When Ryan Day lines up across from Chip Kelly on Saturday, it will be the first time he has coached against the man he called a mentor, brother and uncle. That alone gives Ohio State’s matchup with Northwestern a different feel. But the football part is just as intriguing: Kelly has brought a wildly inventive offense to Evanston, and it has already given bigger, better defenses plenty of trouble.
Kelly’s reputation for creativity was on display long before he got to Northwestern. At Ohio State in 2024, he helped steer the Buckeyes to a national championship, and even his spring-game throwback to the wing-T grabbed attention.
He never leaned on that look during the season, but he still found ways to keep defenses guessing. One of the best examples came in the title game against Notre Dame, when Jeremiah Smith’s 8-yard touchdown came off a fake jet sweep look that froze the defensive back and opened an easy score.
Day knows exactly what he’s up against.
“When you look at what he’s done with the offense, it’s been impressive,” Day said. “I give him a lot of credit. It’s going to be a big challenge for our defense.”
Northwestern has leaned hard into that creativity this season, especially on the ground. The wing-T has become a major part of the package, and Penn State found out the hard way.
The Nittany Lions came in allowing no more than 180 rushing yards in a game, then got ripped for 413 yards and four touchdowns. That total is still the most rushing yards any Big Ten team has produced this year against a power-conference opponent.
The Wildcats’ version of the wing-T is not a pure throwback. Kelly has tweaked it, putting the extra running back outside the weakside tackle, which gives Northwestern more room to build motion and create confusion.
On one 47-yard run by Joseph Himon II, Penn State overreacted to the backfield movement and left a huge lane for Himon to burst through the A-gap. On another snap, Northwestern ran an option look from the other side, faked a handoff up the middle and slipped Himon off the tackle for 18 easy yards.
That kind of stuff has been a problem for defenses all season. Northwestern’s line has not been great in pass protection - it ranks 128th nationally in pressure rate at 41.2 percent, according to TruMedia - but the run game has been a different story. Himon, Caleb Komolafe and quarterback Nicco Marchiol have all been part of it, and Marchiol added 52 rushing yards in his first start last weekend.
Between those backs and the quarterback run game, Northwestern is averaging 2.65 yards before contact, fifth in the country. The Wildcats have also shown they can run it out of more conventional shotgun and pistol looks, not just the wing-T. Their best rushing day came against Penn State, but they also ran for 283 yards against Rutgers and 175 against Oregon.
Christian Alliegro said the constant motion and shifting formations force defenses to stay locked in.
“It’s old-school, and they’re really good at it,” Alliegro said.
That challenge comes at a time when Ohio State’s defense has had some communication issues of its own. The Buckeyes have given up three runs of more than 20 yards over the last two weeks, after allowing just three total in the seven games before the idle week. Alliegro said some of that showed up on Oregon’s 48-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and he pointed to communication as the fix.
“The main thing this week is going to be communication and getting guys lined up and just being able to have a good game plan going in,” Alliegro said. “We need to play fast, physical and not be hesitant.”
Northwestern will have to make do without its starting quarterback, Aidan Chiles, for the second straight game. Chiles has thrown for 1,898 yards, 13 touchdowns and one interception this season, but he has already been ruled out for Saturday.
Marchiol will get the start again after taking the Wildcats to a 24-10 loss in his first game at the controls. In that one, he passed for 181 yards and a touchdown while carrying the ball 23 times, more than Chiles has in any single game this season.
Even with Marchiol in the lineup, Northwestern did not scrap its identity. The Wildcats still used some wing-T looks and even showed a little shotgun-T.
Marchiol is a capable runner and can handle the read-option game, though the Iowa game showed how much disruption can throw the offense off. The Hawkeyes held Northwestern to 105 rushing yards, the second-lowest total of the season, and finished with eight tackles for loss and six sacks.
That’s the type of disruption Ohio State needs to bring. Since giving up 199 rushing yards to Illinois, the Buckeyes had settled down against the run, holding their next three opponents under 85 yards each.
But the last two games, both losses, exposed issues against unusual formations and in-space tackling. USC and Oregon combined for nine plays of 20 yards or more, and that’s the danger here: if Northwestern keeps the Buckeyes guessing, it can keep moving the chains and keep the game on its terms.
Ohio State’s path is clear. It has to force Northwestern to grind out every yard and handle the motion, misdirection and shifting looks without breaking down. If the Buckeyes do that, they can take control of the pace and the momentum for the first time in three weeks.
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