5 players with a lot on the line in Big Ten Championship Game

The Big Ten Championship Game is here and we’ve got one team (Northwestern) that’s never been here and another team (Ohio State) that always seems to be here. So it should be quite a party when the Buckeyes and Wildcats square off at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (8 p.m. ET; TV: Fox)

Northwestern wrapped up the Big Ten West three weeks ago and finished 8-1 in the league, but just 8-4 overall after nonconference losses to Duke, Akron and Notre Dame. The Wildcats have won 15 of their last 16 Big Ten games.

Ohio State punched its ticket with a resounding 62-39 victory over Michigan last week to claim the Big Ten East. The Buckeyes were also 8-1 in the league and 11-1 overall. They are still holding out hope for a College Football Playoff spots with a big win on Saturday night.

Here’s a few guys with a lot on the line in the Big Ten title game:

1. Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State quarterback

It’s been a record-setting year for Dwayne Haskins, the Ohio State quarterback. He already has thrown for 4,021 yards this season, with a whopping 42 touchdown passes and only 7 interceptions. He’s thrown for five or more touchdowns in four different games this season and has played his best at the biggest moments, including last week’s beatdown of Michigan. Northwestern’s defense has been pretty good, but they haven’t seen anything like Haskins and this explosive Ohio State passing game.

2. Isaiah Bowser, Northwestern running back

Northwestern’s offense has been like night and day since freshman running back Isaiah Bowser has been inserted in the starting lineup. If the Wildcats are going to win Saturday night, he needs to have a big game and help the Wildcats sustain long drives. Keeping Ohio State’s offense of the field is the best way to stop it. Bowser has rushed for all but 2 of his 736 yards yards in the last six games, and has gone over 100 yards four times. He had 165 against a very good Iowa defense and 166 in the season finale against Northwestern last week. He needs one more big day on Saturday.

3. J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber, Ohio State running backs

These two guys are attached at the hip anyway, so we’ll list them together here as well. It’s going to be important for Ohio State to run the ball well and sustain long drives. They should both have big days. With a championship game to go plus a bowl game — or better yet, a playoff  game or two — it’s going to be interesting to see if they guys can EACH get to 1,000 yards this season. Right now, Dobbins has 961 yards and Weber 807.

4. Clayton Thorson, Northwestern quarterback

Northwestern senior Clayton Thorson has 10,223 career passing yards, 357 shy of Brett Basanez’s 10,580 yards, which is the school record. It might be a stretch — OK, a big stretch — for him to break that Saturday night, but you never know. He’s been that good during his very long Northwestern career. It seems like he’s been there forever.  “The guy has got 51 straight starts,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said. “He’s a (future) NFL quarterback, so we need to make sure we understand how that fits into their entire offense. He’s a very accurate passer. He understands scheme very well. You’re not going to trick him with coverages and things like that. Although he’s thrown 12 interceptions, he’s very, very smart with the football. Not all of (the interceptions) are he got tricked and threw a pick. Some of them are tipped balls. It’s not all what you would think.”

5. Damon Arnette and Kendall Sheffield, Ohio State cornerbacks

For more than a month now, Ohio State’s once-vaunted defense has really struggled but then they turned it up a notch against their arch-rivals and made Michigan look silly. If there’s any sort of letdown Saturday night, cornerbacks Damon Arnette and Kendall Sheffield might get picked on. It’s up to this pair to make sure that doesn’t happen. They need to finish this one off in style, and have a big night with no miscues.

Tom Brew

Tom Brew has been a recognized reporter in Big Ten sports for decades. Among other projects, he writes about Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.