Northwestern, Fitzgerald Relish 'Stiff' Test Against Ohio State

EVANSTON, IL — Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald isn’t one to focus much on the past. So as his team prepares for what he refers to as its stiffest test of the year in Saturday’s Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis, what happened last year against heavily favored Ohio State doesn’t hold much weight.

The Wildcats are likely the only obstacle standing between the No. 4-ranked Buckeyes and a spot in the College Football Playoff. But neither that, nor the 52-3 beating Northwestern suffered at the hands of Ohio State last season, will deter Fitzgerald and his 14th-ranked Wildcats from relishing what a win on Saturday would mean not only on the college football landscape, but for Northwestern's program.

Saturday’s showdown marks the second time in three years Northwestern will play for a conference title against Ohio State. While Ohio State isn’t coming off a rivalry game like it would be if the coronavirus pandemic hadn’t wiped out its annual tilt with Michigan, the Buckeyes haven’t had much slow them down this season as they eye a spot in college football’s version of the Final Four after the Big Ten made an exception in changing its rules about the minimum number of games teams must play to compete for a league title.

Ohio State, which is a 20 ½ point favorite Saturday, ranks among the Top 5 in points scored (46.6 points per game) and Top 10 in yards (532.4 per game). But on Saturday, the Buckeyes face a Northwestern defense that ranks 13th in college football in total defense (313.9 yards per game) and second nationally in scoring defense (14.6 points per game). Yet, Fitzgerald understands the kind of challenge the Buckeyes — led by Heisman Trophy candidate and star quarterback Justin Fields —presents as Ohio State attempts to keep its unbeaten season intact.

“They’ve played clean in all three phases,” Fitzgerald told reporters this week. “They haven’t made a lot of mistakes … They’ve been sound in everything they’ve done fundamentally, everything that they do to attack you schematically and their talent at every position speaks for itself. So it’s going to be a huge challenge for us.”

Ohio State coach Ryan Day certainly isn’t looking past Northwestern despite what may seem like the scales leaning heavily in Ohio State’s favor. While the Buckeyes have only failed to score less than 40 points once this season, a 38-25 victory over Penn State, Day and his team isn’t about to make the same mistake that Illinois did last week when Illini senior linebacker Milo Eifler referred to the Wildcats as “little brother” before Northwestern beat their in-state rival for the sixth straight time.

Day told reporters this week that Northwestern provides its only challenges as a team that doesn’t beat itself. In addition to its nationally ranked defense, the Wildcats have proven to be efficient on offense sparked by quarterback Peyton Ramsey, whom Day said can give opposing defenses fits and who will keep the Buckeyes on their game, Ohio State’s second-year coach said.

“You have to earn everything you have,” Day said of Northwestern. “And so it’s going to be challenge in that way.”

With no disrespect given by the Buckeyes, Fitzgerald still welcomed any opponent to take his team lightly or overlook the Wildcats, saying after their 28-10 win over Illinois that “if anyone would like to say anything derogatory toward our players, please do so this week. That (comment) was not taken very kindly in our locker room.”

While the Buckeyes likely won’t get wrapped up in providing any bulletin board material for Northwestern, Fitzgerald will remain all business in his approach toward Saturday’s opportunity to capture a Big Ten championship. The Wildcats have more than bounced back from last season’s disappointing 3-9 finish, but Fitzgerald — who also isn’t one to look too far into the future — has make no qualms about what securing a Big Ten title would mean for his program.

“That would be something that obviously hasn’t happened during my time,” said Fitzgerald, a former standout linebacker at Northwestern. “So personally, I would take great pride in the way that our guys played and the way that our coaches coached and enjoy the heck out of next Saturday night. Not gonna lie to you, it would be a helluva ride home on I-65.”