Ohio State Escapes an Upset Minded Northwestern In Uncomfortable Win

It wasn't pretty for the Buckeyes, but they got the job done against a short-handed and upset-minded Northwestern Wildcats. 

The Buckeyes were the team that took advantage of the mistakes made late in the football game to pull away. Specifically, late in the fourth quarter, when Ohio State was up 21-13 set to punt the football back to Northwestern with them having a chance to tie the game up.

It would never come to be because the Wildcats muffed the punt, the Buckeyes recovered it, and that was all that she wrote. Ohio State immediately took the football and found Jeremiah Smith crossing the field to give them a comfortable 15-point lead, allowing the entire stadium to exhale. 

The Buckeyes' entire goal in this game was to just get back into the win column today, and they did just that. With the win, the Buckeyes ended their 2 game losing streak and, most importantly, kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

The outlook is bleak; this performance today against a very injured Northwestern team was not convincing enough for anyone to think that what they did is deserving of anything at all.

So, their only path goes through the Big Ten Championship game, which is, yet again, another long shot.

The path to the Big Ten title game is bleak; the path to the CFP is bleaker, so for today, they can enjoy a victory.

It was a day that will be remembered for superstar Jeremiah Smith. Today, Smith etched his name into the history books in the first quarter with his second catch of the day. On that catch, he became the all-time leading receiver in the Big Ten. 

Late in the fourth quarter, he added to his day with a touchdown catch that put the game out of reach. 

On the day, Luke Fahey was fine, while his stats look like a really strong performance with a three-touchdown day and over 200 yards passing.

The defense was better today, getting to the quarterback five separate times to really disrupt the Northwestern offense. 

It was a clunky day, but one that the Buckeyes escaped with a victory. Next up is a trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, to take on the Cornhuskers in what will be a really challenging environment to go in and win. That one will set up a final matchup with the Michigan Wolverines. 

Ohio State wins 28-19 to move to 7-3 on the season.