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Game Thread Game Eleven: #1 tOSU 54, Northwestern 10 (11/11/06)

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ABJ

Hoban grad is on a roll with Wildcats

Even Buckeyes expect great things from Sutton, who just won honor

By Marla Ridenour

Beacon Journal sportswriter

Before this season, Tyrell Sutton was carrying a lot of weight.
Not on his 5-foot-9 frame, but on his 19-year-old mind.
Northwestern's sophomore from Archbishop Hoban High School vowed he would show that his 1,474-yard season in 2005 was no fluke. He also felt a heavy burden after the June 29 death of Wildcats coach Randy Walker, who passed away from a heart attack at age 52. Walker was one of the few who believed a little guy from Akron could play tailback in the Big Ten.
``Even though he's not here... I have to prove to myself, to my teammates, to my coaches and especially to him that taking a chance on me was the right thing,'' Sutton said before he reported to fall camp.
Asked this week if that was too much of a load to bear, Sutton said, ``Maybe, but if I don't put pressure on myself, who will? I don't think it was too high.''
Matt MacPherson, Northwestern's running backs coach, thinks in some ways it was.
``At the beginning of the year he was putting too much pressure on himself,'' MacPherson said. ``Tyrell is the type of kid who needs to be having fun. He doesn't have an all-business demeanor.
``In the past few weeks, he has been enjoying himself. As the year's gone on, he's let some of that pressure go.''
The Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2005 comes into today's 3:30 p.m. game against top-ranked Ohio State on a roll. He has picked up 346 yards in the past three games and that includes a seven-carry, 6-yard clunker against Michigan.
Last Saturday in the Wildcats' first victory at Iowa since 1996, Sutton carried 28 times for 168 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 35 yards as Northwestern snapped a six-game losing streak. His 168 yards were the most the Hawkeyes have given up this season. After the fifth-best rushing game of his career, Sutton was named the league's co-offensive Player of the Week, an honor he earned once last year.
With two games remaining, Sutton has gained 833 yards on the ground and four touchdowns and has caught 28 passes for 180 yards and one score. His 2,307 career rushing yards stand seventh all-time and he is one of only eight Wildcats to reach 2,000.
``He has always been a good runner, but what impresses me is his blocking,'' said MacPherson, who came to Northwestern this year from Eastern Michigan. ``You don't see a lot of guys who have as many yards as he has willing to be a blocker. He's given up only one sack this year and that was because of an assignment error rather than a technique error.''
One thing eats at Sutton, however, and it's not his number of carries -- currently 143 after getting 250 in 2005.
``Two fumbles,'' he said. ``I've got to get rid of those entirely.''
Another Akron back, Ohio State freshman Chris Wells of Garfield, can relate. He has lost four.
``Ball security has been a big thing this year,'' MacPherson said of Sutton. ``Last year, he had six. A lot of that has to do with being a young back. It's different from high school having a 5-11, 195-pound defensive end hit you; now it's one who's 6-4 and 275. But he's gotten better.''
Not once during a telephone conversation did Sutton bring up his rushing total, which is on pace for 999.6 yards. MacPherson pointed out that Sutton's 5.8 yards per carry is just one-tenth off his 2005 average.
``Some people might look at the yardage difference and say, `What's wrong?' '' MacPherson said. ``We don't think anything's wrong. Last year, he had to shoulder the whole load himself.
``We've taken some of those carries away from him by design. He's still a 195-pound running back in the Big Ten.''
Under new coordinator Garrick McGee, Northwestern's offense has been in flux most of the season. Redshirt sophomore C.J. Bacher is the Wildcats' third quarterback and will make his fourth career start against Ohio State. Eight offensive linemen have started. Sutton's backup, senior Terrell Jordan, is the team's third-leading rusher with 58 carries for 210 yards (3.6 average) and four touchdowns.
``With a new offensive coordinator, we were trying to get a new identity,'' Sutton said. ``(Winning at Iowa) definitely brought us the confidence we've been needing all year. Coming into this game, we need a lot of confidence going against the No. 1 team. No one thinks we're going to win. We're happy about it.''
Sutton drew no interest from Ohio State because of his size. He drew some satisfaction from last year's meeting, when he picked up 93 yards on 14 carries against the nation's leading run defense and added a 5-yard TD pass reception. Even before he went to camp this summer, he was talking about the date of this game, ``11-11.''
``He's got a little bit of pop in his his step,'' MacPherson said. ``Being from Ohio, being Mr. Ohio, this game will have a little extra motivation, no question about that.''
OSU's senior cornerback Antonio Smith expects nothing less from Ohio's 2004 Mr. Football.
``He runs tremendously hard and is really powerful,'' Smith said of Sutton. ``We know he will be ready. He's an Ohio guy and will come out and perform.''
Lineman honored
Senior defensive tackle Joel Penton is one of 11 finalists for the Wuerffel Trophy, which honors a player for community service, athletic and academic achievement. All of the finalists have at least a 3.0 grade-point average or higher.
The list also includes Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko and Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas.
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ABJ

