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Ohio State Buckeyes © |
Northwestern Wildcats |
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Played November 11, 2006 at Ryan Field Evanston, Illinois |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Ohio State © | 5 | 28 | 8 | 1 | .770 | 16 | 1 | 1 | .917 | 10 | 2 | 0 | .833 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | ||||
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Ohio State |
21 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 54 |
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Northwestern |
0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
The top-ranked, 10-0 Ohio State Buckeyes with coach Jim Tressel traveled to Evanston to meet the 3-7 Northwestern Wildcats of coach Pat Fitzgerald. After a lack-luster offensive performance against Illinois the previous week, Ohio State was intent on re-establishing their dominance. Buckeyes' Heisman Trophy winning, All-American QB Troy Smith threw 4 touchdown passes while the defense forced 5 turnovers as Ohio State coasted to a 54-10 victory over the Wildcats. The Buckeyes took control quickly when All-American LB James Laurinaitis forced a fumble from Northwestern's WR Shaun Herbert on just the fourth play of the game. Ohio State's S Brandon Mitchell recovered the ball at the Ohio State 45-yard line & the Buckeyes used five plays to go the 55 yards for the touchdown. Smith found WR Brian Hartline for the score on a 14-yard touchdown pass. The Wildcats next possession ended similarly as Northwestern's QB C.J. Bacher fumbled with Ohio State's All-Big Ten CB Antonio Smith recovering at the Northwestern 27-yard line. Four plays later, Buckeyes' RB Antonio Pittman bounced to the outside & scored from a yard out giving Ohio State a 14-0 lead just 5:35 into the game. After exchanging punts, Mitchell returned an interception from Bacher 46 yards for a 21-0 Ohio State lead. The Wildcats got on the board early in the 2nd quarter when PK Joel Howells connected on a 29-yard field goal. Another Buckeyes' score appeared imminent before Pittman fumbled at the Northwestern 6-yard line. The Wildcats' DE Corey Wootton recovered the ball for a touchback but Northwestern was forced to try a punt. The Buckeyes blocked the punt & threw plays later, Smith hit Hartline on a 9-yard touchdown pass giving Ohio State a 27-3 lead after Wootton blocked the extra-point attempt. The Wildcats only touchdown came on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Bacher to RB Tyrell Sutton. The Buckeyes' finished the 1st half scoring with a perfectly thrown pass from Smith to All-Big Ten WR Ted Ginn, Jr. for a 34-yard touchdown pass as Northwestern tried to blitz leaving single coverage for Ginn, Jr. Ohio State got touchdowns from WR Anthony Gonzalez, on a 6-yard touchdown pass, & from RB Chris Wells, on a 1-yard run, in the 3rd quarter pushing the lead to 47-10 entering the final quarter. The final touchdown came on a 4-yard touchdown run by Buckeyes' back-up QB Todd Boeckman. Smith finished with 185 yard passing with 4 touchdowns & an interception. For Northwestern, Bacher threw for 212 yards with a touchdown & 2 interceptions. The Wildcats finished the season 4-8 while the Buckeyes finished 12-1, Big Ten Champions & ranked 2nd nationally. Northwestern has not played for The Belt again.
