Ohio State returns to Ohio Stadium at noon Saturday, November 14, hosting Northwestern in a matchup of 6-3 teams that both badly need a win, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s game coverage. The Buckeyes have lost two straight — to USC and then 41-28 to Oregon on November 7 — and sit just outside the College Football Playoff bracket entering the week, the Dispatch reported.
Northwestern arrives in Columbus on a two-game losing streak of its own, having fallen to Oregon and Iowa, and Saturday marks the Wildcats’ first visit to Ohio Stadium since 2018, according to the Dispatch. Kickoff is at noon ET on FOX, with streaming on FOX One and Fubo.
Both teams will play without their original starting quarterbacks. Northwestern’s Aidan Chiles is out for a second straight week, and the Wildcats scored just 10 points and went one for 11 on third-down tries without him against Iowa, the Dispatch reported. Ohio State’s Julian Sayin is out indefinitely, according to head coach Ryan Day, as the Dispatch reported.
The game also marks a homecoming of sorts on the opposing sideline. Chip Kelly, who served as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator on the 2024 national championship team, now leads Northwestern and faces Ryan Day for the first time, according to Eleven Warriors. Ohio State leads the all-time series 66-14-1, and Day is 4-0 against the Wildcats, Eleven Warriors reported.
The betting market still backs the home team. BetMGM listed Ohio State as a 14-point favorite with an over/under of 44.5 as of Thursday, November 12, according to the Dispatch, and Eleven Warriors reported the line had moved to Ohio State -13.5 after Chiles was ruled out. The National Weather Service forecast for Columbus called for mostly cloudy skies with a high near 45 degrees and a northwest wind of seven to 10 miles per hour, the Dispatch reported.
How the Buckeyes got here matters for what Saturday means. A team that began the season with championship expectations has dropped to 6-3, and the Dispatch reported ticket prices for the Northwestern game had fallen as low as $25 on the resale market — a striking sign of how the back-to-back losses have cooled demand in Columbus. A third straight loss would all but end any remaining playoff discussion; a win keeps Ohio State’s outside chance alive heading into the season’s final stretch.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: What we know is the matchup, the noon kickoff on FOX at Ohio Stadium, and that both starting quarterbacks from the start of the season are out, per the Dispatch. What we are still waiting on is the final result — the game kicks off at noon and had not been played when this preview was published — along with any late lineup decisions at game time.
Northwestern’s travel, at least, was not one of the week’s problems. The Wildcats’ team plane from Chicago landed in Columbus on schedule on November 13, before the FAA’s nationwide ground stop disrupted flights across the country, school spokespersons confirmed to the Dispatch.
The slide has also shown up in the polls. Ohio State enters Saturday at No. 20 in the Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the AP Poll — its lowest AP position since 2014 — according to reporting syndicated by Yardbarker from EssentiallySports. For a program accustomed to spending November in the top five, a noon kickoff as a two-touchdown favorite over Northwestern now carries an unfamiliar edge: lose, and the season’s goals narrow to a bowl game; win, and the Buckeyes at least keep the conversation going for another week.
Fans at home will hear a different broadcast crew as well. Although FOX carries the game as its Big Noon Saturday window, Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt are not on the call; Connor Onion handles play-by-play with Robert Griffin III providing color, according to Eleven Warriors.
Ohio State fans following the wider Ohio college weekend can also read our coverage of Cincinnati’s visit to Dayton in an early-season Ohio basketball clash and of Ohio State volleyball standout Govou’s career-high night against Wisconsin.
What happens next is simple: the Buckeyes and Wildcats kick off at noon, and the winner steadies its season while the loser absorbs a third straight defeat. Ohio State then closes its home schedule next week before the regular-season finale, with its playoff hopes hinging on winning out.
Photo: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA