COLUMBUS, Ohio | Not even 285 yards of total offense by NIU running back Garrett Wolfe could keep Ohio State from defeating the Huskies 35-12 Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

“This is the worse loss I’ve endured as a player at NIU,” Wolfe said. “[OSU] played hard throughout the entire game, but we made some mistakes.”

Wolfe ran for 171 yards while catching five passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.

NIU’s first five offensive possessions resulted in four punts and an interception thrown by quarterback Phil Horvath.

Meanwhile, Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith was busy directing three touchdown drives, which included a 58-yard touchdown pass to junior Ted Ginn Jr.

OSU took a 28-0 lead on an eight-yard touchdown run by freshman Chris Wells before the Huskies finally cracked the scoreboard with 6:16 left in the second quarter.

NIU kicker Chris Nendick’s 35-yard field goal brought the score to 28-3 to end the half.

“Everyone wants the chance to play the No. 1 team,” said NIU senior cornerback Alvah Hansbro. “A tidal wave would be a good way to put it because it all came at once, and that’s when mistakes start happening.”

Coming out of halftime, senior defensive end Ken West said the Huskies came out with the mindset that the game had started over at 0-0. Had that been the case, NIU would have won, as it outscored OSU 9-7 in the second half.

But Novak stressed that he’d rather play the No. 1 team in the nation than an easier opponent.

“When you play against cupcake U,” Novak said, “You don’t know what you have at the end of the game.”

However, 24 hours after the end of Saturday’s game, OSU will be an afterthought. Wolfe said the team has one day to reflect on their positives and negatives and then must move on.

“It came down to that we didn’t execute,” Wolfe said. “We got in the red zone three or four times and only scored one touchdown.”

Sean Connor is an NIU football beat reporter for the Northern Star.