A grade card on Ohio State’s 21-17 win over Nebraska:
OFFENSE: D
Other than Will Howard throwing an interception in the third quarter the passing game had a decent day. Howard was 13 of 16 for 221 yards and all three of Ohio State’s touchdowns came on passes. Jeremiah Smith had a 60-yard touchdown catch, Carnell Tate had a 40-yard touchdown catch and Quinshon Judkins’ 9-yard touchdown catch with 6:04 left in the game put OSU ahead to stay.
Ohio State’s offensive line and its running game dragged the offense’s overall grade down, though.
OSU gained only 64 yards rushing and was successful on only 1 of 10 third-down conversions. Quinshon Judkins was the leading rusher with 29 yards on 10 carries and TreVeyon Henderson gained 25 yards on 10 carries.
The season-ending knee injury starting left tackle Josh Simmons suffered against Oregon two weeks ago took away the Buckeyes’ best offensive lineman and appears to have left a huge crater on the left side of the line that must be dealt with. Nebraska repeatedly went at Zen Michalski, who started at left tackle, and often was successful before he was helped off the field with a lower body injury late in the game.
Michalski shouldn’t have all the blame put on his shoulders, though. In the six quarters since Simmons went out of the Oregon game, Ohio State has run the ball 43 times for only 83 yards.
DEFENSE: B+
OSU’s defense rebounded well from a much-criticized performance against Oregon by adding what appeared to be some new tactics to get more pressure on the quarterback.
After having no sacks and only a couple of tackles for losses against Oregon, the defense got three sacks — one each by J.T Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton — and 13 tackles for losses against Nebraska.
The defense stepped up in a big way after Howard’s interception set the Cornhuskers up in a first-and-goal situation at OSU’s 7-yard line with the Buckeyes holding on to a 14-9 lead in the third quarter.
Nebraska ran the ball four times in a row but was stopped short of the goal line every time. On fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line Dante Dowdell attempted to leap over the line but was stopped short in mid-air.
Also, after Ohio State went ahead 21-17 late in the fourth quarter, the defense held Nebraska to 11 yards on its last two possesions and ended the Cornhuskers’ final drive with an interception by Jordan Hancock.
Linebacker Cody Simon led OSU with eight tackles and three tackles for losses. Two of those tackles for losses came on Nebraska’s final possession of the game.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Jayden Fielding missed a 42-yard field goal attempt that didn’t come close to being good. It was his first miss of the season. Only one of Joe McGuire’s five punts and one of Fielding’s four kickoffs were returned.
OVERALL: C
The offense didn’t have a good game. That’s obvious. The other units played well enough to let OSU avoid a stunning upset. The need for the offensive line to play better also was obvious.
