In poor conditions on the road in Chicago on Saturday, No. 2 Ohio State grinded its way to a 21–7 road victory over Northwestern.
The Wildcats entered the game with a 1–8 record on the season, and the Buckeyes were greater than five touchdown road favorites. Despite this, Ohio State struggled offensively all afternoon due to a strong performance by Northwestern’s defense and poor weather conditions with rain and significant wind gusts.
When asked about the victory after the game, an exasperated Ryan Day was happy to get his team out of Chicago with a victory.
“This is something I’m glad is over with,” Day told the media after the game.
Ohio State, without star running back TreVeyon Henderson and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, only accounted for 283 yards of offense.
Heisman-contending quarterback C.J. Stroud completed just 10 of 26 passes for 76 yards. However, Stroud’s late-game 44-yard run set up the Buckeyes inside the Northwestern 10-yard line, leading to a Miyan Williams two-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach with just over four minutes to play.
It was an unexpectedly tough victory for the Buckeyes to notch as they continue to trudge forward with national championship aspirations. However, they prevailed and will now prepare for a home game against Indiana next Saturday in Columbus.
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