OHIO STATE SCOUTING REPORT

Ohio State at Northwestern

Kickoff: 3:36 p.m.

2006 records: Ohio State is 10-0, 6-0 in the Big Ten Conference; Northwestern is 3-7, 1-5.

Coaches: Jim Tressel (60-13) is in his sixth season at Ohio State; Pat Fitzgerald (3-7) is in his first season at Northwestern.

Broadcast: WEWS-TV (Channel 5), WAKR (1590-AM); WHBC (1480-AM), WKNR (850-AM), WQKT (104.5-FM).

Notebook: Redshirt sophomore C.J. Bacher is the Wildcats' third quarterback of the season and will make his fourth career start. Bacher was sidelined in camp due to a stress fracture in his leg, so he wasn't part of the competition to decide the successor to Brett Basanez. In his first start, against Michigan State, Bacher threw for 245 yards and three TDs. In his three games, Northwestern's offense is averaging 358 yards, up 73 yards from the first seven.... Senior WR Shaun Herbert leads the team with 39 catches for 360 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore TB Tyrell Sutton, an Archbishop Hoban graduate who was the 2005 Big Ten freshman of the year, has rushed for 833 yards (5.8 average) and four touchdowns and is second in receptions with 28 for 180 yards and a score. RG Adam Crum, a former walk-on, is one of eight players from Alaska playing I-A football. The Wildcats' defense ranks seventh in the league (eighth against the run). Two standouts on special teams are senior H-back Erryn Cobb, who has blocked two punts, and freshman Sherrick ``Batman'' McManis, who is averaging 22.3 yards per kickoff return.... Fitzgerald, a two-time national defensive player of the year at Northwestern, is the youngest coach in NCAA Division I-A or I-AA at age 31. He succeeded the late Randy Walker, who will be honored in a halftime ceremony, with ``Touchdown Terrace'' in the north end zone being renamed ``Randy Walker Terrace.'' The Wildcats are 1-17 against No. 1 teams, with the lone win coming in 1936 at home against Minnesota. In OSU's last trip to Ryan Field, the Buckeyes lost 33-27 in overtime in 2004, ending a 24-game series streak dating to 1971.
Pick: Ohio State, 42-17.
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Canton

Ohio State at Northwestern
Saturday, November 11, 2006


TIME 3:30 p.m. today

TV ABC, with Brad Nessler on play by play alongside Bob Griese and Paul Maguire. Bonnie Bernstein will work the sidelines.

RADIO Ohio State Radio Network (WHBC-AM 1480, WKNR-AM 850, WAKR-AM 1590) with Paul Keels, Jim Lachey and Marty Bannister.

ODDS Ohio State is a 23-point favorite.

THE SERIES Ohio State leads, 56-14-1, and the Buckeyes have won 24 of 31 games in Evanston. Northwestern has not beaten the country's top team in 70 years. Ohio State has won 25 of the last 26, losing in 2004.

THEY'RE FROM NORTHWESTERN Actors Charlton Heston, Zach Braff ("Scrubs"), David Schwimmer and Emmy-Award winning actresses Shelley Long and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are graduates. Northwestern is renowned for producing some of the country's finest journalists, including Ira Berkow (New York Times), Michael Wilbon and Pulitzer Prize winner Jack Fuller. Politician George McGovern and Justice John Paul Stevens are grads. Brent Musburger, Jerry Reinsdorf and PGA Tour golfer Luke Donald also graduated from Northwestern.

GETTING TO KNOW PAT FITZGERALD Just 10 years ago, Fitzgerald graduated from Northwestern as a two-time national Defensive Player of the Year. Fitzgerald took over when Head Coach Randy Walker died of a heart attack this past offseason. At 31, Fitzgerald is the youngest head coach in Division I-A. Prior to becoming an assistant at Northwestern, Fitzgerald was a grad-assistant at Maryland and Colorado before landing his first full-time job at Idaho. He and wife, Stacy, are the parents of 2-year-old Jack and a newborn.

