Tag: Ohio State vs. Northwestern

Big Ten Championship game between Ohio State and Northwestern highest rated event in Noon window

The Big Ten Championship Game between Ohio State and Northwestern was the highest-rated event in the broadcast window Saturday.

Once again, Ohio State football turned on television and streaming devices. According to Nielsen Media Research, Saturday’s Big Ten Championship between No. 4 Ohio State and No. 14 Northwestern drew a 5.4 metered market rating on FOX, the day’s highest-rated event in the time slot.

This marked another high in a busy sports day. Also, BIG NOON KICKOFF registered a 1.0 metered market rating on FOX from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET, the highest-rated pregame show in that hour. Yes, folks that means it also beat ESPN’s College Gameday during that window.

As followers of Ohio State, we know where your allegiances lie. Urban Meyer has been a great asset for FOX. His engaging commentary and analysis has quickly made the BIG NOON KICKOFF Show a trusted and entertaining preamble to Buckeye football games.

Urban Meyer, FOX College Football crew discuss Ohio State CFP resume
Urban Meyer and FOX College Football Crew.

We can safely say that this experiment of moving the biggest games to the Noon window FOX has embarked upon over the last couple of seasons has been a resounding success. You can attribute a lot of that to the mutual cooperation between Urban Meyer, Ohio State football, the Big Ten, and FOX.

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Eddie George congratulates Trey Sermon on breaking his 25 year old rushing record

A 25-year record falls and Eddie George sends praise on social media to Ohio State running back Trey Sermon.

Can you believe it’s been 25 years since we watched Eddie George run wild over the Illinois Fighting Illini? Many things have changed from then to now, but one thing that has remained constant was Eddie’s single-game rushing record at Ohio State.

That was until yesterday when Trey Sermon carried the Buckeyes to a win over Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game and a new Ohio State single-game rushing record.

George, who has represented OSU well since his day running the ball in scarlet and gray, is always a class act. And that didn’t change on Saturday when he gave Sermon a shoutout via Twitter to congratulate the senior running back.

Eddie seems to understand that records were made to be broken and it looks like the former Heisman winner couldn’t be happier for the young man that broke his.

Sermon also ran past another former Buckeye on his way to the record books, besting Ezekiel Elliot’s Big Ten Championship single-game rushing record by more than 100 yards. Elliot set that mark in 2014 at 220 against Wisconsin that sent the Buckeyes to the inaugural College Football Playoff and eventually a National Championship.

Maybe this is a great sign for things to come as the Buckeyes await to see their 2020 playoff destiny. We’ll find out the first leg of that journey today when the CFP committee announces their top four teams at 12:15 on ESPN.

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Watch what Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said about Ohio State after the Big Ten Championship Game

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald had some flattering comments about Ohio State after the Big Ten Championship Game. Watch his comments.

Northwestern put a serious scare into Ohio State but came up a bit short as the Buckeyes found a way to take control of the game late in the second half. The Wildcats fought hard, displayed a hard-nosed defense and collective motivation. It just wasn’t enough to slay the Big Ten dragon on this day.

But head coach Pat Fitzgerald didn’t come into the Big Ten Championship Game for moral victories or to show everyone that the little engine that could, couldn’t quite. Even still, the Wildcat head coach showed nothing but class in his postgame press conference when talking about Ohio State.

Fitz was extremely gracious and very complimentary at the talent and heart of the Buckeyes. In case you missed any of his comments in the post-game press conference, we’ve got them for you thanks to the Northwestern Athletics YouTube Channel.

Watch the below video and watch/listen to Fitzgerald discuss Justin Fields’ play, the talent on Ohio State, what the Buckeyes did to make things difficult, whether OSU should be a playoff team or not, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxPsVifOeYw

We now wait to see where Ohio State will go for the postseason. We feel good about it ending up in the College Football Playoff, but we’ll just have to wait and see until it’s all announced Sunday.

 

Five things we learned in Ohio State’s win over Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game

Ohio State outlasted a tough and motivated Northwestern squad to win its fourth-straight Big Ten Championship. Here are five observations.

OK. Settle down and step away from the ledge Ohio State fans. Northwestern put a scare in all of Buckeye Nation, but then a Superman stepped out of the booth by the name of Trey Sermon and rescued the Big Ten championship.

