1. The Wildcats are 6-1 and have won the Big Ten West for the second time.
Northwestern, which last won the conference title in 2000, won the West two years ago before losing to Ohio State in the championship game.
This season the Wildcats joined Wisconsin as the only teams to win the West division more than once.
“We’re excited to be in championship week,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald told reporters on a video conference Sunday night. “Obviously we’re playing an outstanding opponent, but really proud of the program to get back to where everybody in the Big Ten wants to be and that’s an opportunity to play for the Big Ten championship.”
Northwestern has eight Big Ten championships but only three since 1937. Ohio State has 35 conference titles in that span, including the last three.
2. Fitzgerald has a defense-first team.
The Wildcats started the season by blowing out Maryland 43-3 but have not scored more than 28 points in a game since.
They rank ninth in the Big Ten in scoring (25.3 points per game) but are first in scoring defense (14.6) and third in total yards allowed per game while ranking 12th in yards gained per game.
Northwestern leads the league in opponents’ pass efficiency and yards per reception while checking in No. 2 in yards allowed through the air per game.
The Wildcats are second in the Big Ten in interceptions (12) and No. 4 against the run.
“I think (our secondary) has been really consistent all year long, and now we’re going to face our stiffest challenge,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve got to work really hard at what we do fundamentally, our communication, so that we’re all on the same page, because (OSU coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson) are gonna put pressure on you formationally and try to get their guys in advantageous positions to create explosive plays.”
3. Until the last two weeks, Northwestern had been squeaking out wins.
The Wildcats beat Iowa, Nebraska, Purdue and Wisconsin by a combined 26 points to improve to 5-0.
They checked in No. 8 in the first College Football Playoff rankings then committed four turnovers and lost 29-20 to Michigan State on Nov. 28. That game was closer than the final score because the Spartans recovered a fumble in the end zone on the last play as the Wildcats were attempting a miracle rally, but the Wildcats fell into a hole early and couldn’t climb out.
Fitzgerald’s team won comfortably last week, downing Illinois 28-10. The Wildcats ran for 411 yards against a depleted Illinois defense on a bad-weather day by the shore of Lake Michigan.
4. Northwestern has 17 players from Ohio on its roster.
That includes three from local high schools — junior running back Isaiah Bowser (Sidney), freshman defensive end Jaiden Cameron (Northmont) and senior kicker Charlie Kuhbander (Springboro).
The Wildcats’ starting quarterback is Peyton Ramsey, a senior from Cincinnati Elder, and Ohioans start at left guard (Nik Urban, Willoughby South), right tackle (Gunnar Vogel, Westerville South) and defensive tackle (Jake Saunders, Loveland).
Credit: Nam Y. Huh
Credit: Nam Y. Huh
Ramsey, a transfer from Indiana, has thrown for 1,218 yards and nine touchdowns with six interceptions in seven games. He has also run for 169 yards.
Bowser was still No. 1 on the published depth chart last week, but he has only run for 229 yards on 77 carries this season. That trails Drake Anderson for the team lead (256), but both took a back seat last week to Evan Hull (13 carries for 149 yards) and Cam Porter (24 carries for 142 yards).
Porter, a freshman from Cincinnati La Salle, is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
In addition to the players, the Dayton area is represented by Matt McPherson, a member of the Northridge High School Hall of Fame. He is the associate head coach and mentors the secondary for the Wildcats.
5. The Wildcats last beat Ohio State in 2004.
That 33-27 overtime triumph is in Evanston is Northwestern’s only win in the series since they beat the Buckeyes 14-10 in 1971.
Overall, Ohio State leads the series 63-14-1 and has won the last eight meetings.
The last edition of the series was a 52-3 Buckeye victory in Evanston one season after Ohio State beat the Wildcats 45-24 in the 2018 Big Ten Championship game.
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