No. 4 Ohio State at No. 16 Northwestern, 8 p.m.

10/5/2013

No. 4 Ohio State at No. 16 Northwestern

■ Time: 8 p.m.

■ Records: OSU 5-0, 1-0 Big Ten; NU 4-0, 0-0

■ TV: 13

■ Radio: 106.5

■ Series: OSU leads 59-14-1

■ Favorite: OSU by 7

■ Notes: Ohio State has won 28 of its last 29 meetings against Northwestern — few of which were competitive. In the Buckeyes’ three previous games against Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald, they won 54-10 in 2006, 58-7 in 2007, and 45-10 in 2008. ... Ohio State is the highest ranked opponent to visit Ryan Field since the No. 1 Buckeyes came to town in 2006. ... Northwestern is in search of its first win against a team ranked fourth or higher since beating No. 2 Oklahoma in 1959. The Wildcats also brought down fifth-ranked Iowa 14-10 in 1959, but have not toppled a top-five team since. ... ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast from Evanston for the first time since 1995. The popular weekly show also traveled to Wrigley Field for the NU-Illinois game in 2010. ... Expect the return of star Northwestern running back Venric Mark, who missed the last three games with a lower body injury. He ran for 1,366 yards and 12 TDs and was the Wildcats’ top return man last season. ... NU is averaging 41.2 points per game this season. OSU is sixth nationally with a 48.2-point average. ... The Buckeyes will turn first to senior Corey Brown to fill the starting safety spot opened during the past week by the season-ending ankle injury to captain Christian Bryant. Redshirt freshman Tyvis Powell and freshman Vonn Bell will also get a look.