Ohio State outscored Northwestern 16-0 in the second half to rally from a 10-6 halftime deficit. The rally enabled OSU to claim a 22-10 win and with it the Big Ten championship.
OSU’s usually potent passing attack struggled against a sound and well-prepared Northwestern defense that didn’t give up the big play and kept OSU quarterback Justin Fields uncomfortable all day. The passing game just wasn’t clicking, and OSU starting tailback Master Teague was out of the game with an injury.
It didn’t matter.
With the passing game struggling about half way through the third quarter the Buckeyes leaned on their offensive line and running back Trey Sermon to provide the offense. Sermon answered the call and then some.
Sermon rushed for a school-record 331 yards, 271 of them coming in the second half, to spark the struggling OSU offense and on the way eclipse the school single-game rushing record of 314 yards set by Eddie George against Illinois in 1995.
Sermon’s heroics could not have come at a better time. Not only was the Northwestern defense frustrating the OSU offense but OSU quarterback Justin Fields injured his thumb on his throwing hand late in the third quarter making it diffiecult at best and impossible at worst for him to throw the ball.
It didn’t matter. The Wildcats, who led the B1G in rush defense this year, could not slow down Sermon who gashed them repeatedly for big yardage. The Wildcat defense had allowed just 3.7 yards per rush this season but Sermon averaged over nine yards per carry on his way to his big day.
“When I’m in the zone the game slows down,” said Sermon. “It really slowed down today.”
Fields had a below-average day passing completing just 12 of 27 for 114 yards. He threw two interceptions and was sacked three times. Part of the issue in the passing game was the absence of receivers Chris Olave and Jackson Smith NJigba. Both were unavailable presumably due to positive COVID-19 tests. Nevertheless, the Buckeyes did not abandon the pass until late in the game, and when they did, the decision to do so and turn to Sermon paid huge dividends.
Sermon ignited the OSU offense but OSU’s defense also had a great day. They had some issues in the first half, particularly with Northwestern’s Wildcat formations, but made the necessary half-time adjustments needed to keep Northwestern off the scoreboard for the entire second half. The OSU defense came up with three turnovers, two on interceptions and one on a fumble recovery. Senior linebacker Justin Hilliard had an INT and a fumble recovery to go with a team-high nine tackles, five of them solos
The Buckeyes finish the regular-season 6-0. They came into the game ranked 4th in the nation and now await their fate in their bid to be invided to the four-team national playoff.
Very happy for Justin Hilliard and Trey Sermon. Two seniors who just keep working hard and trying to get better.
We needed both of them and they came up huge today or no Buckeye victory.
I know Justin Hilliard and Browning play the same position but is there anyway they can be on the field at the same time ? Making Borland a backup.
Good win for the Bucks, but frustrating to watch Day continue to call overly aggressive, slow-developing plays against a team doing everything it can to keep everything in front, rather than taking what was there (underneath stuff) and sticking with what obviously couldn’t be stopped (the run game). ‘Took painfully long to finally figure out, allowing a well-coached but less talented team to hang around way longer than they should have.
Go Trey Sermon. Let’s hope Master Teague heals over the next 3 weeks. We are going to need the both of them if we get in the semifinal.