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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The problems that have bogged down Ohio States offense put the Buckeyes in a bind again. J.T. Barrett and Ohio State did enough in the fourth quarter against Northwestern to avoid a second consecutive upset loss.Curtis Samuel ran for a 3-yard touchdown with 9:43 left to give No. 6 Ohio State a lead, and Barrett converted two third downs on the game-sealing drive in a 24-20 victory Saturday.After being upset by Penn State last week, the Buckeyes offense struggled against another multi-touchdown underdog. Ohio State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) punted on five straight drives in one stretch, but responded to Northwestern tying it at 17 with a touchdown drive, capped by Samuels run.Northwestern (4-4, 3-2) then got to the Ohio State 3, but settled for a 33-yard Jack Mitchell field goal to close to 24-20 with 3:31 left. The Buckeyes mounted a final clock-eating drive. Barrett hit Noah Brown for 16 yards on third-and-8 and then took off on a 35-yard run to convert a third-and-10 and put the Buckeyes in the clear.It was a pretty good chess match back and forth, and I just loved the way we finished it off, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said.Barrett, who has struggled finding open receivers and whose offensive line had difficulty protecting him last week, was 21 for 32 for 223 yards, but he didnt complete a pass over 19 yards until the fourth quarter when K.J. Hill turned a sideline completion into a 34-yard gain.Im comfortable where were at, Barrett said. I know theres things we can absolutely be better at as far as our offense. Were executing.Mike Weber rushed 14 times for 87 yards and two touchdowns, the first coming on Ohio States opening drive. He found the end zone again in the second quarter, chugging around the right end for a 23-yard score.Samuel ran the ball seven times and caught seven passes for 99 total yards.Clayton Thorson was 25 for 42 for 256 yards with a touchdown and a first-quarter interception for Northwestern. Austin Carr, the Big Tens leading receiver, caught eight passes for 158 yards.It obviously didnt start the way we wanted it to, spotting them a couple scores, but the guys didnt flinch and kept swinging, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. And, you know, we ended up one punch short.THE TAKEAWAYNorthwestern: The Wildcats continue to improve and showed their Big Ten wins werent a fluke. They nearly pulled off another one in Ohio Stadium. Still, the Wildcats have not won in Columbus since 1971.We came here to win, and not getting it done is bitterly disappointing, Fitzgerald said.Ohio State: Smarting from last weeks upset, the Buckeyes at least escaped with a win over a big underdog. But problems with their passing game persist, and they need to improve to get through the rest of the schedule unscathed.Were a project, were still working things out, Meyer said. But I promise you, Im going to enjoy this win.POLL IMPLICATIONSOhio States effort might cost it a spot or two in the AP Top 25.AT THE DOOR STEPNorthwestern had a chance to take the lead with first-and-goal on the Ohio State 3 with 4:36 left in the game. But a 2-yard loss on a keeper by Thorson, a holding penalty and two incomplete passes forced a field goal try from the Ohio State 15. Fitzgerald said it was a long fourth-and-goal so he opted to kick the field goal and try to stop the Buckeyes on the next drive, which backfired.We had two chances to get stops on long third downs, and we didnt get it done, he said.INJURY REPORTStarting Ohio State wide receiver Parris Campbell left the game after he was injured blocking for Samuel in the fourth quarter. Meyer said hes got a sprained ankle. X-rays showed its not broken.UP NEXTNorthwestern: The Wildcats return home to play No. 11 Wisconsin.Ohio State: The Buckeyes host No. 7 Nebraska.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.orgFollow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacy Wholesale Running Shoes Canada . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. Cheap Running Shoes Canada . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. http://www.discountrunningshoescanada.com/ . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. Discount Running Shoes Canada . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Clearance Running Shoes Canada . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. TWICKENHAM -- Eddie Jones has backed George Ford to surpass Beauden Barrett as the worlds best fly-half in the wake of his commanding performance in Englands 58-15 win over Fiji on Saturday.While Jones faced the press at Twickenham soon after Englands nine-try victory, Barrett was putting in his own man-of-the-match performance for the All Blacks against Ireland.Barrett was crowned World Rugbys Player of the Year -- Jones made the tongue-in-cheek comment Kiwis run everything mate. When you run everything, youve got a good chance of winning it-- last Sunday but Jones feels Ford has the potential to take the Kiwi playmakers crown in the future.I think he can be better than Beauden Barrett - no doubt about that, Jones said. People rave about Beauden Barrett but I dont.It was Fords alignment in the backs that pleased Jones so much along with his role in phase play. He feels the Bath fly-half, whose club future is up in the air, is embracing a sense of security with England but wants him to improve his attacking game with ball in hand.I just think hes got a great feel for the game, Jones continued. He sees opportunities. He needs to work on his running game a bit, which we will work on. He needs to be more of a threat himself. Hes actually too selfless. He needs to be a bit more selfish with the ball at times and he will start to develop that in his game.?Ford has started all but one match in the Jones era with the anomaly coming against Australia in that first Test in Brisbane but even then he was introduced after just 29 minutes to work in tandem with Owen Farrell.The week leading up to the match against Fiji included fresh speculation over the fly-halfs Bath future with him reportedly assessing his options ahead of the summer but on Saturday he played with a calm, assuredness despite being on the wrong end of some rough justice from the opposition.dddddddddddd.Ford agrees with Jones that he needs to attack the line more and says the England coach challenges him on his alignment and when to be flatter and deeper. But aged just 23, Ford still has room to grow into and he dedicates his time away from the field learning from other fly-halves past and present.I try to watch as many games as possible, especially the other fly-halves around the world, Ford said. Its intriguing to watch how the others play, how they manage the game, how they attack, how they defend, their kicking game.You can always pick things up and learn things and be a student of the game and learn by watching as many games as possible and by learning from the best players in the world. Its something I enjoy doing.England now turn attention to Argentina as they look to stretch their unbeaten run to 13 games, 12 of which have come under Jones. They have George Kruis, Jonny May and Mike Brown back in contention to face the Pumas and Jones is focusing on finding the right tactics to tackle Argentinas unpredictability.Argentina are a tricky side, not an easy side to play against and were going to have to prepare really well to beat them, Jones said. Its about finding the right balance between playing structured and unstructured.We need to get an advantage in the set piece which is difficult against them, so weve got to find ways to do that, and then make them play unstructured rugby from situations theyre not great in. ' ' '