EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Saturday, December 1^st, the (7-5) Northwestern Wildcats will take on the (11-1) Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big-10 Championship Game.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of Ohio State 38.1 – Northwestern 23.7 with an over/under of 61.8.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of Ohio State 51 – Northwestern 20.

Mark is predicting a final score of Ohio State 41 – Northwestern 28.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: Ohio State 362.5 YPG (2^nd) > Northwestern 237.0 YPG (62^nd)

Rushing offense: Ohio State 181.4 YPG (56^th) > Northwestern 114.8 YPG (120^th)

Scoring offense: Ohio State 43.3 PPG (7^th) > Northwestern 23.7 PPG (108^th)

Scoring defense: Northwestern 21.7 PPG (29^th) > Ohio State 25.8 PPG (57^th)

Passing defense: Ohio State 237.6 YPG (77^th) > Northwestern 238.0 YPG (79^th)

Rushing defense: Northwestern 134.7 YPG (32^nd) > Ohio State 161.3 YPG (62^nd)

Turnover Margin Per Game: Ohio State +0.4 (38^th) > Northwestern +0.1 (59^th)

Strength of Schedule:

Northwestern is (7-5) with victories over Purdue, #20 Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, #20 Wisconsin, #21 Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois.  They were defeated by Duke, Akron, #14 Michigan, and #4 Notre Dame.

Ohio State is (11-1) with victories over Oregon State, Rutgers, #15 TCU, Tulane, #9 Penn State, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, #18 Michigan State, #4 Michigan, and Maryland.  Their only loss was a 49-20 road defeat to Purdue in week eight.

Betting Trends: 

– Northwestern is 6-5-1 against the spread this season while Ohio State is 5-7.

– Northwestern is 5-7 against the over/under this season whereas Ohio State is 6-6.

Bottom Line

After putting up 62 points on the number one defense in the nation (Michigan) last week, Ohio State has certainly proven they can score on anyone in the country.  Dwayne Haskins is the most prolific passer in Ohio State history and should be able to exploit some holes in the Northwestern secondary.  While the Buckeyes still have their share of issues on the defensive side of the ball, they can simply outscore teams like Northwestern who are offensively challenged.

Ohio State wins 34-24

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