SoutheasternOhioPreps.com

After escaping with a 44-31 road win against Penn State, the Buckeyes travel again this time to Evanston Illinois to take on Pat Fitzgerald's Northwestern Wildcats.

Northwestern has lost seven straight since their season opening win against Nebraska. The Wildcats struggle on both sides of the ball, scoring only 19 points per game while giving up 28. The Cats are coming of a 33-13 loss to Iowa.

Our Buckeyes are prohibitive favorites and can hopefully use the game to work on their running game and build momentum towards The Game on November 26th.

Still expect Northwestern not to go easy. The last time the schools met was the 2020 conference championship game where it took Trey Sermon's school record 331 rushing yards to subdue NW 22-10.

This game will also mark one of the last times the Bucks will play in Dyche Stadium as the historic ediface is scheduled for replacement by 2026.

State opens as 36 point favorites in the contest. The game is scheduled for a noon kick on ABC.

One thing you can expect is the grass will be about 5 inches high , to slow down OSU's speed!

Smith njigba will still be out despite what bleeding red thinks. LOL

Buckeyes will need to find depth at RB , which is really thin now that Williams is OUT!

baseball16 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:45 am One thing you can expect is the grass will be about 5 inches high , to slow down OSU's speed!

Smith njigba will still be out despite what bleeding red thinks. LOL

Buckeyes will need to find depth at RB , which is really thin now that Williams is OUT!

I don't think JSN will ever play another down at OSU. I think the NIL money, draft stock and nagging hamstring has packed his suitcase while he gets ready for the NFL.
He was magnificent last year, tons of potential but I just don't see him wanting to sacrifice the risk to play for his team.

Hope I'm wrong!

Bleeding Red wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 8:06 pm

baseball16 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:45 am One thing you can expect is the grass will be about 5 inches high , to slow down OSU's speed!

Smith njigba will still be out despite what bleeding red thinks. LOL

Buckeyes will need to find depth at RB , which is really thin now that Williams is OUT!

I don't think JSN will ever play another down at OSU. I think the NIL money, draft stock and nagging hamstring has packed his suitcase while he gets ready for the NFL.
He was magnificent last year, tons of potential but I just don't see him wanting to sacrifice the risk to play for his team.

Hope I'm wrong!

You are likely correct. With an opportunity for earnings that could set your family up with generational wealth, you simply have no choice but to call it quits on your college career when faced with a injury that takes time to heal. JSN's legacy at OSU is secure.

Only thing I can see is the OSU sports team and himself try to get ready for Xichigan. Then go from there if they are in a Title Hunt. His Draft stock may go down a little if he doesn't play and people start wondering about Injury. But time will tell, and no, I did not talk to JSN before this post.

baseball16 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 11:44 am Only thing I can see is the OSU sports team and himself try to get ready for Xichigan. Then go from there if they are in a Title Hunt. His Draft stock may go down a little if he doesn't play and people start wondering about Injury. But time will tell, and no, I did not talk to JSN before this post.

Can you give him a call and get the scoop and report back to us?

baseball16 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 11:44 am Only thing I can see is the OSU sports team and himself try to get ready for Xichigan. Then go from there if they are in a Title Hunt. His Draft stock may go down a little if he doesn't play and people start wondering about Injury. But time will tell, and no, I did not talk to JSN before this post.

And I would love to see him come back. But at this point, he might be so out of sync that if could negatively affect the tempo of the passing game.

Weather could be a HUGE factor in this game. A lot of Rain and WIND. Bring the Run game. A few TO's and NW could get some confidence. I hope not but these type of games could be bad.

TreVeyon Henderdon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Cameron Brown reported as unavailable to play against Northwestern. Bucks very thin at running back in a game where the weather may slow the passing game:

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... rthwestern

They are getting embarrassed by a 1-7 team.

Bucks looked like shyte today. Ryan Day has a lot to fix. Haven't looked like a playoff team the last 2 weeks and very one dimensional

Burg_Grad_77 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 05, 2022 12:52 pm They are getting embarrassed by a 1-7 team.

Pretty apt description of the game until late in third quarter when Ohio State finally grabbed a lead. From there State's depth finally wore the Wildcats down in the fourth quarter for the 21-7 victory.

Credit Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald with a masterful game plan of taking advantage of the weather and ball control to keep Ohio State's offense on the sidelines. NW held the ball for 36 minutes.

For the game NW gained a total of 285 yards with 206 coming on the ground. The Cats actually out gained State on the day.

NW's QB Brandon Sullivan was only 10 of 14 passing with no TD's but was effective as a game manager and kept drives alive with 55 yards rushing. Evan Hull rushed 30 times for 122 yards and NW's lone touchdown.

For Ohio State, the offense was ugly. 76 yards passing and 207 yards rushing for the game.

The only positive's was that Stroud actually ran the ball on purpose for 79 yards, with a run of 16 and 44 yards being instrumental in Buckeye scoring drives.

Miyan Williams was the leading rusher for OSU on 26 carries for 111 yards and 2 TDs.

Perhaps OSU's best weapon was punter Jessie Mirco, keeping NW in bad field position with 7 kicks for a 50 yard average.

A win is a win. State's season goals of winning the Big 10 and qualifying for the playoffs is still in reach. Yet the Bucks honestly have not played at a consistent high level over the last three games. Concerns:

Stroud has seemed out of synch.

Receivers have had difficulty gaining seperation against physical pressing coverage.

The offensive line has had not been able to generate consistent push to open up the running game.

I know that today State's passing game was limited by the blustery conditions, but with only two contests left before The Game, you have to ask can Ryan Day revese the current trend? Hate to say it, at their current level of play, State is not the best team in the Big 10, nor would they be a threat in the playoffs.

Bleeding Red wrote: ↑Sat Nov 05, 2022 4:37 pm Bucks looked like shyte today. Ryan Day has a lot to fix. Haven't looked like a playoff team the last 2 weeks and very one dimensional

Pretty sure the Weather had a HUGE Factor on this game. 30-50 mph winds , rain! But Hey they won and that is what matters. These type of games can go either way, no matter the competition. I am sure Day is glad it's over!

I agree this game was mostly about the weather. Still the running game needs to shine in games like these and it wasn't that impressive against a 1-7 team outside of a few runs here and there. I didn't even know the punter's name until this game