Scarlet Sunrise: After off week, Ohio State turns attention to Northwestern

Good morning, Ohio State fans, and welcome to the Scarlet Sunrise. Football will always be our focus, but every day we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Ohio State football, recruiting, basketball and more.

Ohio State turns attention to Northwestern to open second half of season

Ohio State didn’t play over the weekend, and since the Buckeyes hit the halfway point of the season, Lettermen Row looked back at the best of the first half of the season and previewed the second half.

• Handing out awards for Buckeyes at midway point of season
• Stardom arriving for Justin Fields ahead of schedule
• Absolutely dominant first half from Chase Young should get Heisman love
• Five bold predictions for Buckeyes in season’s second half

Ohio State holds steady in latest polls during off date

After a wild Saturday featuring upsets, Ohio State checks in at No. 4 in the latest Coaches Poll and AP Poll.

Alabama kept the top spot. Clemson, LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma rounded out the top five of the Coaches Poll. Georgia fell out of the top five after its loss. In the AP Poll, Alabama kept the top spot, but LSU jumped up to No. 2, while Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma rounded out the top five.

Ohio State has been able to stay in the top 10 throughout the season, and the Buckeyes have been steadily climbing each week. The key for Ohio State: just keep winning. And that’s what the Buckeyes are doing. They’re doing so by an average margin of 40.5 points per game.

Week Eight Coaches Poll (Oct. 13)

No. 1 Alabama

No. 2 Clemson

No. 3 LSU

No. 4 Ohio State

No. 5 Oklahoma

Week Eight AP Poll (Oct. 13)

No. 1 Alabama

No. 2 LSU

No. 3 Clemson

No. 4 Ohio State

No. 5 Oklahoma

Buckeyes open as huge favorite over Northwestern

After six straight weeks of domination, Ohio State has a weird week ahead of it.

The Buckeyes had an off week last week, and they’ll come off that week with a Friday night game at Northwestern. They’ll do so as a 25.5-point favorite against the Wildcats, according to VegasInsider.com.

The Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) have been a double-digit favorite in every game this season.Ohio State is 5-1 against the spread this season. The lone game the Buckeyes failed to cover the spread was against Florida Atlantic in the season opener. Northwestern is 2-3 against the spread.

Buckeyes pick up commitment from 4-star cornerback

Ohio State picked up an important commitment from 2020 cornerback Ryan Watts from Texas. Watts had been committed to Oklahoma before flipping and choosing the Buckeyes.

Watts is obviously a big piece for the Buckeyes recruiting effort, but what does his pledge mean for the Buckeyes moving forward? Lettermen Row recruiting expert Birm breaks it all down here.

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