While Ohio State’s 21-7 victory at Northwestern was one of the more aggravating wins by the Buckeyes in recent history, it was still a win. We can’t say we saw the game unfolding as it did, but then again when we recorded last week, we had no idea the game would be played in a hurricane. If we had known, we probably would still have predicted a lopsided win but perhaps with one or two fewer touchdowns.

Instead, we witnessed a slog that didn’t seem to need to be one. Dropped passes, curious play calling, bad execution along the offensive line, and some uncharacteristic sponginess on third down and against the run by the defense combined to make Saturday a lot less easy on the nerves than what was forecast. We basically threw our predictions from last week in the garbage and only one of our four picks to click actually clicked and that was the “Bingo free space” that is Tommy Eichenberg, who seemingly always delivers.

We discussed the major talking points from the game and talked through the scoring drives and stats as Ohio State escaped from Evanston (even if it never quite felt to us like the Wildcats were actually going to pull off the upset).

Our weekly walk through the rest of the Big Ten results included a full slate of games and once again the B1G West is baffling. Does anyone truly want to win it? If so, it might be a suddenly resurgent Iowa team after Illinois dropped a home game to Sparty.

Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday’s nooner with the Indiana Hoosiers. Will the Buckeyes struggle again or will Indiana feel the wrath of a team that has to read bad press about itself all week? We hope lessons have been learned and that health will return to some of Ohio State’s missing pieces, as the showdown with the Wolverines draws closer and chemistry and rhythm are things that should (optimally) start coming together now. At any rate, we took another shot at our final score predictions and made our picks to click on both offense and defense for the Buckeyes.

We’ll be back next week to talk about Ohio State’s matchup with the Indiana Hoosiers in Columbus, and to preview the following week’s return to the road when the Buckeyes travel to Maryland to take on the Terrapins. In the meantime, feel free to reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email. Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, and share!

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