Ohio State beats Northwestern, 45-10
November 9th, 2008 at 12:33 am by Displaced Cleveland Fan
Back to business.
The Ohio State Buckeyes came off a bye week following a tough loss to Penn State played a solid game, beating #24 Northwestern by 5 touchdowns on their home field.
Terrelle Pryor threw for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns. Chris “Beanie” Wells rushed for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns. And the defense held the Wildcats to just 2 scores.
You know, for a team that everyone thinks is overrated, they sure do take care of business against quality opponents on the road. Yes, I remember the beating this team received at USC (although the Buckeyes were playing without the current starting QB and one of the best running backs in the country). But of the following three road games against opponents that were in the top-25 when they played (#18 Wisconsin, #20 Michigan State, and #24 Northwestern), Ohio State has outscored them by a combined total of 110-34. That’s not a bad stat. But no matter how we might put a favorable spin on the Buckeyes’ numbers, there’s no way we could argue that they should still be in the hunt for the national championship. Not this year.
And don’t look now, but Ohio State does still have a shot at another Big Ten title.
Thanks to the Iowa Hawkeyes and their last second field goal, there are currently three teams with one conference loss at the top of the Big Ten - Michigan State (6-1), Penn State (5-1), and Ohio State (5-1). If the Buckeyes win their final two games against Illinios and Michigan, they’ll finish with a 7-1 conference record.
Next week, Michigan State has a bye and Penn State plays Indiana. Assuming nothing catastrophic happens, Penn State will beat the Hoosiers. Then their final game will be at home against Michigan State. If the Spartans can beat the Nittany Lions, then Penn State will fall to 6-2 in the conference, one game back of the Buckeyes. Michigan State would then finish at 7-1, tied with Ohio State. But what was the Spartans’ one loss? A 45-7 home loss to the Buckeyes. Without a conference championship game, that would make Ohio State winners of the Big Ten.
So if Ohio State wins out and Penn State falls to Michigan State, the Buckeyes are likely looking at a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Tags: Chris Wells, football, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State, scores, Terrelle Pryor
