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Ohio State Football: Predicting second half of the season

By Alex Austin

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 01: Johnnie Dixon III of the Ohio State Buckeyes runs with the ball after a catch against the Northwestern Wildcats during the Big Ten Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 1, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 01: Johnnie Dixon III of the Ohio State Buckeyes runs with the ball after a catch against the Northwestern Wildcats during the Big Ten Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 1, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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<> at Ohio Stadium on September 7, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio.
<> at Ohio Stadium on September 7, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. /

Coming off a bye-week halfway through the season, the Ohio State football team looks ahead to the second half including potential top 10 match-ups.

Congratulations, you made it through the Ohio State football team’s first bye week and are now ready to turn your attention to the second half of the season. Let’s look ahead at each of the remaining games as I give my predictions for the remainder of the season.

October 18 – Northwestern

Reasons for Optimism:  Northwestern has been a team that has struggled through the first half of the season. At 1-4 the Wildcats have performed well below their preseason expectations.

According to Football Outsiders, Northwestern has an SP+ rating of 0.4 compared to Ohio State’s 32.4. For those not familiar with this rating system, SP+ is a measure of a team’s effectiveness per play based on the drive, field position and expected outcome. The higher the number the better the team.

While it has been mostly Northwestern’s offense that has let them down, the team as a whole has under-performed and is not playing well. Looking at common opponents with Ohio State (Michigan State and Nebraska), Northwestern lost 31-10 and 13-10 to teams Ohio State beat 34-10 and 48-7 respectively.

Reasons for Concern: This has all the elements of a trap game for the Buckeyes based on recent seasons. Road game at night, check. Over-matched opponent, check. Big game the following week, check.

Combine all this with a very good Wildcat defense and you can see the reason why many pundits circled this game at the beginning of the season as a game the Buckeyes could lose.

While the elements of a trap game are there, this team feels different from the ones who laid eggs against Iowa and Purdue the last two years. Ohio State’s defense can limit the Northwestern offense to a few drives that spring big plays, but expect Chase Young and company to be dominate.

While the Wildcats have a good defense, it’s not good enough to stop the high-powered Buckeyes for 60 minutes.

Prediction: Ohio State 37- Northwestern 6

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