Ohio State vs. Northwestern Notebook: Buckeye Fans Take Over Wrigley Field, Jack Sawyer Has Another Big Game and Jeremiah Smith Breaks Another Freshman Record

Ohio State’s matchup with Northwestern at Wrigley Field was a road game only in name.

Buckeye fans composed roughly 80 percent of the crowd, judging by sight and sound. The numbers were so overwhelming that a chorus of boos erupted when the Wildcats took the field while cheers erupted for Ohio State.

“We expected to have a great presence but to see the way it was today was exciting,” Ryan Day said. “We felt it as the buses were going around the stadium and you’re driving through Wrigleyville and you see all this red and scarlet. I mean, people were fired up early on. You could tell they were just coming out of the bars after opening at like 7 a.m. People were fired up, and so it kind of got us fired up, too.

“We just really appreciate them supporting us.”

The sea of scarlet got re-engaged after a slow Buckeye start took them out of the game a bit in the first quarter. But as Ohio State scored 31 unanswered points to produce a 31-7 win, the noise level rose.

There’s more than 100 years of tradition steeped in Wrigley Field, and the Buckeyes played the Wildcats in just the fourth football game at the Friendly Confines since the Chicago Bears moved from there to Soldier Field after the 1970 season. All four contests in those 54 years have featured Northwestern, which is 0-4 in those games.

“I feel like I just had to take it in for a little bit before the game because we came over here yesterday but it’s a historic place,” Will Howard said. “The 8-year-old kid in me would be giddy, man. I was a baseball kid growing up. I had to wear this (Ohio State baseball) hat because baseball, I loved it growing up. This place is one of the most historic places in baseball and in sports. And being out here and play a game on it was awesome.”

Another big day for Sawyer

Jack Sawyer wasn’t Sack Sawyer on Saturday, missing Northwestern quarterback Jack Lausch a few times in the backfield (though there’s something to be said for being in those positions), but that didn’t stop him from having a massive impact on the game for the second week in a row.

Sawyer collected a career-high seven tackles to help stifle a Wildcat running game that picked up 53 yards in 13 carries on its first two drives only to finish with 30 carries for 50 yards, just 1.7 yards per carry.

“I just thank God for putting me in this position to make plays,” Sawyer said. “Seeing the ball come your way is exciting. Sometimes the ball is running the opposite way from you all game, so I was in position to make plays and I made them.”

None of the plays Sawyer made were bigger than his first-quarter forced fumble. He hustled from the back side of a pass play as Lausch scrambled to clobber the signal caller, separating football from ballcarrier. Cornerback Davison Igbinosun scooped up the loose change and returned it 17 yards, keeping Northwestern off the scoreboard following a red zone trip.

While Sawyer wasn’t able to finish any of his sack opportunities against Northwestern, he finished with a team-high seven quarterback pressures, per Pro Football Focus. On the season he has 38 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown against Purdue.

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Jeremiah Smith sets another record

Despite having a potential one-handed touchdown catch ruled incomplete by replay in the first half, Jeremiah Smith became the first Ohio State freshman to collect three 100-yard receiving games in a season, with four catches for exactly 100 yards.

More than two-thirds of those yards came on one reception, an electric 68-yard catch-and-run in the third quarter. Howard threaded the needle between a crowd of defenders to set the play up.

If Ohio State is playing a football game, chances are good Jeremiah Smith will make a spectacular play. pic.twitter.com/KJPvQl1DT0 — Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) November 16, 2024

That play came with a scare for Buckeye fans as Smith limped off the field after the play. Northwestern defensive back Robert Fitzgerald twisted Smith’s ankle while tackling him at the end of the play, and Smith had his ankle taped on the sideline. Fortunately, he was able to return to the field on Ohio State’s next possession and continue playing.

The only other Buckeye receiver to record two 100-yard games as a freshman is Cris Carter, whose freshman records Smith has made a habit of breaking in 2024. Carter formerly owned the freshman receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns records from going for 41-648-8 in 1984. Smith broke the yardage mark at Penn State two weeks ago and took control of the receiving touchdowns and receptions records against Purdue last week.

Smith is up to 49 receptions for 865 yards and nine touchdowns through 10 games as a Buckeye, leaving him just 135 yards away from Ohio State’s 11th 1,000-yard receiving season.

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