WHEN OHIO STATE HAS THE BALL QB Troy Smith took a pounding last week against Illinois and has been playing with a sore thumb. Head Coach Jim Tressel would love to get Smith out early in the second half to rest him for Michigan next week. That will only happen if the offensive line rebounds from its worst performance of the season. LT Alex Boone will miss his second straight game with an apparent knee injury. Tim Schafer has to step up in Boone's place. The Buckeyes need to run the ball well. RB Antonio Pittman is a workhorse and doesn't fumble, which is something freshman Chris Wells has had problems with. The Wildcats will start two freshmen and two sophomores on the defensive line. Northwestern is 71st in the country against the run, allowing more than 145 yards a game. Look for Smith to pick on freshman CB Sherrick McMannis. The one guy Ohio State needs to keep in check is MLB Adam Kadela, who went to high school in Columbus.

WHEN NORTHWESTERN HAS THE BALL Fitzgerald likes what C.J. Bach?r is doing at quarterback. But make no mistake, this offense is designed around RB Tyrell Sutton. Sutton has rushed for more than 100 yards just twice this season, but he played well against Ohio State a year ago as a freshman. Northwestern's offensive line is suspect. Wildcat QBs have been sacked 20 times, but there seem to be more holes in the running game the last three weeks. If Northwestern can control the trenches and pound the ball with Sutton, that will sustain drives and eat up time.

NOTABLE Ohio State is one of four unbeaten teams in the country - Michigan, Boise State and Rutgers are the others. That means as many as three teams can finish undefeated. ... Two of Tressel's 13 losses at Ohio State have come the week before the Michigan game. ... QB Troy Smith is 23-2 as a starter. Lineman T.J. Downing (GlenOak) likes to point out that Ohio State is 23-2 when he starts, too. ... Unless Smith has a big day today and next week, it looks like the record of 57 career TD passes will be off limits. He is 11 shy. ... Pittman needs 48 yards to become the first Ohio State back since Eddie George (1994-95) to have consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. ... This is the sixth time in Ohio State history the Buckeyes have started 10-0. ... The last five opponents have scored a combined 27 points against Ohio State. ... Northwestern is playing without its defensive co-captains. Safety Bryan Heinz has had foot and ankle problems, and LB Nick Roach broke his leg against Michigan State.
TODD PORTER
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ToledoBlade

Fear factor gone among OSU foes

By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER


EVANSTON, Ill. - Ohio State comes into Ryan Field on the campus of Northwestern University here today, flying a little lower than it has it recent weeks.

While the Buckeyes are still undefeated and No. 1 in the country, that close call they encountered at Illinois last weekend might have knocked some of the luster off those gray helmets. Ohio State escaped with a 17-10 win, but wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez said the opposition displayed a bravado he had not seen in a string of routs that preceded the Illinois game.

"Illinois was the first team that I felt came out and played us with no fear. I think that is why they were so successful - they were fearless," Gonzalez said.

"I do not anticipate Northwestern fearing us, or Michigan fearing us, or whoever we play in the bowl game fearing us. I didn't anticipate any of the teams we played previous fearing us either, but I feel certain teams defeated themselves."

Northwestern snapped a six-game losing streak and won its first Big Ten game of the season when it stunned Iowa 21-7 on the road last weekend. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said forget the early struggles this program encountered - the Wildcats lost to New Hampshire and Nevada in the first month of the season - and concentrate on where Northwestern is now."All you have to do is turn the film on and it seems like we get to play people at the time they're playing their best," Tressel said. "I felt that way about Illinois, and I feel that way about Northwestern. You put on the Iowa film and it was a decisive win. A year ago, they beat Iowa and they had to score two touchdowns in the last five minutes and they upset them. This year, they didn't upset them."

Tressel said the Wildcats held Iowa to about 70 fewer yards than the Buckeyes did when they faced the Hawkeyes in September, and Northwestern produced more yardage against Iowa than the Buckeyes managed in their 38-17 victory.

"So you need not look any further than that Iowa football game," Tressel said. "I think a transition has been made from their standpoint with their quarterback situation. They're settling in on who they are and what they're doing, and to me, that's the best thing they've done."

After experimenting with a couple of other options, Northwestern has settled on quarterback C.J. Bacher, a sophomore from California.

