#11 Buckeyes hit the road to face #24 Northwestern

Ohio State looks to improve to 8-2 on the season

Two weeks after a bitter home loss to Penn State, the Ohio State Buckeyes will begin the homestretch of the season Saturday in Evanston, Ill., when they line up at Ryan Field against the Northwestern Wildcats.

“I know they're anxious to get back into Big Ten play, and we head off on the road,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said earlier this week about his 12th-ranked Buckeyes, who had a bye last Saturday after falling to the Nittany Lions, 13-6, on Oct. 25. “I think our guys like the fact that it's an early start (noon Eastern time against Northwestern) because they get a chance to go on the road, wake up and go play a football game and not sit around and be nervous and all those types of things.”

Although the defeat against No. 3 Penn State knocked OSU (7-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) out of the national championship chase and probably out of the Big Ten title race as well, the Buckeyes still have plenty to play for – including an opportunity to state their case for selection to a BCS bowl game – in the regular season’s final three contests.

“I don't know if Coach Hayes used to say it, but Coach Bruce used to say November is what it's all about,” Tressel said, referring to former Ohio State coaching icons Woody Hayes and Earle Bruce. “Who you are as a football team is really decided by what you do in November.”

The Buckeyes will need to come out re-energized and re-focused beginning on Saturday against the Wildcats (7-2, 3-2) and continuing Nov. 15 at Illinois and, most importantly, Nov. 22 at home in Columbus against rival Michigan.

“We're anxious to get ready to go play a good Northwestern team that had an excellent road win, an emotional victory for them happening in the last play of the game,” Tressel said, alluding to the Wildcats’ 24-17 triumph last Saturday at Minnesota, a nail-biter which was decided when Northwestern safety Brendan Smith returned a deflected interception 48 yards for a touchdown with 12 seconds left. “What I've been impressed with amongst many things with Northwestern is if you watch them in the first half of a ballgame, they're much better in the second half of a ballgame, which means that they're glued into what's going on in the game. They understand their system. They grow to understand what you're trying to do against them.”

Northwestern junior Mike Kafka set a Big Ten record for rushing yards by a quarterback when he ran for 217 yards against Minnesota. Kafka, who also passed for 143 yards and two touchdowns, was filling in for injured starter C.J. Bacher.

Meanwhile, Ohio State freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor will be aiming to get back on track after committing two turnovers in the fourth quarter against Penn State. Pryor’s lost fumble on third-and-inches at the Penn State 49 – with Ohio State leading 6-3 with 10:38 remaining – turned the game around, leading to the Nittany Lions’ go-ahead touchdown.

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Pryor was disconsolate afterward, blaming himself for the loss.

“Taking things personal is not a bad thing,” Tressel said this week. “Now, what do we have to do? We have to go back and we have to work on what we need to do better.”

Ohio State (7-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) @ Northwestern (7-2, 3-2)

When: Noon EST Saturday, Nov. 8
Where: Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill.
TV: ESPN2
Series: 74th meeting; Ohio State leads 58-14-1
Last year: Ohio State defeated Northwestern, 58-7
Prediction: Ohio State 27, Northwestern 17

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