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Ohio State Football: No trap game for Buckeyes

By Ian O’Brien

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 18: Head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes and his players prepare to take the field before the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on October 18, 2019 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 18: Head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes and his players prepare to take the field before the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on October 18, 2019 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /
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The Ohio State football team played an odd Friday night game, but that did not stop the Buckeyes from dominating as they won big 52-3.

Some college football analysts were calling Friday night’s contest against Northwestern a trap game for the Ohio State football team with the Wisconsin Badgers coming to town Saturday. They were wrong as the Buckeyes went into Ryan Field and dominated the Northwestern Wildcats 52-3..

Justin Fields ended up finishing 18 of 23 for 194 yards and four touchdowns through the air.    Running Back JK Dobbins and Master Teague combined for 217 yards on 25 carries and both had a touchdown in the game.

Chris Olave led the receiving corps for the Buckeyes scoring the first touchdown of the game and then another late in the second quarter.   Other players who scored on the receiving end were Austin Mack, and Jeremy Ruckert who caught a TD pass from Chris Chugunov.

Olave finished with five catches for 60 yards and Mack had four catches for 50 yards.

The defense also had a big game as they held Northwestern to a Charlie Kuhbander 33 yard field goal in the first quarter.  The defense finished with 63 total tackles, 41 of those being solo tackles and one sack by defensive end Chase Young.

Here is what the Buckeye DE said as reported In an ESPN article:

"“I just feel like it’s business,” defensive end Chase Young said. “That’s the mentality I have, just because I know we can’t have any fluke losses. It’s gonna mess with what we want to do.”"

Blake Haubeil had his best career game as a Buckeye.  Haubeil made all of his extra points and kicked a career-high 55 yard field goal just before halftime.

Northwestern struggled moving the ball on offense as they only had 199 total yards compared to Ohio State’s 480 total yards.  Hunter Johnson did not play and instead junior Aidan Smith got the start. Smith finished 6/20 for 42 yards and threw an interception.

Sophomore running back Isaiah Bowser had 16 carries for 65 yards.  Drake Anderson has 13 carries for 39 yards.

The Wildcat’s biggest receiving yards came with Riley Lees who had three receptions for 19 yards.  Th e 52-3 loss would be one of Northwestern’s worst games against Ohio State.

Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald had this to say per ESPN:

"“We’re continually beating ourselves (on offense),” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We have guys that are pressing, trying to do too much. They care so much. They’re a great group of guys and that’s why my heart breaks for them.”"

This is especially disappointing as Northwestern fans were hoping that their team would have made it back to the Big Ten championship.  Now, the Wildcats have to worry about making a bowl game.

The now 3rd ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (7-0) will host the 13th ranked Wisconsin Badgers (6-1) who are coming off of a horrible loss to Illinois.  Kickoff is Saturday 12pm on FOX.

Next. Breaking down the Big Ten’s Big 4. dark

Northwestern (1-5) will hope to keep their bowl hopes alive as they host the 20th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes (5-2), trying to pull off the upset.  Kickoff is Saturday 12pm on ESPN2.

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