Ohio State football: Buckeyes must win trenches against Northwestern

If the Ohio State football team wants to win another Big Ten title and make the College Football Playoff, they must win in the trenches against Northwestern.

The Ohio State football team is still preparing for the upcoming Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis. They’ll be taking on Northwestern, a team that will not be a pushover. This is a team that does most of its best work in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

Northwestern’s defense is no joke. They have the second-best scoring defense in the country, only allowing opponents to score 14.6 points per game. They are the 13th best defense in terms of total yardage, only allowing 314 yards per game.

Ohio State has an offense that is extremely potent running the ball and passing it. In fact, they have the sixth-best offense in terms of yardage in America, gaining 532 yards per contest. They also score the fourth-most points in the country, scoring 46.6 points per game.

Northwestern is able to play defense so well because they play well in the trenches. They push the pocket back into the quarterback so that he has to come off his reads sooner. It’s also harder for running backs to find open holes. Their defensive line has done it all year.

The Buckeyes should have their entire starting offensive line back for this game after missing three starters in the Michigan State game due to COVID. As long as the Buckeyes don’t get sick between now and Saturday, they should have their full arsenal of lineman available.

Their defensive line continues to be one of the best in the country. Haskell Garrett and Tommy Togiai have done an amazing job on the interior getting pressure and making quarterbacks move. Not only that, it has closed any running gaps up the middle.

As long as the Buckeyes win in the trenches, they should have no problem winning this game.