No. 11 Ohio State travels to Evanston, Illinois to play No. 24 Northwestern at
noon as an 11-point favorite on Saturday. Ohio State defeated Northwestern
58-7 last year and leads the series 58-14-1.

C.J. Bacher, Northwestern’s starting quarterback, has been hampered by a
hamstring injury. For the season Bacher has thrown for 1,700 yards, 10
touchdowns and 11 interceptions. If Bacher is unable to play it might be a
good thing for the Wildcats.

Last week Mike Kafka completed 12/16 passes for 143 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2
interceptions in the victory over Minnesota. More impressive is that Kafka set
a Big Ten quarterback record when he rushed for 217 yards against the Gophers.

The injury bug has also bitten the Wildcats at running back. Tyrell Sutton is
out for the year with a wrist injury. His replacement, Omar Conteh, has been
scratched for this week as well. Conteh only gained 12 yards on 12 carries
last week against Minnesota. Fortunately for Northwestern they can use the
running ability of either Bacher or Kafka.


Ohio State’s offense may not dominate this game as some fans may expect. Yes,
the Buckeyes are playing Northwestern, but the Wildcats’ defense has had
success getting to opposing quarterbacks.

Northwestern is second in the Big Ten this season with 26 sacks. Couple that
with an Ohio State offensive line that has allowed 22 sacks it could result in
Pryor spending the day in a purple haze.

The View
Should Ohio State take a cue from the political arena and follow the mantra of
“change” when it comes to the offense? If the Buckeyes’ 106th ranked passing
game can’t get it together against Northwestern’s anemic pass defense there
just might be a change by season’s end.

Ohio State 30, Northwestern 10
 
Random Notes
Ohio State
The Good
Leads the Big Ten and is ranked ninth in the country in pass defense (163
yards per game).
Averaging 12.5 yards a punt return the Buckeyes lead the Big Ten.
With a plus 10 turnover margin the Buckeyes are second in the Big Ten and
ranked tenth in the nation.
The Buckeyes are ranked 8th in the nation and second in the Big Ten in pass
efficiency defense (98.5) and total defense (267.1 ypg).

The Bad
The passing offense is tenth in the Big Ten and 106th in the nation averaging
149.7 ypg.
The Buckeyes are 97th in total offense and next to last in the Big Ten.
The offensive line has allowed 22 sacks this season.
Ohio State ranks 93rd in kickoff returns.
The defense is tied for 98th in tackles for loss (4.67 per game).

Northwestern
The Good
The defense has recorded 26 sacks which is second in the Big Ten.
The Offensive line has only allowed ten sacks on the season.
The Wildcats are holding opponents to 18.1 points a game.

The Bad
Ranked 90th in the country averaging 6.7 yards a punt return.
The defense allows 232 yards through the air.


Players
Quarterback
Ohio State- Terrelle Pryor  75/115 (.652), 879 yards, 6 TD, 3 INT

Northwestern- C.J. Bacher 179/303 (.591), 1,700 yards, 10 TD, 11 INT
Northwestern- Mike Kafka 14/19 (.737), 153 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT

Rushing
Ohio State- Beanie Wells 674 yards, 5.4 ypc, 4 TD
Ohio State- Terrelle Pryor 417 yards, 4.3 ypc, 5 TD

Northwestern- Tyrell Sutton 776 yards, 5.0 ypc, 6 TD
Northwestern- C.J. Bacher 244 yards, 4.2 ypc, 3 TD
Northwestern- Mike Kafka 217 yards, 6.6 ypc, 0 TD

Receiving
Ohio State- Brian Hartline 302 yards, 16 rec., 18.9 ypr, 2 TD
Ohio State- Brian Robiskie 298 yards, 30 rec., 9.9 ypr, 5 TD

Northwestern- Ross Lane 397 yards, 38 rec., 10.4 ypr, 0 TD
Northwestern- Eric Peterman 386 yards, 33 rec., 11.7 ypr, 3 TD

Defense
Ohio State- James Laurinaitis has 90 tackles, just three behind Brit Miller
for the Big Ten lead.

Northwestern- Corey Wootton leads the team with 6.5 sacks and 12 tackles for
loss.
Northwestern- Brad Phillips has recorded a team best 74 tackles.

Team Stats
Ohio State   Northwestern
Rushing- 168.7   Rushing- 165.1
Passing- 148.7   Passing- 212
Total- 318.4   Total- 377.1
PF- 24.6   PF- 26.2
PA- 13.3   PA- 18.1