The win is now the fourth-straight conference title for the Buckeyes, and the fifth championship game victory overall, both conference-leading. But at the end of the day, there’s a lot to take from this game, and not all of it good. Justin Fields struggled, so did the rushing defense at times, and there were far too many mistakes.

However, you’d much rather learn lessons after a win as opposed to a loss, and nobody should ever apologize for winning a ring. That’s where things stand today.

As we always do, here are five things we observed from the nip and tuck — and sometimes squeamish — game in Indianapolis.

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NEXT … Trey Sermon, Wildcat hunter

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Trey Sermon breaks Eddie George’s single-game rushing record in Big Ten Championship Game

A 25-year-old record falls as Trey Sermon rewrites the record books.

We have a new single-game Ohio State rushing record holder, and he goes by the name Trey Sermon. The way that it happened was almost out of necessity, but sometimes that is the great mother of invention, as they say.

Ohio State found themselves in an absolute dog fight with the Northwestern Wildcats today in the Big Ten Championship game. With Justin Fields missing two of his top targets in Chris Olave and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and somewhat off his game, it was Sermon who strapped the Buckeyes to his back and carried the team home.

Sermon played like a man possessed today and decided he was not going to let his team lose. Starting running back, Master Teague, left the game with an undisclosed injury which gave more touches to Sermon, and he did not waste the opportunity, leading the Buckeyes to a 22-10 victory over Northwestern.

Sermon would go on to break the Ohio State all-time single-game rushing record set by Eddie George in 1995 during his Heisman winning season. Sermon broke Eddie’s 25-year-old record by rushing for 331 yards on 29 carries. George set the mark to break against Illinois all those years ago at 314 yards.

 

Sermon also etched his name in the Big Ten record books by obliterating former Buckeye Ezekiel Elliott’s Big Ten Championship Game rushing record of 220 yards.

Now on to the post-season. It has to look good in the eyes of the playoff committee that Justin Fields can have an off day and the Buckeyes able to get big production from someone other than No. 1. What a perfect day for Sermon to write his name into the record books.

By the way, the 331 yards is also the most rushing yards by any player in any conference championship game across all FBS leagues in history. So yeah, that’s something to carry around with you. Being the Big Ten Championship Game MVP is another feather in the scarlet and gray cap.

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Ohio State rides the back of running back Trey Sermon to win Big Ten Championship

Ohio State got an otherworldy performance from an unexpected source. Running back Trey Sermon led the Buckeyes to a Big Ten Championship.

It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t pretty, but Ohio State found what it needed in the second half to beat back an upstart, well-coached, and hardnosed Northwestern squad 22-10. The Buckeyes did it in a way almost nobody could predict.

That’s because quarterback Justin Fields had an unusually off game against a Wildcat defense that doesn’t give up the big play. He threw two interceptions, only completed 12 of 27 passes and seemed to be frustrated by the scheme of the Northwestern defense. It didn’t help that Chris Olave was lost before the game even started.

So, Ohio State jumped on the shoulders of running back Trey Sermon who absolutely went off today. He wasn’t used very much in the first half, but even then, you could see signs that he was dialed in. Once the second half hit and OSU was behind, struggling to find any rhythm in the passing game, it was time to turn to Sermon.

Time after time, he found holes and used his vision, shiftiness, and speed to rip off big run after big run. At the end of the day, he was the MVP Ohio State sorely needed, breaking the single-game OSU rushing record, going for 331 yards rushing, 270 of it coming after halftime.

With the win, the Buckeyes have won their fourth-straight Big Ten Championship and should have punched a ticket to the College Football Playoff. It’s not a slam dunk with what we’ve seen from this CFP committee, but you can probably feel pretty safe on making some postseason playoff plans that have a scarlet and gray hue to them.

We’ll find out for sure tomorrow when the pairings are announced.

WATCH: Trey Sermon gets Ohio State to the end zone for the first time today

Ohio State is starting to find itself on the ground against Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game. Watch Trey Sermon score.

And just like that Ohio State is in the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter.

Trey Sermon has been a beast on the ground today coming in for Master Teague who is out with an undisclosed injury. This is the Sermon Buckeye fans were hoping to get when he transferred in from the Oklahoma Sooners.

