Football Friday Night in Evanston
10/14/2019 11:31:19 AM | Football
Following the ?rst of its two off weeks this season, No. 4 Ohio State puts its 12-game winning streak – the second longest in FBS – on the line Friday night when it takes on Northwestern at 8:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be carried on FS1, which will broadcast to a national audience.
The game will be a rematch of last year’s Big Ten championship game, won by Ohio State 45-24. This year, with Justin Fields directing the offense, the Buckeyes rank in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense, total offense and rushing offense.
THE BASICS
Northwestern vs. No. 3 Ohio State • Friday, Oct. 18 • When: 8:30 p.m. ET • Where: Ryan Field • TV: BTN • Play by Play: Joe Davis • Analyst: Brock Huard • Sidelines: Bruce Feldman
Even though this will be Ohio State’s ?rst Friday night regular season game since 1959 (vs. USC at LA Memorial Coliseum), the Buckeyes have played some notable games on Friday’s:
- The Buckeyes’ 24-7 win over USC in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl on December 29, 2017 was a Friday.
- Ohio State defeated Notre Dame in the Battlefrog Fiesta Bowl on Friday, Jan. 1, 2016.
- Ohio State won its seventh national championship with a 31-24 double overtime win against Miami in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3, 2003, which was a Friday.
- The Buckeyes have a 6-6 record all-time on Fridays.
- Ohio State’s 40.5 points-per-game differential is the best thus far in the FBS.
- The Buckeyes rank in the top 10 in both highest yards per play average on offense (5th, 7.31) and fewest yards per play average on defense (2nd, 3.69).
- Ohio State’s defense has allowed just four plays of 30 yards or more this season, tied for the second fewest in the country.
- Jordan Fuller is just six tackles shy of reaching 200 for his career.
- Ten different players have caught a touchdown pass this season and 17 different players have caught passes.
A COMPLETE EFFORT
- Ohio State is the only FBS team that ranks in the top 10 in scoring off ense, scoring defense, total off ense and total defense.
- The Buckeyes also have a diff erential of 300.5 yards per game between total off ense and total defense, which is the most of any team in the country.
- The Buckeyes’ yards-per-play diff erential of 3.62 is third-best nationally, behind only Oklahoma and Alabama.
RYAN DAY’S EXPLOSIVE OFFENSES
- Since the start of the 2017 season, The Buckeyes have scored 40 or more points in 20 of 34 games (58.8 percent).
- Ohio State has also produced 500 yards or more of total offense in 70.5 percent of their games during that span, the second-best rate in the country.
- Only three teams (Oklahoma, Ohio State and Oklahoma State) have a rate of 65 percent or better.
ROAD WARRIORS
- Ohio State has the third most road victories – true road games; not neutral site games – in Division I college football over the past eight seasons with 31 victories.
- Only Oklahoma (33) and Northern Illinois (32) have more road victories in that span.
174
J.K. Dobbins is 174 rushing yards away from becoming the ?rst player in program history with 1,000-yard seasons as a freshman, sophomore and junior. He’s second nationally in
28-3
Ohio State is 28-3 in road games against Big Ten opponents since the start of the 2012 season. Included in that is a 40-30 win in Evanston durin
24
The Buckeyes have scored 24 touchdowns in 30 red zone opportunities this season. Their 80 percent success rate on TDs is 10th b
296
The 296 points Ohio State has scored through six games is tied for the most in program history (2016).
- The defending Big Ten West Division champions, Northwestern is 1-4 this season with three of its four setbacks coming by nine points or less.
- At the quarterback position, Hunter Johnson, a transfer from Clemson, and Aidan Smith, a junior from Fort Wayne, Ind., have each started games this season. Smith completed 19 of 32 passes the last time out at Nebraska, throwing for 136 yards and one interception.
- Linebacker and captain Paddy Fisher, a ? rst team All-Big Ten selection in 2018, has 38 total tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and three pass breakups.
- In his 14th season at Northwestern, head coach Pat Fitzgerald has the most overall wins (97) and Big Ten wins (56) in program history
More game information available at NUSports.com