Bacher has thrown for more than 200 yards in all three of his starts, and his ability to throw the ball has balanced the offense with the running of tailback Tyrell Sutton. Sutton, an Akron native who was last season's freshman of the year in the Big Ten, has already accumulated 2,307 career rushing yards.

"Sutton is a great back, and he runs tremendously hard and is really powerful," Ohio State defensive back Antonio Smith said. "We know he will be ready. He is an Ohio guy and will come out and perform."

Tressel said he also has concerns about the Northwestern special teams, which he said were some of the best in the Big Ten. The Wildcats lead the conference in kickoff coverage.

"When you've settled on who you are and what you're going to do and how you're going to attack people, and here's what my guys do best, I think you play your best football," Tressel said.

"Their special teams have been very good, and their kickoff coverage is probably the best we've seen. So we're playing Northwestern when they're playing their best. What I'd like to think is we'll have ourselves prepared so that Ohio State's playing its best when we go on the road in the Big Ten. It needs to be that way."

LAURINAITIS/BUTKUS: Ohio State sophomore James Laurinaitis is one of three finalists for the Butkus Award, honoring the nation's top linebacker. Senior Paul Posluszny from Penn State, last year's Butkus winner, and Patrick Willis from Mississippi are the other finalists. Laurinaitis is just the third sophomore to be named a Butkus finalist, joining former OSU standout Andy Katzenmoyer and Brian Bosworth of Oklahoma, who both won the award as sophomores. This year's winner will be announced on Dec. 7.

Contact Matt Markey at:
[email protected]
or 419-724-6510.
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Few expect Northwestern to hang with No. 1

BY DANIEL I. DORFMAN - [email protected]
Comments (0)
EVANSTON ? C.J. Bacher goes 20-for-25 and tosses two touchdown passes. Running back Tyrell Sutton scampers for two scores along with 260 yards, and the Northwestern defense holds Heisman Trophy candidate Troy Smith and top-ranked Ohio State at bay to lead the Wildcats to victory.

The Ryan Field goal posts are torn down, students run through the streets of Evanston ? mass BCS chaos ensues.

A far-fetched scenario for today?s game when NU hosts No. 1 Ohio State? Almost certainly.

?Since the AP poll started in 1936, a Wildcat victory would be the biggest win/loss discrepancy between the No. 1 team and the team that would garner the upset,? said Kent Stephens, archives and collections manager at the College Football Hall of Fame. ?As of now, the biggest upset this late in the season has been Purdue defeating Michigan, 16-14, in 1976 when Purdue was 3-5 and Michigan was 8-0 and ranked at the top of the polls,?

?It would be 10 times bigger than the Democrats taking the U.S. Senate,? ESPN college football analyst Beano Cook said.

Led by Smith, running back Antonio Pittman and receivers Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez, the Buckeyes (10-0 overall, 6-0 Big Ten) are the unanimous top team in the polls, and if the Buckeyes are successful Saturday in Evanston and Michigan defeats Indiana in Bloomington, the dream matchup of the nation?s top two teams would be set for next weekend in Columbus.

Therefore, NU (3-7, 1-5) could play the ultimate of BCS spoilers, trying to become only the second Wildcats team to knock off a top-ranked team, with 1936 being the other occasion.

Given the 23-point spread, few, if any, expect a close game.

?The highlight of the day for the NU fans will be the OSU band dotting of the ?i? ?, Cook said.

Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald has spent the week attempting to downplay the juxtaposition of the records.

?It?s another game on the step of us trying to get better,? he said. ?It is an extremely good football team we are going to play. That?s Big Ten football. Every week you are going to play against very good teams. We need to continue to improve, and if we do that I like our chances against anybody we play.?

Despite first appearances, there are some rays of hope for NU. Last week, the Wildcats went into Iowa City and knocked off Iowa, 21-7, a week after playing with resilience at Michigan before losing, 17-3. In Bacher?s three games as starter, the NU offense has perked up, averaging 358 yards a game.

?The truth of the matter is you just need to put the NU-Iowa game on,? Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said of the Wildcats? improved play.

Also, Ohio State struggled last week at Champaign, managing only a 17-10 win against a 2-8 Illinois squad.

Thus, NU will have an opportunity to show something to the sellout crowd at Ryan Field.

