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Turnovers doom Wildcats as Ohio State beats Northwestern for Big Ten Championship

The Buckeyes win the title, but don’t look very impressive when not running the ball. It’s still likely enough for the College Football Playoff.

Earnest Brown IV of the Northwestern Wildcats tackles Trey Sermon of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first quarter of the Big Ten Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 19, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Behind a record-setting performance from running back Trey Sermon, the Ohio State Buckeyes have repeated as Big Ten champions with a 22-10 win over the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis.

Sermon rushed for 331 yards and three touchdowns, but his team seemed to want to do everything but run the ball for the first three quarters. The Buckeyes averaged 9.3 yards per carry in a dominating performance against the highly-rated defense of the Wildcats.

OSU entered as a 19-point favorite, but needed three turnovers from NU quarterback Peyton Ramsey to find the victory. Ramsey was just 24-37 for 224 yards with two interceptions. His opposite Justin Fields basically ended his Heisman Trophy campaign as well, going just 12-27 for 114 yards and two interceptions

With the win, No. 4 Ohio State must now wait for the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. No. 5 Texas A&M beat Tennessee 34-13 on the road, No. 6 Iowa State lost in the Big 12 Championship, and No. 7 Cincinnati is yet to play Tulsa for the American Conference Championship.