Ohio State went into Wrigley Field and hit one out of the park with a 31-7 win over the Wildcats after a slow start to the game.
Many players stood out in the win, but here’s who Buckeye Sports Bulletin thinks deserves Buckeye Leaves.
Patrick Engels: Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins may have not had his best outing of his career, but he may have had one of his more efficient games this season at historic Wrigley Field with 15 carries for 76 yards and two scores.
Judkins seemed to run with force from onset, as evidenced on just his second carry when he ran over Wildcats defensive back Damon Walters to keep the chains moving for Ohio State on third-and-2. He then carried that physicality for the rest of the game, gaining positive yardage on each of his next 13 totes, including two tough 1-yard gains at the goal line on back-to-back rushes for the junior to give Ohio State a 21-7 lead in the first half.
The former Ole Miss transfer seemed to be moving forward and churning his legs on every run against the Wildcats, a hard-nosed mentality that could suit him well the rest of the season against Indiana, Michigan and beyond.
Bobby Gorbett: In his hometown of Chicago, Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate had one of his best games as a Buckeye. Tate’s statistics for the game might not be eye-popping, as he finished the game with 4 catches for 52 yards and two touchdowns, but each of the sophomore receiver’s receptions came at key moments in the 31-7 win.
Tate first got on the stat sheet on a third-and-six pass from fifth-year quarterback Will Howard. Tate’s reception came up one yard short of the first down marker, but it put his team in position to convert the first down one play later.
Tate put the Buckeyes right on the goal line on the team’s next drive on a 14-yard reception made through heavy contact issued by Northwestern defenders.
After putting his team in position to score their first touchdown of the game, Tate got on the board himself with a 25-yard touchdown reception late in the second quarter.
Tate scored his second touchdown in a single game for the first time in his career on the Buckeyes’ opening second-half drive on a beautifully run slant route. Tate hauled in the pass and dove in the end zone for a 8-yard score.
Cameron Moone: After a myriad of issues throughout the 2024 season, including losing tackle Josh Simmons and having to fill the absence of guard Donovan Jackson (who now plays in Simmons’ spot) earlier in the season, the Ohio State offensive line appears to have finally figured it out and they’ll get my Buckeye Leaf this week.
A couple of slugfests in the middle of the schedule caused fans and beat writers alike to question the unit on if they could have sustained success, but the group recently named to the Joe Moore Award watchlist put those concerns to bed against Northwestern.
Blocking for an offense that passed for 247 yards and rushed for 173 yards, the Buckeye front five paved the way en route to the victory over the Wildcats, keeping Ohio State undefeated in November and putting it one step closer to an appearance in the Big Ten championship game.
The lineman group, with blockers like Jackson and center Seth McLaughlin, have transformed a unit that had massive question marks coming into the season. After sitting at 26th in the country in sacks allowed at 1.22 per game heading into Northwestern, the offensive line surrendered just one sack to the Wildcats.
Greg Wilson: My Buckeye Leaf goes to Jack Sawyer, who was in the backfield countless times over the course of the win over Northwestern. The way he was coming off of the edge against the Wildcats made it seem like there is a late-season breakout coming akin to the one he had last season.
He had just three tackles for loss (all sacks) this season coming into the contest, and while he wasn’t able to add another one to his stats for the season, he did force quarterback Jack Lauch to rush passes and scramble out of the pocket many times.
Sawyer finished the game with seven tackles, two of them solo, three quarterback hurries and a forced fumble that bailed the Buckeyes defense out of early Northwestern points when it was driving in the first quarter.
