COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two weeks after suffering its first loss of the season, Ohio State returned to action on Saturday for what figured to be a get-well game against struggling Nebraska. The only thing Ryan Day’s team got was a closer-than-expected win, 21-17, over a Cornhuskers team that was run off the field last week at Indiana.
Ohio State’s win keeps two long streaks intact. The Buckeyes have now won 45 consecutive games against unranked opponents while Nebraska saw its losing streak against AP-ranked teams extended to 27 games.
Here are some takeaways from Ohio State’s win.
Offensive woes
Losing left tackle Josh Simmons was always going to hurt, but it wasn’t supposed to look as bad as it did against Nebraska.
New left tackle Zen Michalski looked overmatched, giving up a sack on the first drive and struggling in both the run game and in pass protection. It was his first career start, so you expected some jitters, but he had a very tough time against a talented Nebraska defense.
But it wasn’t just Michalski — Ohio State’s offensive line as a whole didn’t hold up against the Cornhuskers.
The Buckeyes ran for only 64 yards, averaging just 2.1 yards per carry. It struggled to protect Will Howard, too, giving up two sacks and several more pressures.
When Howard had time, he looked good, outside of the interception in the third quarter. He completed 13 of 16 attempts for 221 yards and three touchdowns.
Still, it was a bad showing by an offense that was hoping to come to its dominance. Instead, it leaves with more questions about the offensive line than it had entering the season, and the coaching staff is to blame.
Michalski is a fourth-year player who should be better at this point in his career. And if Ohio State knew he wasn’t good enough, the staff should’ve hit the portal more aggressively to find more depth.
Ohio State’s offensive line looked like a strength just a few weeks ago, but it now might be what holds it back from contending for a national championship. — Teague Robinson
Raiola the runner?
Who knew Dylan Raiola could scramble like that? Raiola entered Saturday with a total of 31 positive rushing yards (and a net of minus-78 as a result of yardage lost on sacks). He busted off a 38-yard scramble on a third-and-10 play to the Ohio State 15 early in the second quarter — equal to the longest Nebraska gain on the ground since the season opener.
Raiola also moved the sticks with a 5-yard run on the Huskers’ third possession.
He’s got decent mobility but has appeared hesitant this season to take off, for obvious reasons. His right arm is more valuable to the Huskers. Raiola appeared to hurt his right shoulder on a third-down play late in the fourth quarter, but he returned for the next possession.
He finished the game 21-for-32 passing for 152 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
Nebraska doesn’t need its freshman quarterback to be a dual threat. But with a compromised running game, anything helps to keep the defense honest. The Buckeyes on defense appeared to give no thought to Raiola as a runner. When opponents in November do the same, if he can get positive yards, it helps everything for Nebraska. — Sherman
Nebraska defense shines
This was the Nebraska defense that played well in the first half of the season and went AWOL at Indiana a week ago. The Huskers held their own against Ohio State up front. They kept the Buckeyes without a first down in the third quarter. Nebraska exploited Michalski at left tackle and others in putting pressure on Howard, and it largely controlled explosive running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.
The Huskers got on their heels in allowing a 91-yard drive in the first quarter, aided by a pass-interference call on Malcolm Hartzog, and they got caught in a bad matchup with safety Isaac Gifford against Jeremiah Smith on an easy 60-yard touchdown throw. Ohio State put together a gutsy 75-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter after Nebraska took a 17-14 lead.
Otherwise, the Blackshirts showed that their performance against the Hoosiers was something of an anomaly. Nebraska can enter its final four games with confidence in Tony White’s group. If it plays as well as it did in frustrating Ohio State — the sixth-ranked offense nationally before Saturday — Nebraska will have a shot to win each of its final four games. — Sherman
(Photo of Will Howard: Adam Cairns/ USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
