A 52-17 score usually means that the winners didn’t have a lot of problems in the game.
Sometimes the numbers can be misleading.
The Buckeyes dominated Nebraska on the scoreboard but had some issues, especially early in the game. Most of the issues surrounded the running game on both offense and defense.
Nebraska rushed for 217 net yards against a revamped OSU defense. Most of those yards came from the quarterback position where Luke McCaffery rushed for 87 net yards and Adrian Martinez added 77 net yard for a total of 164 on the ground from the Nebraska quarterbacks.
The Buckeyes had their problems with a running quarterback, but defensively they had little trouble with anything else the Huskers did on offense. Cornhusker running backs produced a total of 55 net yards and the Nebraska passing game mustered only 160 total yards on 20 pass attempts.
Still, Nebraska moved the ball via the quarterback run, but couldn’t turn that production into a lot of scoring, which once again means that sometimes the numbers can be misleading.
Offensively the Buckeyes had problems establishing a tailback running game of their own. Master Teague and Trey Sermon got most the carries in the absence of the now-graduated J.K. Dobbins and to say that the sledding was tough would be kind, particularly early in the game. They did, however, have an answer in their own quarterback running game where Justin Fields regularly found ground yardage when the Buckeyes needed it. In the air, however, OSU dominated. Fields was an incredible 20-21 passing for 276 yards and two touchdowns for a 237.1 quarterback rating.
The game was relatively close until the Buckeyes went on a scoring binge late in the first half and early in the second half to put the game away.
Nebraska scored a touchdown with 8:24 remaining in the first half to tie the game at 14. The Buckeyes answered with a field goal with 3:12 remaining to make it 17-14. The OSU defense then rose up and got a stop and Garrett Wilson gave the offense favorable field position with his punt return. OSU quickly went 46 yards in five plays to put another touchdown on the board with just 1:10 left in the half. Teague went the final six yards on the drive to put OSU up 24-14. OSU took the second-half kickoff and and went 75 yards in five plays with fields going the last 17 on the ground to score. That made it 31-14 OSU and 17-straight points for the Buckeyes. They put the dagger in Nebraska on the Huskers following possession. Sevyn Banks scooped up a Nebraska fumble and returned it 55 yards for a score to make it 24 unanswered points and 38-14 on the scoreboard.
From that point on the OSU defense seemed to finally find its stride and shut out the Huskers the rest of the way. OSU’s running game also came to life with Steele Chambers getting four carries for 32 yards. His numbers weren’t huge, but his yardage came after OSU was backed up in the shadow of their own goal post inside the 10-yard line after a Nebraska punt. Chambers got them out of the hole with his running and helped keep the Huskers at bay.
OSU sophomore wide receiver Garrett Wilson had a great day receiving with seven catches for 129 yards and one touchdown. He averaged 18.4 yards per catch. He also added 23 yards on four punt returns.
Perhaps the most spectacular catch of the day was made by true freshman Jackson Smith-Njingba who snared a pass from fields in the back of the endzone and somehow managed to get a toe down in bounds to score the touchdown. The photo at the top of this page is that catch.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OSU ATHLETICS
We had an OL with Orlando Pace and Korey Stringer. This could never be OSU’s best OL.
The RB situation looks very questionable…but I think they can improve. It will definitely be a committee approach (and just go with the hot hand).
If we are fortunate enough to make the playoffs (big IF), the LB situation will be on full display.
Solid team this year. Win over TTUN and B1G Title are definitely attainable.
I understood why there weren’t many articles in the past, but now there’s no reason for hardly any articles now that the season started. I’ll get my info from eleven warriors from now on!
Borland still slower than most offensive linemen
Borland is probably a great guy but he is not a Big player. He is a MAC player. Because of the defensive line pressure the last few years. it has masked the problem of the linebackers. This year it has already been shown and it will get worse. This defense will remind you of 2018 against quality teams.
If the tailbacks continue to struggle, how about giving Demario McCall
a chance at RB ? He certainly has the lateral movement everyone says
is missing.
Why would he pass Chambers?
Watching McCall play his freshman year I thought he was going to have a very special career at OSU but he has become a ghost. I just noticed him on one kick return and he really did not look like his head was in the game on that play.
I hope we see more of Chambers against Penn State. I liked the way he ran in limited action against Nebraska and we were backed up so it was an important time in the game.
Is this the best OSU OL ever? The answer from Saturday is clear, but there’s room for improvement and the ceiling is limitless.