THE ’EYES HAVE IT
Northwestern deserves credit for getting here, but Ohio State is at another level
Nine times out of 10 — if not 99 times out of 100 — us-against-the-world sports quotes are, to put it about as nicely as possible, cringe-worthily disingenuous. Especially when they come from a coach.
And it seems, from Lou Holtz to Nick Saban (with many others before and since), no coaches have mastered this inane tactic quite like those in college football.
But we should give Pat Fitzgerald a pass for his usagainst-the-world classic delivered early this week. Why? Because No. 21 Northwestern vs. No. 6 Ohio State (7 p.m. Saturday, Fox-32, 720-AM) registers higher on the mis-matcho-meter than any previous Big Ten championship game. The Wildcats (8-4, 8-1 Big Ten) are 14-point underdogs against the Buckeyes (11-1, 8-1).
‘‘I don’t think anyone outside these doors would pick us to win this game,’’ Fitzgerald told reporters before the Wildcats left for Indianapolis. ‘‘I mean, my mom and dad, I guess, would. I’m not even sure if my sisters will, so we’ll see. But I don’t need them. I just need the 74 guys who will put on purple and white on Saturday.’’
There are some formidable forces at work in this matchup. One is the Wildcats’ truly amazing run of 15 victories in their last 16 conference games. It’s not overstating things to say that Fitzgerald’s teams routinely come through when most figure they won’t.
‘‘Nobody had to beat somebody else for us to back-door our way into this game,’’ Fitzgerald said. ‘‘Our guys went out in the arena, and they earned it. That’s what gives me confidence.’’
But there also are the talent
and speed gaps between the Buckeyes and the rest of the Big Ten to consider. It took until late November for coach Urban Meyer’s team to play like the national powerhouse it is, but on clear display in Ohio State’s 62-39 dismantling last week of rival Michigan were the five-star-laden athleticism and explosiveness about which the other coaches in the conference only can dream.
The Buckeyes have one of the best passing quarterbacks in their history in Dwayne Haskins, and the run-after-the-catch ability of his receiving targets is off the charts. A year ago at Lucas Oil Stadium, unbeaten Wisconsin’s top-notch defense couldn’t handle those runs after catches. Watch out for Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Co.
And then there’s this: Ohio State isn’t looking merely to win the game; it’s
looking to blow the doors off Northwestern and wow the College Football Playoff committee. If Oklahoma beats Texas in the Big 12 title game earlier in the day — or if Georgia upsets Alabama in the Southeastern Conference title game, leaving the top-ranked Tide as a potential No. 3 or
No. 4 entrant in the playoff — the Buckeyes will put the pedal to the metal and keep it there, if they can, for 60 minutes.
Remember: Ohio State 59, Wisconsin 0 in 2014. That was the astonishing result that blew the committee’s collective mind and put the Buckeyes — controversially — into the first playoff with the No. 4 ranking. And then they backed it up by winning the national title.
That’s the peak-late path the Buckeyes are looking to steamroll down again.
‘‘I’m going to be very hard on everybody this week, and we cannot see anything other than the same effort we did last week,’’ Meyer told reporters. ‘‘When you win [against Michigan] and win the way you did, now that’s the time to cut it loose and be very overthe-top demanding of them.’’
My own mind has been blown by this 15-in-16 Northwestern run. I’ve picked against the Wildcats and been dead wrong as many times as the next schmo. But I can’t unsee what Ohio State did to Michigan, nor can I unsee what happened in Indy in 2014.
We’re talking peak Buckeyes. They romp, 41-14.