2020 Big Ten Football Championship Game
College football game
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The 2020 Big Ten Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 19, 2020, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The tenth annual Big Ten Football Championship Game, it determined the 2020 champion of the Big Ten Conference. The game was played between the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes out of the East division, and the No. 14 Northwestern Wildcats out of the West division. Sponsored by credit card company Discover, the game was officially known as the Big Ten Championship Game presented by Discover.
| 2020 Big Ten Football Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conference Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 19, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Lucas Oil Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Indianapolis, Indiana | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Trey Sermon, RB, Ohio State | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Ohio State by 16.5[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Kindergarten class | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Mark Kluczynski | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | none | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 3,178 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Fox | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst) and Jenny Taft (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 8.03 million | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Ohio State xy$^ | 5 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 Indiana | 6 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penn State | 4 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 2 | – | 3 | 2 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rutgers | 3 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 2 | – | 4 | 2 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 2 | – | 5 | 2 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 Northwestern xy | 6 | – | 1 | 7 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 16 Iowa | 6 | – | 2 | 6 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 3 | – | 3 | 4 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 3 | – | 4 | 3 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 3 | – | 5 | 3 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 2 | – | 4 | 2 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 2 | – | 6 | 2 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: Ohio State 22, Northwestern 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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History
The 2020 Championship Game was the tenth in the Big Ten's 125-year history and the seventh to feature the conference's East and West alignment. East division champion Ohio State won the 2019 game over West division champion Wisconsin by a score of 34–21.[3]
Teams
Ohio State and Northwestern faced each other in the Big Ten Championship Game for the second time. Ohio State won the first championship game between the two schools, in 2018.
Northwestern
Northwestern booked their place in the Championship Game by winning the West Division with a record of 6–1 (6–1 Big Ten). The Wildcats were making their second appearance in the Championship Game, with the only previous appearance coming in 2018 against Ohio State. The Wildcats were ranked 14th in the College Football Playoff rankings heading into the game.
Ohio State
Ohio State secured their place in the Championship Game by winning the East Division with an undefeated 5–0 (5–0 Big Ten) regular season record. This was Ohio State's sixth appearance in the Championship Game, and fourth consecutive. They were the three-time reigning conference champions. The Buckeyes were ranked fourth in the College Football Playoff rankings heading into the game.
Originally, Ohio State would not have qualified to play in the championship game due to the Big Ten's six-game minimum rule that was adopted in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that rule was eliminated shortly after Ohio State's final game, against Michigan, was canceled.[4] This allowed the Buckeyes to advance to the Championship game at 5–0 over Big Ten East runners-up Indiana, who finished 6–1.
Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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| No. 14 Northwestern | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 4 Ohio State | 3 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 22 |
at Lucas Oil Stadium • Indianapolis, Indiana
- Date: Saturday, December 19, 2020
- Game time: 12:18 p.m. EST
- Game weather: n/a (game played indoors)
- Game attendance: 3,178
- Referee: Mark Kluczynski
- TV announcers (Fox): Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst) and Jenny Taft (sideline)
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Statistics
| Statistics | NU | OSU |
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| First downs | 19 | 24 |
| Plays–yards | 71–329 | 71–513 |
| Rushes–yards | 34–105 | 44–399 |
| Passing yards | 224 | 114 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 24–37–2 | 12–27–2 |
| Time of possession | 28:40 | 31:20 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern | Passing | Peyton Ramsey | 24/37, 224 yards, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Cam Porter | 16 carries, 61 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman | 8 receptions, 103 yards | |
| Ohio State | Passing | Justin Fields | 12/27, 114 yards, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Trey Sermon | 29 carries, 331 yards, 2 TD[a] | |
| Receiving | Julian Fleming | 4 receptions, 53 yards |