Sermon delivered
Buckeyes running back rushes for school-record 331 yards
INDIANAPOLIS— TreySermonranfor a school-record 331 yards and two second-half touchdowns Saturday, helping No. 3 Ohio State rally for a 22-10 victory over Northwestern for a fourth consecutive Big Ten championship.
The Buckeyes (6-0) will find out Sunday if they’ve done enough to earn one of four spots in the CollegeFootball Playoff. It’s the first time Ohio State haswon four consecutive outright conference crowns.
Northwestern (6-2) heads into the bowl season withtwolosses in its last threegames and a second runner-up finish to the Buckeyes in three years. Itwas a struggle for Ohio State. After the Buckeyes settled for a field goal onthegame’s first possession, Northwestern running back Cam Porter answered with a 9-yard TD run late in the first quarter. The Buckeyes trailed from that moment until Sermon’s 9-yard run with 2:41 left in the third priod.
The Buckeyes had trailed for all of 5 minutes, 5 seconds this season— until they fell behind for nearly 32 minutes Saturday.
OhioStateaddeda26-yardfield goal early in the fourth quarter, and Sermon, whohad 29carries, sealed thewinwith a 3-yardscoring run with 4:03 to go.
Ohio State quarterback Justin Fieldswas 12 of 27 with 114 yards and ran 12 times for 35 yards. Porter finished with 16 carries and 61 yards. Northwestern quarter back Peyton Ramseywas24of 37 with224yards butwas picked off twice and lost a fumble—all in the second half.
For the second time in three years, the Wildcats proved they were worthy West Division champions. But like just about every other Big Ten team over the last decade, there’s still a gap between theBuckeyes and everyone else. Northwestern might be closing the gap—the Wildcats just haven’ t overcome it yet.
When the Big Ten waived the six-game eligibility requirement, the Buckeyes took full advantage. They didn’t earn any style points, but they got the job done despite being short-handed.
The Buckeyes certainly weren’t at full strength Saturday. They released an inactive list of nearly two dozen players less than two hours before kickoff, nearly the same total that missed the Michigan State game.
Amongthose sitting outwere star receiver Chris Olave, linebacker Baron Browning, defensive end Tyler Friday and punt er D rue Chris man. Safety Marcus Hooker, listed as a game-time decision, also sat out.
The Buckeyes didn’t say whether any of those on the inactive list tested positive for COVID-19. If so, BigTenruleswould require them to sit out 21 days and potentially keeping them out of the semifinal game.