Luke Fahey Throws Three TDs, Jeremiah Smith Breaks Big Ten Record as No. 21 Ohio State Beats Northwestern 28-19

For one quarter, it looked like the slide might keep going. Luke Fahey's first real chance of the afternoon caromed off a receiver's helmet and into Northwestern hands, the Wildcats turned it into a field goal, and Ohio Stadium went quiet in the way it does when a two-game skid starts to feel like a trend. Then the Buckeyes settled in, leaned on Jeremiah Smith and Bo Jackson, and pulled away. No. 21 Ohio State beat Northwestern 28-19 on Saturday in Columbus.

Fahey, the true freshman running the offense while Julian Sayin recovers from the injury he suffered at Indiana on Oct. 17, completed 21 of 32 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns. Smith caught 11 balls for 117 yards and a score and passed Purdue's John Standeford for the Big Ten career receiving yards record, according to the Associated Press. Jackson ran 20 times for 114 yards and a touchdown. The win moves Ohio State to 7-3 and 5-2 in the Big Ten and ends its first two-game regular-season losing streak since 2011. Northwestern falls to 6-4 and 3-4 and has now lost three straight.

A gift, then a grind

Northwestern went three-and-out to open the game, and Brandon Inniss handed Ohio State a short field with a 17-yard punt return to the Northwestern 45. Jackson ripped off 19 yards on the first snap. Three plays later, on third-and-4 from the 20, Fahey threw toward Chris Henry Jr., the ball bounced off the receiver's helmet and Braden Turner picked it off at the 9. Turner returned it 19 yards, and Northwestern went to work.

Nicco Marchiol, making his second straight start with Aidan Chiles ruled out, moved the offense 46 yards in 13 plays and 6:45, with Joseph Himon II catching three passes along the way. Will Smith Jr. sacked Marchiol on third down to stall it at the Ohio State 26, and Jackson Kleather drilled a 44-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead at 4:53 of the first quarter.

Ohio State answered with its cleanest drive of the half. Fahey found Smith three times, including a 22-yard strike to the Northwestern 11, and Isaiah West handled the rest. West took a short pass to the 4, and on the next play Fahey rolled right and hit him alone in the end zone. Ohio State led 7-3 just 45 seconds into the second quarter.

Northwestern kept swinging. Luke Dehnicke caught a 22-yard pass and a personal foul on Zion Grady tacked on 15 more, putting the Wildcats at the Ohio State 27. Kenyatta Jackson Jr. sacked Marchiol on the next play, and Kleather settled for a 46-yarder that cut it to 7-6 at 9:20.

The Buckeyes then took the air out of the half. They went 82 yards in 14 plays and 6:20, with Smith catching back-to-back passes to start it and a pass interference flag on Ore Adeyi setting up first-and-goal at the 2. Jackson lined up in the Wildcat formation and walked in from 2 yards out at 2:51. Ohio State led 14-6 at the break.

The second half opened with an Ohio State three-and-out, and Northwestern made it count. The Wildcats covered 58 yards in eight plays, and Marchiol finished it himself, scrambling around right end for a 2-yard touchdown at 10:01 of the third quarter. That made it 14-13, and for a few minutes the upset felt real.

The fourth-and-1 that flipped it

This was the turning point, and Ohio State earned it the hard way. The Buckeyes took the ensuing possession and ground out 83 yards in 13 plays, burning 7:03. When the drive stalled at the Northwestern 8 on fourth-and-1, Ryan Day kept the offense on the field. Fahey rolled left and found Devin McCuin near the goal line. McCuin caught it at the 1 and powered past Adeyi into the end zone at 2:58. Ohio State led 21-13.

Northwestern's next possession went nowhere. Jackson Jr. sacked Marchiol, a 12-yard Marchiol scramble was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty, and the Wildcats punted early in the fourth quarter.