?We understand we are playing the No. 1 team in the country,? Wildcats wide receiver Shaun Herbert said. ?We are all excited for the opportunity to be on the national stage and make a statement.?
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Buckeyes return to scene of bitter loss



November 11, 2006
By Andrew Seligman THE ASSOCIATED PrESS


CHICAGO -- No one needs to remind Doug Datish what happened the last time No. 1 Ohio State visited Northwestern -- he's still trying to scrub that burning, bitter taste out of his mouth.
"Most of us playing now played in that game and remember that sour feeling of losing down there in overtime," the Buckeyes' center said. "We know we don't want to let that happen again."
Northwestern outplayed them in just about every facet, racking up 444 yards on offense in a 33-27 overtime victory -- its first over Ohio State in 33 years. And the Buckeyes finished the season 8-4.
Now, top-ranked Ohio State (10-0, 6-0, Big Ten) is on course to play for a national championship, with next week's showdown against No. 2 Michigan likely determining a spot in the BCS title game.
That's assuming no upsets on Saturday -- a big assumption given what happened last week and what happened two years ago at Ryan Field.
Northwestern (3-7, 1-5) is coming off a surprising 21-7 victory over Iowa, while Ohio State nearly saw its national championship hopes derailed before holding off a late charge by Illinois and winning 17-10. The Buckeyes scored the first 17 points, then experienced their first scare of the season.
The Illini made things interesting when Rashard Mendenhall scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:40 left in the game. Ohio State couldn't run out the clock, so Illinois took over at its 2 with four seconds left after a 55-yard punt by A.J. Trapasso. The Illini had time for one play -- a short pass to Derrick McPhearson and a series of laterals that ended at the 19.
With that, Ohio State exhaled.
A Buckeyes team that won each of its first nine games by at least 17 remained on course for that showdown with archrival Michigan even though it managed season-lows in points, total yards and passing yards. Illinois held a 233-224 advantage in yards and contained Heisman Trophy candidate Troy Smith. The Buckeyes' quarterback threw for only 108 yards, ran for 37 more and was sacked three times.
"I give Illinois all the credit in the world," Datish said. "They came out there and had a great game plan and played hard and did the things they need to do to be successful against us."
If the close call rattled their confidence or angered them, the Buckeyes weren't saying. Instead, they took comfort in the fact that all but one of Illinois' nine losses were by 17 or less, the notable exception being the 33-0 mauling by Rutgers.
"I don't think anybody really mauled Illinois," Datish said.
But nobody had challenged the Buckeyes like that.
"What happened last week, what happened last month, what happened three years ago, 10 years ago, it doesn't matter," said wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez, who has 43 catches for a team-leading 639 yards. "It's what's going to happen now, it's what's going to happen on the very next play in the very next game."
And the next game is against a team that experienced tragedy in the summer and difficulties on the field before upsetting Iowa.
From the death of coach Randy Walker to a six-game losing streak that included the biggest collapse in Division I-A history against Michigan State, this has been an excruciating season for Northwestern. But the Wildcats took a break from that last week.
Ranked last in the Big Ten in virtually every offensive category, they ran for 225 yards -- 168 by Tyrell Sutton. And C.J. Bacher threw for 218 yards and a touchdown, helping Northwestern stop that slide.
"That's what we expect to do around here," coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "We expect to win around here. We expect to play Northwestern football for four quarters and to finish. That's what we did. I'm disappointed with some of the games we played earlier in the year. … But we've played our best football now for the last three weeks."
And now, they get the No. 1 team.
The Buckeyes boast the nation's stingiest defense (7.6 points per game) and the sixth-rated quarterback in Smith, who is 158-of-237 with 2,006 yards, 22 touchdowns and three interceptions. They're coming off a scare and they're returning to the scene of an unpleasant event. Two years ago, they were 3-0 and ranked seventh going into their Big Ten opener at Ryan Field.
And then …
"We all know what happened," defensive back Antonio Smith said.
No. 1 Ohio State (10-0, 6-0) at Northwestern (3-7, 1-5)
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Tressel: Cats a different team with Bacher



November 11, 2006


Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has noticed it, just like anybody who has followed Northwestern this season has noticed it. The Wildcats have been a different team offensively since C.J. Bacher was named the starting quarterback before a 41-38 loss to Michigan State on Oct. 21.