Sermon has answered the call and has gone for over 200 yards with several big runs and we’re still in just the third quarter. The Buckeyes are going to need more of the run game as Fields just doesn’t look like his usually Heisman caliber level of quarterback.

Watch Sermon weave his way to the endzone below.

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Ohio State trails Northwestern at halftime in Big Ten Championship Game, needs to focus on the running game in second half

Ohio State has struggled mightily in the first half against Northwestern and must focus on the running game on both sides of the ball.

Ohio State has not had a good first half against Northwestern and trail 10-6 at halftime. The offense has struggled to get the passing game going against a very good Northwestern defense. On the other side of the ball, the Buckeyes have struggled to stop the run. Heading into the second half, OSU needs to focus on the rushing battle on both sides of the ball.

We looked at the five keys to winning this game, and it focused on the run games for both offense and defense. While there have been some ill-timed penalties, the running game has been the bright spot on offense. In the second half, Trey Sermon and Master Teague need to be a bigger part of the plan. This should open up the passing game as long as Justin Fields can get some play-action going.

The Northwestern defense is really good against the pass, and the play-calling has been questionable as it seems Ryan Day and his staff want to force the issue. The Wildcats struggle against the run, yet, Day is trying to prove he can pass, and it is not working. Force the run and play the game that is given to you.

On defense, the tackling has to be better. Peyton Ramsey is not adept at beating the defense deep, so stopping the run is the key to forcing Ramsey to have to throw. This also means that the secondary has to close the zones down. If the front seven can get some pressure, Ramsey will make mistakes.

There is still a whole half to go, but for the first half the Buckeyes were playing into Northwestern’s hands. It was not a great showing and there is still a lot of time left in the game. It starts with running the football and stopping the run.

 

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Ohio State star wide receiver Chris Olave confirmed out for Big Ten Championship Game

Bruce Feldman is reporting that Ohio State wide receiver is out for the Big Ten Championship Game against the Northwestern Wildcats.

The rumors appear to be true. They were flying earlier this week that a prominent star wide receiver — in this case Chris Olave — would be out for the Big Ten Championship Game. Ohio State is very private and silent on injuries, and specifically COVID-19 protocols, so we weren’t really given a whole lot of information.

However, FOX Sports Bruce Feldman has confirmed that Olave will not be on the field for Ohio State when it takes on Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Now, if there’s any position group that can absorb a loss like this, it’s the talented receiver room. There is a slew of young talent that can step in and be the next man up, but Olave has smooth route running and is a leader on this team. His absence will be missed.

Our thoughts are with Olave and his health and recovery. In the meantime, the bottom line is that Ohio State still has plenty of talent to soldier on and win this thing.

Let’s go.

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Big Ten Championship: #14 Northwestern vs. #4 Ohio State live stream, TV channel, start time, odds, prediction

The Ohio State Buckeyes will face the Northwestern Wildcats in the Big Ten Championship on Saturday afternoon from Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Ohio State Buckeyes will face the Northwestern Wildcats in the Big Ten Championship on Saturday afternoon from Lucas Oil Stadium.

Ohio State has cruised along to a 5-0 record in this shortened season and that has put them in the title game. Justin Fields has been shredding defenses, throwing for 15 touchdowns on 1,407 yards this season.

Northwestern has gone 5-1 with their only loss coming against Michigan State. The Wildcats QB Peyton Ramsey has thrown for 9 touchdowns on 1,218 yards this season and they’ve played well. The real question is can this Northwestern team compete with Ohio State.

This should be a fun early game to watch, here’s everything you need to know to stream the Big Ten Championship game this afternoon.

Northwestern vs. Ohio State

  • When: Saturday, December 19
  • Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: FOX (4K)
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free) 

Prediction: I’m going to take Northwestern and the points in this game. We know OSU has the weapons to blow this game open,  I don’t think that happens here. If you don’t like the full game, I would definitely sprinkle some on the first half, Northwestern will stick with them for at least the first half.

Bet: Northwestern Wildcats +20 & 1H +10.5

NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA Football odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Northwestern vs. Ohio State -19

O/U: 56.5

Want some action on College Football? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO, IN, NJ, and WV at BetMGM. 

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