EVANSTON, Ill. - The demons have been exorcised. Ohio State went on the road to face a Big Ten West team in a night game and came out with a statement victory, giving up basically nothing on defense and giving the Northwestern Wildcats more than they could handle on offense, winning the game with ease 52-3.
While this performance by the Buckeyes was much of the same we’ve seen in most other games this season, there are still important takeaways from Friday night’s matchup as Ohio State can begin to look forward to Wisconsin next week. With that, find out what we learned in Ohio State's dominating 52-3 win on the road against Northwestern.
1. Justin Fields is an escape artist.
While it is true that we knew about Justin Fields’ ability to escape the pocket before this game, Fields performance against Northwestern not only reaffirmed that, but showed us was he can do when he is at the top of his game.
Perhaps no play this season has better summarized what Fields can do than his 20-yard completion to K.J. Hill on 3rd and 15 to end the first quarter. Fields took the snap in an empty backfield but immediately faced pressure from Northwestern’s Joe Gaziano who broke through the right side of the offensive line. Fields was able to evade Gaziano and another Wildcat defender’s shoestring tackle before firing a dart to Hill to convert the third down play.
This showed his creativity in the pocket, his ability to escape when needed, and his accuracy and decision making on the run and with little time to think about it. These plays are becoming common place for Fields as he continues his development, and Ryan Day and the coaching staff should be elated that they seem to be coming so easily for Fields
2. The second quarter should strike fear into Ohio State’s opponents.
If Ohio State treated each game like a 60-minute long second quarter, the Buckeyes would be the great team in college football history.
Ohio State looked shaky early on with a touchdown and then a three and out by the offense, not to mention the defense was giving up rushing yards like they hadn’t at any point this season. Then, as it has been tradition this season, Day lit a fire under every player and coach during the reprieve between quarters that resulted in a 24-0 run during the second quarter with three touchdowns, a 55-yard field goal and four drives by the Wildcats that all gained fewer than 30 yards.
158 total yards during the second quarter gave the Buckeyes 265 yards at halftime, which is more than Wisconsin’s offense put up in total when they played the Wildcats. While it may not be a predictor of things to come next week, the second quarter was another impressive performance to compare to common Big Ten opponents against the Wildcats.
Overall, including Friday’s game, Ohio State is outscoring opponents 158-20 in the second quarter through seven games. Whether it be a combination of in-game adjustments or just one of those weird things that comes with college football, the second quarter has by far been the most dominant period of every game for the Buckeyes, and opponents should be on the lookout after the first 15 minutes.
3. Special teams are as big a weapon as the offense or defense.
There are a few different moments you could look at Friday to see the influence that Urban Meyer has left on the Ohio State program, but most obvious is the emphasis that was and has still been put on the special teams to be major contributors for the Buckeyes.
Drue Chrisman was dropping dimes, long snapper Liam McCullough was downing punts at the 1-yard line, kick coverage was exquisite and Blake Haubeil casually booted a 55-yard field goal, tied for the second longest in team history. While the Buckeyes didn’t need an all-time performance from the special teams to pull out the 52-3 win Friday night, this showed that the special teams unit is one that Day and Matt Barnes can rely on if and when the going gets tough for the offense or defense.
Chrisman was very much a known quality coming into this game, but the revelation that Haubeil can make a 55-yard field goal (which would have maybe been good from 60) is a game-changing for Ohio State which now knows they have a legitimate weapon from inside the 35 and maybe beyond. With Haubeil not seeing the field much due to the effectiveness of the offense, it’s a big win for him and for the Buckeyes to have that kind of reliability at the kicking position.
4. Offensive line depth is a strength despite inexperience.
It was announced Thursday that offensive tackle Thayer Munford would be a game-time decision, leaving Nicholas Petit-Frere the guy at left tackle if Munford couldn’t go. Petit-Frere ended up getting the start, but Munford and Petit-Frere ended up swapping responsibilities throughout the game when Munford appeared to be hobbled.
The starters and Munford played as well as they have in any game this season, limiting the Northwestern defense to only one sack and leading the running backs to 128 first half rushing yards. Additionally, with the Buckeyes up 31-3 at halftime, we got a nice, long look at the two-deep and beyond for the offensive line for Ohio State. Throughout the entire game, even when the backups went in, the offensive line looked dominant, opening up holes for J.K. Dobbins and eventually Master Teague III as well as keeping the pocket clean for plays such as Chris Chugonov’s touchdown pass to Jeremy Ruckert.
As the season progresses and the backups are going against better teams (besides Rutgers), every snap for the young guys should help Day and Greg Studrawa feel good about their depth on the offensive line if any of the normal starting five was to go down.
