Northwestern Pregame Picks: Staff Score Predictions, Picks Against the Spread and Eleven Warriors Prop bets

On By Littum

Football in a baseball stadium? Well, it’s weird, but still cool.

The fact that it’s somewhere like Wrigley Field makes it better and the matchup more interesting. Given that the game is in Chicago, paired with its uniqueness considering the venue, don’t be surprised if it’s essentially an Ohio State home game in terms of fans. Buckeye Nation will be out in full force in and around Wrigley Field this weekend.

The Buckeyes and Northwestern kick off at noon on the Big Ten Network.

As Ohio State prepares to take on the Wildcats, the Eleven Warriors staff expects another dominant performance by OSU in the Windy City.

Score predictions

Andy Anders – Ohio State 48, Northwestern 3: I think the Buckeyes end up with more possessions than they had against Purdue, and thus a slightly higher score. Northwestern’s pass defense is weaker than its run, so expect a big game from Will Howard and company.

Chase Brown – Ohio State 38, Northwestern 6: The more I think about this game, the more I believe Ohio State wants to come in and come out with a win and no injuries. That said, I think the Buckeyes will keep their game plan simple on both sides of the ball and advance to Indiana with a comfortable win at Wrigley Field.

George Eisner – Ohio State 35, Northwestern 3: Hey Chicago, what do you say? Bucks will win today!

Jack Emerson – Ohio State 42, Northwestern 7: Ohio State leaves The Friendly Confines with a no-doubt win over the Wildcats with a top-five finish
matchup awaits the Buckeyes next week.

Johnny Ginter – Ohio State 38, Northwestern 6: Ohio State’s streak of not allowing an offensive touchdown continues, but Wrigley is making everything weird and the Buckeyes aren’t breaking out offensively as much as we’d like to see before the Indiana game.

Matt Gutridge – Ohio State 42, Northwestern 7: The last time Ohio State played Northwestern in Illinois was the wind tunnel game in 2022. The weather isn’t going to save the nerds tomorrow.

Garrick Hodge – Ohio State 45, Northwestern 3: The Buckeyes once again cruise against another overmatched opponent, but the next two weeks will be very interesting.

Dan Hope – Ohio State 42, Northwestern 3: Ohio State will methodically dominate one of the Big Ten’s worst teams for the second straight week in what should be its last easy game of the season.

Kyle Jones – Ohio State 42, Northwestern 7: Ohio State looks a little awkward in the first quarter as they acclimate to the friendly setting, which will be packed with fans in scarlet and gray with just a hint of purple before pulling away for an easy W that pretty much is over at halftime.

Chris Lauderback – Ohio State 38, Northwestern 9: It could be… it could be… it is! A Bucks win! Holy cow!

Ramzy Nasrallah – Ohio State 31, Northwestern 7: Just get in, win and get the hell out of there.

Josh Poha – Ohio State 38, Northwestern 3: The Chicago Cubs averaged 3.94 runs per game at Wrigley Field this year. Will the Wildcats surpass the MLB team in the Cubs’ stadium? This game, played in an old MLB stadium that doesn’t offer much room behind the end zones, will be strange, but Ohio State will still take care of business against an inferior opponent. The pro-Buckeye crowd will have plenty to cheer about inside Wrigley. Just stay healthy, please.

Jason Priestas – Ohio State 41, Northwestern 6: Does everyone use baseball analogies? They are? Good. Look for Ohio State to go on the farm all afternoon at Wrigley Field, while Northwestern tries to answer with studs.

Jordan Raines – Ohio State 38, Northwestern 3: The Bucks look dominant again, pulling the starters earlier than last week for some extra rest before the big matchup with Indiana next week.

Will Ohio State cover?

After the Buckeyes opened as 30.5-point favorites over Northwestern, that number has dropped to 28.5 as of this morning.

While the entire 11W staff thinks OSU will dominate the Wildcats, Ramzy Nasrallah is the only one who doesn’t think the Buckeyes will cover the spread by four touchdowns, as he thinks Ohio State will only win by 24.

What about over/under?

The total opened at 43.5 and has risen slightly to 44.5 points as of this morning.

Given that no member of the 11W staff believes Northwestern will have double figures, with the majority picking the Wildcats to score a touchdown or less, OSU will be counted on to light up the scoreboard a bit for the total to hit over.

With that, eight staffers think the game will hit the final, while six staffers — Chase Brown, George Eisner, Johny Ginter, Ramzy Nasrallah, Josh Poha and Jordan Raines — don’t think the Buckeyes and Northwestern will reach the total 45 points.

Eleven Warriors Prop Bets

Looking for more lines to evaluate? Take a look at our in-house betting lines for this matchup to get a better sense of what oddsmakers expect from individual performances. Leave us your predictions in the comments and compete for bragging rights!

  • Will Carnell Tate score a touchdown in his first game back in Chicago?

  • Will Northwestern score more runs than the Chicago Cubs’ earned run average (3.94) at Wrigley Field this year?
  • Will Howard score another rushing touchdown?
  • Who wants more receiving yards?

    • Jeremiah Smith (-170)

    • Emeka Egbuka (+130)

  • Who wants more rushing yards?

    • Quinshon Judkins (-140)

    • TreVeyon Henderson (+120)