By Danielle Daniels

FIRST AND TEN

• Ohio State, 8-1 overall, 5-1 in the Big Ten Conference and No. 2 nationally in both the Associated Press and Coaches’ Polls, continues its noon-hour (ET) series of games with an 11 a.m. Central Standard Time game Saturday against the Northwestern Wildcats (4-5, 2-4 Big Ten).
• Historic Wrigley Field, which seats approximately 41,000, will host the game, the first of two Northwestern home games there this season as the school has demolished its on-campus Ryan Field and plans to open a new stadium in 2026 on the same site.
• The game will be Ohio State’s fourth consecutive at the noon hour and is part of six consecutive noon broadcasts to close the season … which means the Buckeyes are getting used to a 7:30 a.m. wakeup on game day.
• The game was played in a windy window in the Windy City the last time Ohio State and Northwestern met. In a 4-hour span on Nov. 5 of 2022, winds and gusts at O’Hare were recorded at 30 & 40 MPH (11:51 a.m.), 22 & 55 (12:51 p.m.), 29 & 49 (1:51) and 30 & 47 (2:51).
• Ohio State and Northwestern are next scheduled to play in the regular season in 2026 in Columbus.

BY THE NUMBERS
80.0: Will Howard has completed at least 80 pct. of his passes in five games so far this season which are Ohio State single season and career records. He is No. 2 nationally in passing efficiency and completion pct.

32/11: Before Jeremiah Smith, none of the 32 Ohio State wide receivers selected in the NFL Draft after Cris Carter, including 11 first-round picks, had broken any of Carter’s 40-year-old freshman records.

ALL 3: Big Ten Conference teams comprise four of the Top 5 rankings in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, and Ohio State has played or will play the other three: No. 1 Oregon; No. 4 Penn State; and No. 5 Indiana.

64th: The game against Northwestern will be Ryan Day’s 74th as Ohio State head coach (including the three interim games in 2018) and it will be the 64th game that his Buckeyes have been ranked Top 5 or higher.

JEREMIAH! NO. 1 FROSH
Jeremiah Smith has set Ohio State freshman records in receptions (45), yards (765) and touchdowns (nine), and he is No. 1 nationally among freshman WRs in all three categories. In breaking the records, Smith moved ahead of All-American and Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter’s records of 41 receptions, 648 yards and eight touchdowns set 40 years ago, in 1984.

OHIO STATE VS. NORTHWESTERN

• Ohio State leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 65 wins to 14 wins with one tie (scoreless tie in 1938).
• This is the fifth consecutive game in the series played outside of Columbus. The 2019 and 2022 regular season games were each played at Ryan Field; the teams also met in the 2018 and 2020 Big Ten Conference championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
• Ohio State has won 10 consecutive games over Northwestern since a 33-27 Wildcat win in overtime in 2004 at Ryan Field.

SECOND MLB SITE FOR THE SERIES

• Ohio State and Northwestern are playing a game for the second time in this series’ history at a Major League Baseball (MLB) park.
• The first game was a Northwestern “home” game that was played in 1991 in Cleveland, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium which, at the time, was home to both the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Browns.
• Ohio State won the game, 34-3, before 73,830 fans.

SOME HISTORY AT MLB STADIUMS

• The first-ever game for Ohio State at Wrigley Field will be the sixth different MLB stadium to host a Buckeyes football game.
• Ohio State played 11 times – all wins – vs. Minnesota at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome from 1984 through 2005 with the 2005 game the last game in an MLB park for the Buckeyes.
• In addition to the 1991 Northwestern game in Cleveland, Ohio State has played games at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1942 (Illinois), 1943 (Purdue) and 1944 (Illinois).
• Ohio State has also played in MLB parks vs. Brigham Young in 1982 and 1993 (Jack Murphy Stadium), vs. Fresno State in 1994 (Anaheim Stadium) and at the Polo Grounds in 1926 (Columbia) and 1938 (NYU).
• Ohio State is 19-1 (Purdue, 1943) in baseball stadiums.

DIAMOND DARLINGS

• Some are fans. Some aren’t. Here’s where Major League Baseball rooting interests rest among a group of Ohio State starters:
• Atlanta Braves – Jordan Hancock, Seth McLaughlin
• Houston Astros – Ty Hamilton, Donovan Jackson
• Los Angeles Dodgers – JT Tuimoloau
• Milwaukee Brewers/Minnesota Twins – Carson Hinzman
• New York Mets – Josh Fryar, Cody Simon
• New York Yankees – Davison Igbinosun, Gee Scott Jr.
• Oakland A’s – Quinshon Judkins
• Philadelphia Phillies – Will Howard
• Seattle Mariners – Emeka Egbuka
• No Favorite Team/Don’t Watch – Denzel Burke, TreVeyon Henderson, Lathan Ransom, Sonny Styles, Carnell Tate, Tyleik Williams.

GONE WITH THE WIND

• Ohio State’s school and Big Ten Conference record of seven consecutive games of 40-or-more points was blown into Lake Michigan in the 2022 game between Ohio State and Northwestern at Ryan Field, a 21-7 Ohio State win in severely windy conditions.
• The three-game streak scoring at least 40 points to start this current season has been the longest such 40-something points streak since.

COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS