EVANSTON, Ill. — Ohio State knew the weather was going to make Saturday's game at Northwestern interesting.

A lopsided first-half effort by the Buckeyes and a well-executed game plan from Pat Fitzgerald's Wildcats almost made it a disaster.

Ohio State couldn't play its normal game on offense. Sustained winds of more than 30 miles per hour and gusts of nearly twice that speed took away most of what C.J. Stroud and his weapons do best. Stroud completed just 10-of-26 passes for 76 yards.

"We tried throwing the ball," Ryan Day said after the game. "[It was] very, very difficult to throw the ball, for sure, in this game, but almost impossible into the wind.

"And when you're playing against somebody that knows you're not throwing the ball, they put two extra guys now in the box. Usually, they put one guy down and the safety in the middle of the field. When they put two guys in and play zero, they say, 'What are you gonna do?'”

The Buckeyes didn't do much in the running game either but found their stride in the third and fourth quarter. Stroud had a career-high 79 yards rushing and was complemented by Miyan Williams -- Treveyon Henderson missed the game with injury -- who ran for 111 on 26 tough carries.

Ohio State didn't do a lot well but it did enough to improve to 9-0 on the season. The Buckeyes are now returning home for two of their final three games of the year, starting next Saturday with a game against the Indiana Hoosiers.

Before turning the page to Indiana entirely, Dotting the 'Eyes is reviewing Saturday's game with Northwestern through the lenses of our cameras on the field.

Check out photo gallery from the game can be found below.