''They had some other quarterbacks in the game earlier in the year and went through some ups and downs and so forth,'' Tressel said. ''They've gotten to the point now where they really know who they are and what they want to do, and you can see it in their play.''
The historic loss to Michigan State was a turning point for Northwestern's defense. The Spartans rallied for 38 unanswered points to complete the greatest comeback in Division I history. Since then, they have given up only 24 combined points to Michigan and Iowa.
''If you watch their game against Iowa, they looked as fundamentally and conceptually sure of themselves as I've seen them all year,'' Tressel said.
GAME TIME
Today: vs. Ohio State, 2:30 p.m., Ch. 7, 720-AM

Northwestern will face the ultimate test both offensively and defensively today against the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes. At least they're better prepared for the monumental challenge than they have been at any other point in their season.

''We're playing Northwestern when they're playing their best,'' Tressel said.

A TOUGH TASK
Northwestern is 1-17 all-time vs. teams ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, including an 0-6 mark against Ohio State. NU did defeat Miami (Fla.) in 1967 at home, when the Hurricanes were ranked No. 1 in the UPI poll. The list:
Oct. 31, 1936 at NU 6, Minnesota 0
Nov. 18, 1938 Notre Dame 9, at NU 7
Nov. 1, 1941 at Minnesota 8, NU 7
Oct. 24, 1942 Ohio State 20, at NU 6
Nov. 13, 1943 Notre Dame 25, at NU 6
Oct. 18, 1947 Michigan 49, at NU 21
Nov. 15, 1947 Notre Dame 26, at NU 19
Oct. 30, 1954 Ohio State 14, at NU 7
Oct. 15, 1955 at Michigan 14, NU 2
Oct. 30, 1965 at Mich. State 49, NU 7
Oct. 5, 1968 Purdue 43, at NU 6
Nov. 1, 1969 Ohio State 35, at NU 6
Oct. 27, 1973 at Ohio State 60, NU 0
Sept. 21, 1974 at Notre Dame 49, NU 3
Oct. 26, 1974 Ohio State 55, at NU 7
Oct. 16, 1976 Michigan 38, at NU 7
Oct. 26, 1985 Iowa 49, at NU 10 Oct. 24, 1998 Ohio State 36, at NU 10
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DDN

Ohio State vs. Northwestern: Position-by-position analysis, prediction


By Doug Harris
Staff Writer

Saturday, November 11, 2006


Ohio State's Troy Smith was named this week as one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. But it's not Smith's arm that folks are talking about these days ? it's his sore right thumb.
Smith said he hurt it in the course of play several weeks ago and likened it to an ankle sprain. The only cure is rest, and the No. 1 Buckeyes can't afford to have their most valuable player take a hiatus now.
Smith insists it's no cause for alarm, but his play of late seems to suggest otherwise. He threw for a season-low 108 yards against Illinois last week and finished without a touchdown pass for the first time in 12 games. And he's had just one scoring toss in his last two outings.
Still, the Buckeyes probably can't afford to pamper Smith against Northwestern. Their second-half debacle against Illinois proved they can't be assured of winning a Big Ten road game without unleashing everything in their arsenal.

Quarterback
Northwestern went through two other starters before settling on C.J. Bacher. Smith's effort last week let Brady Quinn rejoin the Heisman race, but two OSU wins will end the discussion.
EDGE: OSU
Running back
OSU's fumble-prone Chris Wells probably should be forced to do what the Dallas Cowboys' Terrell Owens does with a football: Sleep with it.
EDGE: OSU
Receivers
Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez had one catch between them during the second half last week. Foe won't have to fear them as long as OSU uses them as downfield blockers.
EDGE: OSU
Offensive line
Here's a novelty: Northwestern starting right guard Adam Crum is one of only eight Division I-A players from Alaska. Thought you'd like to know.
EDGE: OSU

Defensive line
The Wildcats have sent a couple of players in recent years to the NFL (Luis Castillo and Barry Cofield), but the Buckeyes have built a pipeline to the pros.
EDGE: OSU

Linebackers
Adam Kadela, a Dublin Coffman grad, leads NU with 66 tackles. OSU may not have settled on a starting three, but Marcus Freeman, James Laurinaitis and Curtis Terry play when it counts.
EDGE: OSU

Defensive backs
OSU senior Antonio Smith is a Thorpe Award semifinalist, but he's still only the second-best defensive back on the team behind sophomore Malcolm Jenkins.
EDGE: OSU

Special teams
Punter A.J. Trapasso wasn't needed at all against Minnesota, and he wouldn't mind spending the rest of the year on the sidelines.
EDGE: OSU

Prediction
Ohio State 28, Northwestern 10
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