It’s an odd Friday night game for Ohio State this week. It must bump everything up one day, travel to Chicago earlier than a normal away game, and make it’s way to Evanston to try and notch another impressive victory in its belt.
And although Northwestern has experienced some real troubles on offense so far this year, Pat Fitzgerald’s crew has always had a penchant for rising up to the occasion and can seem to play up and down to whatever competition is put before it.
Could this be one of those trap games where Ohio State looks past what’s in front of it and gets ambushed at night on the road, or will it be business as usual?
We’ve already looked at five reasons Ohio State will walk away victorious, and now — on the contrary — here’s three reasons Northwestern could give the Buckeyes fits Friday night.
Next … Defensive philosophy
Northwestern makes teams earn everything
This Ohio State team has been one of big plays in 2019. There have been a lot of explosive quick strikes all the way through the Michigan State game two weeks ago.
But if there’s any team in the Big Ten that will make you be patient and make plays all the way down the field by moving the chains and getting multiple first downs, it’s Northwestern. The Wildcat way is to play zone and keep everything in front and away from the outside, then rally to the ball.
Plays are there to be had in the middle of the field, but the home run is often taken away. Ohio State hasn’t had to deal with that too much this year, and having to be methodical could result in frustrations and mistakes.
Next … This game is oddly odd
Everything seems to be outside of the norm
Not only is this game odd in the fact that it’ll be only the second time Ohio State has ever played a game on Friday night, there are other quirky thing at play here. Everything is shifted a day coming off a bye week, so the routine is very odd. These types of things can often result in a team coming out flat.
On top of that, going to Evanston is always a little weird with the smallish stadium, variable wind and weather off Lake Michigan, and a variable crowd that will have a strange mix of Ohio State fans making the trip. It can sometimes be hard to get motivated for what happens on the North Shore of the Chicagoland area.
Next … The shake off of rust
The bye and bye
While a bye-week is typically seen as a good thing, it can often work in the other direction. Ohio State had it rollin’ before it had to press the pause button on the season. You’d like to keep plugging away when everything is rockin’, but that’s not what the Buckeyes are dealing with here.
To make matters worse, Northwestern had a little extra time to prepare for Ohio State coming in with it too enjoying a bye-week. For the Wildcats, since things weren’t so rosy, getting a week off is a bit of a blessing. In other words, both work against Ohio State and for Chicago’s Big Ten Team.
