The Ohio State Buckeyes seem to have an edge over the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday night in Evanston with a Heisman-caliber quarterback in Braxton Miller, among others, who led the Buckeyes to a huge Big Ten win last week over the Wisconsin Badgers with their explosive offense. The Buckeye defense will have their work cut out for them, however, as the Wildcats have an explosive offense of their own led by quarterbacks Kain Colter and Trevor Siemian. That’s right, two quarterbacks leading their offense. They have been using a dual quarterback threat that has seemed to work for them so far and one that could cause some trouble for the Ohio State defense.
Colter is similar to Miller in that he is a threat to run with the ball, as well as pass it. Colter has thrown for 264 yards and has run for 237 yards for a total of six touchdowns this season. Siemian is more like Ohio State backup quarterback Kenny Guiton since he is more of a passer and not as much of a threat to run the ball. He has thrown for 671 yards and four touchdowns this season.
Despite having a defense that is ranked No. 18 in the country, the Ohio State defense may face some problems against this dual quarterback threat. They have been prone to giving up big plays and giving up a lot of yardage to opposing quarterbacks this season. The California Golden Bears quarterback Jared Goff and Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave combined to throw for 766 yards and five touchdowns against the Buckeyes. The Ohio State defense will have to worry about stopping returning running back Venric Mark as well, who is another vital part of the Wildcats’ offense.
Ohio State could give Northwestern a taste of its own medicine by using Miller and Guiton, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to be the case. Though Guiton is a good quarterback who filled Miller’s shoes well while he was injured, it looks like coach Urban Meyer is going to stick with a Miller-dominant offense that worked well for the Buckeyes last week against Wisconsin. Miller is a dual quarterback threat all on his own. He has always been a threat to run the ball but has become a more effective passer this season. Miller himself is going to give Northwestern’s defense enough trouble as it is.
With the ability of Miller to strike in the end zone early and often, the Buckeyes should have no reason to worry. The Ohio State defense was able to contain the Badgers’ running game well last week, though they did not do the same with the passing game, and they still came out with a win over a good Badgers team. The Buckeyes just need to continue doing what they have been doing well so far this season, and they will have no reason to worry.
Jenna Aquino is a Big Ten Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter, “Like” her on Facebook, or add her to your network on Google.