Then the most criticized unit in Columbus made the play that put it away. Ohio State fired special teams coordinator Robby Discher after the loss to Oregon, and Rob Keys took over the group for the rest of the season. On Saturday, Drew Wagner muffed an Ohio State punt and Dalton Riggs recovered at the Northwestern 10. Three plays later, Fahey hit Smith for a short touchdown at 7:25, and the Buckeyes led 28-13.

Stars, sacks and a late scare

Smith's longest catch went for 22 yards, but he kept the chains moving all day, and the AP noted that he now has 3,875 career receiving yards along with his 15th touchdown of the season. His 17th career 100-yard game tied Purdue's David Bell and Michigan's Braylon Edwards, per the AP. It was a fitting week for it, too: Smith was named a Maxwell Award semifinalist on Tuesday and sits near the top of the Heisman conversation.

The Ohio State defense did its best work after the McCuin touchdown. Jackson Jr. finished with six tackles and two sacks. Qua Russaw had five tackles, three for loss, a sack and the pass breakup that ended Northwestern's best chance to get back in it. That came on the Wildcats' first drive after Smith's touchdown: a roughing the passer call on Jackson Jr. moved them to their own 44, but Russaw sacked Marchiol, James Smith sacked him again and forced a fumble that Northwestern recovered, and Russaw knocked away a fourth-and-21 throw at 4:06. Ohio State finished with five sacks.

Robert Fitzgerald made 11 tackles, Jack Sadowsky V had nine, and Turner added seven tackles to go with his interception. Turner also got one more takeaway. With 1:05 left, West was hit behind the line on third down at the 8, Jamaal Johnson forced the ball loose, and Turner recovered at the Northwestern 16. Marchiol then drove the Wildcats 84 yards in seven plays and found Dehnicke for a touchdown on the final snap. Dehnicke led all Northwestern receivers with five catches for 88 yards.

Marchiol finished 18 of 31 for 225 yards with a touchdown pass and a rushing score. Caleb Komolafe led the Wildcats with 54 rushing yards on 11 carries, but sacks dragged the team total down to 53 yards on 29 attempts.

The numbers that decided it

Ohio State outgained Northwestern 369 to 278 and won the first-down battle 24 to 15. The Buckeyes ran for 168 yards on 35 carries, and they held the ball for 32:51. Both teams converted 6 third downs, but Ohio State needed only 12 tries to Northwestern's 15, and it went 1 for 1 on fourth down when it mattered most.

The strange part is that Ohio State won comfortably while losing the turnover battle 3 to 1. The Buckeyes threw an interception and lost two fumbles, but Northwestern got only a field goal out of the early pick, and its touchdown after West's late fumble came on the final snap with the game long decided. The Wildcats' lone giveaway, the muffed punt, became an Ohio State touchdown in three plays. That gap was the game.

The full line is in the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab).

What it means

After losses at USC and at home to Oregon, Ohio State needed a clean week and got most of one. At 5-2 in the Big Ten, the Buckeyes trail UCLA, unbeaten at 7-0, and Indiana at 5-1, and the AP described their College Football Playoff and Big Ten title game hopes as slim but alive. Ohio State plays at Nebraska on Nov. 21.

Northwestern hung around into the fourth quarter with its backup quarterback, a week after losing 24-10 to Iowa at home. Still, the losing streak is at three, and the AP noted that Northwestern has not won in its last 16 trips to Ohio Stadium, with its last win there coming in 1971. The Wildcats play at Minnesota on Nov. 21.

Closing take

Ohio State did not look like the team that was ranked No. 2 when it went to USC. Fahey threw an early pick, the offense took a while to find a rhythm, and three turnovers would sink the Buckeyes against a better opponent. But a freshman quarterback converted the biggest fourth down of the day, the most criticized unit on the roster made the biggest special teams play, and Smith kept doing what Smith does. In November, after two losses, that is enough. Nebraska on the road will ask for more.

Sources: ESPN box score, play-by-play and team stats; Ohio State Athletics; the Associated Press; ABC7 Chicago; CBS Sports; TSN; FOX Sports.

Photo: Ohio State Athletics.