In the days leading up to Saturday's Big Ten Championship game, the seniors on Ohio State's football team were given a chance to reflect on their Buckeye careers and share stories with their younger teammates.
The road taken by Justin Hilliard has been one not taken by many, and not one many would wish to take.
From overcoming injuries to persevering through a game where he experienced a false-positive COVID-19 test, Hilliard knows his stories resounds within the Buckeyes locker room.
"That was so emotional for me because, just the journey I’ve been on and the guys that have been here with me to stick with me and push me through some of those tougher times," Hilliard said. "This whole journey has been tough, but it’s been such a blessing at the same time."
Hilliard had a career day in No. 4 Ohio State's fourth-straight victory in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday. He earned his third start of the season, and knew he had to step up as linebackers coach Al Washington was not at the game and Baron Browning was unavailable.
By halftime, Hilliard recorded four tackles as the Buckeyes were down 10-6 against No. 14 Northwestern. The Buckeyes had to adjust after a slow defensive start and an even slower one offensively, but in the midst of the chaos, Hilliard and the defense remained calm, cool and collected.
"In a lot of ways, it’s funny," Hilliard said. "There’s panic around everywhere except for on the defensive sideline, huddle, because we’re trying to figure stuff out. We’re trying to make adjustments."
Coming out of the break, the Wildcats moved the ball into the red zone and threatened to score.
Hilliard found himself in one-on-one coverage with wide receiver John Raine. The sixth-year linebacker and captain tightened his defense, and hauled in his second-career interception.
"How about the interception he had in the one-on-one," head coach Ryan Day said. "He played his tail off. There was a lot of guys that stepped up to win this game. It doesn’t just happen; I’m really proud of this team."
The steady play and performance of fellow linebacker Pete Werner proved bountiful for Ohio State as he was playing in his hometown of Indianapolis.
Werner finished with five tackles and continued to prove he’s every bit as worthy of his First Team All-Big Ten recognition. Early in the fourth quarter, Werner forced Wildcats quarterback Peyton Ramsey to fumble the football, and Hilliard continued his heads-up play and recovered it.
"The defense really did a great job getting us the ball back. They played really, really well in the second half," Day said. "Because of the game and all the things people are going to want to talk about, there’s a lot of things that happened today that people need to really respect the fact that we won a Big Ten Championship.”
Northwestern brought Wildcat formations, the Big Ten’s ninth-highest scoring offense and was coming off a 400-yard rushing performance against Illinois the week prior to Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game.
The Buckeyes defense stopped Northwestern from hanging onto an upset, limiting the Wildcats to 162 yards and zero points in the second half.
While Hilliard recorded a team-high nine tackles, including two for loss, and several other major plays, he said there just isn't one play that he'll remember.
"I think the attitude of our defense and our team going out in that second half, we had so much confidence. We knew exactly what we had to do, we knew what we had to fix," Hilliard said. "We were coming out in the second half, coach (Kerry) Coombs told us exactly what we needed to fix and we were confident about it.
"I’ll never forget that moment."
