to close out the season.
Five-tool player
In baseball, a five-tool player is somebody who can do it all. Examples of some five-tool baseball players are Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Vladimir Guerrero. In football, the equivalent would be a five-star recruit or blue chip prospect. Jeremiah Smith is that dude. Many have been saying that even though Smith is a freshman, he could play in the NFL right now. Luckily for Ohio State fans, they’ll be seeing Smith in the scarlet and gray for another two years.
After achieving the triple crown of Ohio State freshman receiving records, Smith is now adding to his totals the rest of the season. With four catches for 100 yards today, Smith notched the third 100-yard receiving game in his young career. Honestly, the yardage total should have been about 40 yards higher since Smith scored a touchdown on a diving reception but after replay review the officials ruled the football touched the ground, taking the touchdown off the scoreboard.
For most freshmen there would be a concern about hitting a “freshman wall”. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Smith, who looks like he is getting stronger as the season goes on. About the only thing that might slow the talented wide receiver down is dirty plays like we saw from Northwestern defender Robert Fitzgerald, who thought he was Kurt Angle and tried to put Smith in an ankle lock with Smith on the ground after a 68-yard gain.
Painting the corners
Despite completing just 62.5 percent of his passes, which was his second-lowest mark of the season, Will Howard was firing some darts against Northwestern. It’s obvious Howard is becoming more and more comfortable running Chip Kelly’s offense each week.
There were a number of throws that the Kansas State transfer made during the game that were just *chef kiss*. One that really sticks out in my mind was a bullet over the middle into a microscopic window to Carnell Tate to set up the first Buckeye touchdown of the day.
Howard might not put up massive statlines like C.J. Stroud or Dwayne Haskins, but with playing so many games of college football before arriving in Columbus, he just doesn’t get rattled. Now the pressure is about to be ratcheted up going forward, starting with a showdown with undefeated Indiana next week, followed by the grudge match with Michigan a couple days after Thanksgiving.
If Howard continues to play like he has so far this season, it is going to be awfully hard for a team to beat Ohio State the rest of the way.
Catbird seat
The oddsmakers didn’t feel like there would be much suspense in the result of the game, installing Ohio State as 28.5-point favorites earlier this week. Despite some early sluggishness, the Buckeyes were able to get their act together in the second quarter, taking a 21-7 lead into halftime.
The victory kept Ohio State in control of their own destiny when it comes to earning their first appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game since 2020. If the Buckeyes are able to beat Indiana next week, followed by snapping a three-game losing streak to Michigan in two weeks, Ohio State will head to Indianapolis to take on Oregon in early December, with not only the conference title on the line, but also a first round bye in the College Football Playoff.