Ohio State gets Northwestern on Saturday, and there’s more to watch here than just a team trying to stop a two-game skid. The Wildcats arrive at 6-3, 3-3 with former Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly on the other sideline, and they’ll have to navigate the matchup without their starting quarterback again.
Aidan Chiles will miss his second straight game because of injury. The Oregon State and Michigan State transfer has been a major reason Northwestern has stayed afloat this season, throwing for 1,898 yards with 13 touchdowns and only one interception while adding 274 rushing yards and 10 scores on the ground. With Chiles sidelined, Nicco Marchiol started against Iowa and should be in line to start again Saturday.
Kelly’s return to Columbus adds another layer to the game. He was Ohio State’s offensive coordinator during the 2024 national championship run before leaving for the Las Vegas Raiders, where he was fired in the same season he was hired.
He later landed at Northwestern and has done well there. In 2024, Ohio State averaged 37.2 points and 429.4 total yards per game.
In 2026, Northwestern is averaging 33.6 points and 438.1 yards per game.
One of the biggest problems for Ohio State’s defense will be Griffin Wilde. The Northwestern receiver has 49 catches for 813 yards and five touchdowns this season, and he’s averaging 16.6 yards per catch.
Over his career at South Dakota State and Northwestern, Wilde has piled up 211 receptions for 3,246 yards and 31 touchdowns. Keeping him in check will be a major job for the Buckeyes’ secondary.
Northwestern also enters the game with a new stadium situation that has drawn attention around college football. Ryan Field is gone in its old form, replaced by a new stadium using the same name.
On Sept. 22, 2021, Northwestern announced that the Ryan family had donated $480 million to the university to replace Ryan Field with a new stadium at the existing site.
The university estimated the project would generate a $1.3 billion economic impact for the Chicago area, including $659 million in economic impact to Evanston.
And while the game is in Columbus, Northwestern’s football history still carries one of the sport’s most infamous marks: a 34-game losing streak from 1979 to 1982. That remains the longest losing streak in college football history.
In Other News...
Ohio State Suddenly Has A Receiver Problem Before Northwestern
With both teams heading into Saturday already short at quarterback, Ohio States offensive picture has gotten a little murkier than expected. The Buckeyes were already preparing for life without their starter under center, but the injury report also puts a spotlight on the receiver room, where Brandon Inniss, Phillip Bell and Brock Boyd are all listed as questionable. That is a notable wrinkle for an offense that may need to lean on its depth and simplify things a bit against Northwestern.
The concern does not stop there, either. Running back JaKobi Jackson and tight end Max LeBlanc remain sidelined, which takes away more of the supporting cast around the passing game and limits some of the flexibility in the game plan. Northwestern has its own long list of absences, including starting quarterback Aidan Chiles and cornerback Josh Fussell, but for Ohio State the bigger issue is whether it can line up enough healthy targets to keep the offense moving cleanly. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Quarterback Future Suddenly Has Two Names To Watch
Julian Sayins season-ending injury changed the feel of Ohio States quarterback room in a hurry, and Luke Fahey has been the one asked to steady things since. The Buckeyes have dropped their last two games, which has only sharpened the conversation around what the position could look like beyond this stretch and how much help the staff may want to add if it decides the room needs another layer of depth.
Drake Lindsey at Minnesota and Marcus Stokes at Memphis have emerged as two names worth monitoring in that discussion, even if nothing is close to settled. Both quarterbacks bring production that makes them intriguing fits on paper, and both would give Ohio State another option to weigh as it looks ahead, but for now their transfer situations remain speculative and the Buckeyes are still in evaluation mode. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States 2027 Running Back Picture Just Got More Interesting
Ohio States 2027 running back board got a notable boost with the addition of Daylon Gordon, a four-star prospect from Wylie, Texas, who has now committed to the Buckeyes. Gordon had previously been pledged to Texas State, but his move gives Ohio State another highly regarded back in a class the staff is still actively shaping.
The commitment also keeps the door open for more movement at the position, since Ohio State is continuing to pursue additional running backs for the 2027 cycle. Gordons offer list already included multiple Power 4 schools, so his decision adds more weight to a class that is still far from finished and could become even more crowded before signing day arrives. [Read more 🡒]