Big Ten Championship 2020: Ohio State vs. Northwestern Breakdown, Predictions

The Ohio State Buckeyes appear to be in great position to land one of the four College Football Playoff spots.

The Big Ten East winner will head to Indianapolis on Saturday to face the Northwestern Wildcats, who emerged as the class of the Big Ten West through its defensive play.

Ohio State and Northwestern will be involved in one of the biggest clashes of styles during conference championship weekend.

The Buckeyes have a high-powered offense, led by Justin Fields, while the Wildcats pride themselves on defense first and have no problem winning a low-scoring affair.

Big Ten Championship Game Breakdown

Ohio State

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

The Buckeyes have won the past three Big Ten Championship Games.

They are looking to become the seventh consecutive winner out of the Big Ten East. The Big Ten West has never won the conference title game in the current divisional format.

Because of a few cancellations, Ohio State tied for the fewest number of games played in the Big Ten, and it has not played in two straight weeks since October 31 and November 7.

In their two games in the past four weeks, the Buckeyes put up 94 points on the Indiana Hoosiers and Michigan State Spartans.

Fields and Co. average 46.6 points per game, and they have the most explosive offense Northwestern has faced all season.

The Buckeyes have an impressive running back tandem in Master Teague III and Oklahoma transfer Trey Sermon. They also have a pair of 500-yard wide receivers in Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave.

Ohio State's abundance of top-tier talent makes it hard for any defense to stop, even one as stout as Northwestern's.

Since the start of the 2019 season, the Buckeyes have failed to reach 30 points on two occasions. The two occurrences happened against the Penn State Nittany Lions in a regular-season game and in a playoff semifinal versus the Clemson Tigers.

The Buckeyes do not have a dominant pass-rusher, like Chase Young or the Bosa brothers, on their defensive line, but they still have plenty of talented players who can stop Northwestern's offense in its tracks.

Linebackers Pete Werner, Baron Browning and Tuf Borland lead the team in tackles and have contributed two sacks and a pair of forced fumbles.

If the front seven remains tough, it could stifle the production of Peyton Ramsey and the Wildcats offense, which would lead to quick stops and better field position for Fields and Co. to start with.

Northwestern 

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Northwestern played two more games than Ohio State, but it scored 56 fewer points than the Buckeyes.

In fact, the Wildcats were outscored by five Big Ten teams, including four from the Big Ten East and the Iowa Hawkeyes out of the West.

Pat Fitzgerald's program has not been forced to score a high total of points because its defense has been so solid.

Northwestern is coming off a 28-10 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini in which it held its opponent to 107 passing yards.

Ramsey, who is a transfer from Indiana, has nine touchdown passes, six interceptions and has been sacked on nine occasions. For Northwestern to have a chance, he has to avoid turnovers and provide a steady hand in long-yardage situations.

Ramsey does not have to outgain Fields, but he needs to be consistent enough to deliver a few scoring drives.

The Wildcats do not have a stud at the offensive skill positions, but it has a collective at running back and wide receiver that can combine for a solid performance. Three Wildcats have run for more than 200 yards and two players have 30 receptions and 300 receiving yards.

In each of its six victories, Northwestern held its opponent to 20 points or fewer, but it only faced one ranked team.

Defeating the likes of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Purdue Boilermakers each week is much different than dealing with one of the best teams in the FBS.

Prediction

Ohio State 49, Northwestern 24

Northwestern should be able to score points on the Ohio State defense at points, but it does not have the firepower to keep up with the Buckeyes' stars.

Those points may come later in the game when the Buckeyes have their foot off the pedal. Ohio State should learn from the slow start it experienced in the 2019 Big Ten Championship Game.

The Wisconsin Badgers had leads of 14-0 and 21-7 in the first half before the Buckeyes' offense moved up to another level in the second half.

Fields should learn from those early struggles and get off to a fast start in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon.

Ohio State is accustomed to fast starts this season. It scored the first 35 points against the Michigan State Spartans in its last game and busted out to a 35-7 lead in a win over Indiana.

Another fast start combined with a few defensive stops could place Ohio State in the lead by double digits fairly easily, and it is unlikely that it will let up with the playoff in its sights.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.