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Ohio State vs. Northwestern NCAAF Pick – Week 8

The Ohio State Buckeyes seem to bolster their ranking with a solid performance against the Wildcats of Northwestern on Friday. Its a Friday night appearance for the Buckeyes, who were aided by the schedule makers with a bye week. Instead of playing on a short week, Ohio State had a extra time. Theyre coming a win against the Michigan State Spartans off to place them on the year in 6-0.
Sitting dormant in Week 7 damage the Buckeyes, as they dropped to 4th flying up to the 2nd before Clemson and Ohio State. There are seven undefeated teams in the nation, with Penn State at No. 7 the final remaining team in the rankings without a reduction. Expect there to be a lot of adjustments by December, though. It is not possible for No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 to go ahead, as they will be enjoying one another later in the season.
Ohio State and Penn State and Wisconsin play, so therell be a failure with that group. While Wisconsin should be able to roll prior to a showdown with Ohio State at Illinois, penn State has a tough matchup against Michigan that weekend. To put it differently, there is a lot going to change. Besides the teams, Im not certain in Wisconsin or even Penn State finding a way to the playoff, but well see how the season plays out.
The Buckeyes must prevent taking Northwestern softly Friday night. If they do this, its likely to let Northwestern to gather some assurance and have a shot at an upset. Should they deal with this match 12, the Buckeyes will roll. Northwestern dont have the horses on offense to play keep up with Ohio State, but it might be a game in case Ohio State get idle offensively. Perhaps getting handed by LSU will help for inspiration in this one. Head below for our free Ohio State vs. Northwestern pick.
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For transferring to go to Ohio State, justin Fields may have faced some criticism in Athens, however to an impartial observer, it was clearly the ideal choice. He wasnt viewing time on the area as the Bulldogs starting quarterback with Jake Fromm firmly entrenched. Georgia do not operate a system which utilizes his entire compliment of resources so that it made sense to head to Ohio State where he can get playing time and run an RPO crime.
Fields is an Heisman candidate with an electric beginning to lead Ohio State to a record of 6-0. Michigan were favorites from the Big Ten ago in August, however his Wolverines and Jim Harbaugh havent looked the part. They also have a huge loss against Wisconsin on their resume already and had been upset. They cant afford any missteps, although that is not to mention that Michigan are from the race for the Big Ten. Some help from Northwestern on Friday night could help.
Northwestern havent showed life this year and theyre going to have to find it against the Buckeyes to have a possibility of an upset. A former high school quarterback that was 5-star, hunter Johnson and the Wildcats, have struggled mightily. The sophomore was fighting horribly, however there is not much about him to help him out. Johnson has passed for 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions with a 48.3% completion rate. Clemson did not appear too worried and we can see why.
His touchdown pass came from UNLV to a large open receiver. His matchups from Stanford, Wisconsin, and Michigan State have been a tragedy with 3 interceptions and no touchdowns. How he copes with a Ohio State secondary is going to be interesting. The Buckeyes are 2nd in the FBS with just 234 yards allowed per game. Against the pass? Forget about it since Ohio State have given up only 152 yards per competition.
I believe the angle of attack for Northwestern in this game is to try to play with the ball ownership game by storing it on the floor. Its likely to get nasty early if Johnson is coming back to pass. A match might balloon into a 21-0 lead for Ohio State in a rush. Northwestern are probably going to keep it on the ground and hope for a number of breaks along the way. Their defense is going to have to set up favorable field position.
The protection of Northwestern is their strength, with just 318.8 yards allowed per game. However, they havent played an offense of Ohio States standard. Fields has passed 18 touchdowns and 1 interception using 283 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. The Wildcats havent had to shield a QB anywhere.
Start looking for Northwestern to grab Ohio State sleepwalking early , but things will finally open up for the Buckeyes. The Northwestern offense causing a defense isnt likely to be able to sustain forces and Fields running. Since past Northwestern coasts with a score of 45-10 or 42-10 ohio State turn to a blowout.

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