Ohio State Feels They "Have Something to Prove" Against Northwestern

Captain and starting cornerback Shaun Wade was among several Buckeyes that acknowledged the target on their back under intense scrutiny the next several days.

The national narrative right now is that the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes haven't proven enough on the field to be worthy of a College Football Playoff selection, even though they've been very impressive in their five games played this season.

While the Buckeye players themselves prepare for their biggest game to-date with a potential fourth Big Ten Championship looming on Saturday, several players spoke about some of the outside noise in the program ... particularly about fans across the country calling into question how the league changed the rules that put them in Saturday's game.

Their message was clear: they hear it and they don't care ... about any of it. Oh yeah, and they're out to prove a point on Saturday.

Junior cornerback and captain Shaun Wade, junior tight end Jeremy Ruckert and fifth year senior linebacker Baron Browning all shared their thoughts today with reporters in the video available above.

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With Tuesday night's announcement that the Top 5 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings have remained exactly the same for four consecutive weeks, the Scarlet and Gray are still in good position to make the playoffs with a win over Northwestern, but they may not have much margin for error.

Texas A&M has played three more games, with a very impressive win over Florida and only one loss to No. Alabama. After Florida lost to LSU last week, the Gators are extremely unlikely to make the field of 4, even if they upset Alabama. The Buckeyes should control their own destiny, but they don't intend to leave anything to chance.

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