Ohio State Football: Previewing Friday’s game with Northwestern

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LINCOLN, NE – SEPTEMBER 28: Head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes gets ready to lead the team on the field before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /

Friday night is sure an odd day for the Ohio State football team to play but at least the Buckeyes are back on the field this week.

The Ohio State football team has played on a Thursday night and Monday night before, one against Indiana in 2017 and one against Virginia Tech in 2015, but the last time the Buckeyes played on a Friday was in 1959 when they played the No. 11 USC Trojans in which they lost 17-0.

This time, the Buckeyes will face a Northwestern team that some said has been a disappointment. They will go into Friday’s game with hopes of proving their haters wrong though, in a rematch of last year’s Big Ten Championship Game in which the Buckeyes won 45-24.

Here is what you should know about each team.

Ohio State

There are several key players to look for on Ohio State including quarterback Justin Fields who is a Heisman candidate with 1,298 yards passing, 18 touchdowns and only one interception. Fields also has 57 carries for 283 yards and eight touchdowns.

JK Dobbins broke the 3,000-yard career rushing mark against Nebraska just a few weeks ago, and has 826 yards on the ground this season with 166 attempts and six touchdowns. Second-string running back Master Teague has also saw playing time as he has rushed for 416 yards on 66 carries and had scored three touchdowns.

Key players at wide receiver to look at are K.J. Hill who has 27 catches for 275 yards and four touchdowns, Chris Olave with 16 catches for 258 yards and four touchdowns and Binjimen Victor with 18 catches for 348 yards and three touchdowns.

On defense, the Northwestern offense had better look out for defensive end Chase Young who has proved to be a worthy successor to Nick Bosa. Young in 2019 has 21 tackles, 8.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for a loss.

Outside linebacker Ma’lik Harrison is another player to look out for as he has 28 tackles, 9.5 of them being for a loss and 3.5 sacks.

Other players to look at on defense are cornerback Jeffery Okudah who has 17 tackles and three interceptions, defensive tackle Jashon Cornell and linebackers Baron Browning and Peter Werner.

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