by Photo via Associated Press
On Saturday afternoon, the No. 4 Ohio State football team returned to the field for the first time since their suspense-filled loss to Oregon. With no game last week due to a bye, everything looked in place for a statement win at home against Nebraska, but despite pulling out a 21-17 victory, things looked anything but convincing. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest takeaways from the game.
Offensive line flounders without Simmons
When left tackle Josh Simmons went out for the year with a knee injury against Oregon, we knew things would get harder. We just didn’t know they’d be this hard. Simmons’ replacement, Zen Michalski, did not look good at all in his first start and his day ended early with an injury. As of now there’s no indication for how long Michalski will be out or if he’ll even be out at all, but Luke Montgomery came in to replace him at guard while Donovan Jackson slid over to tackle.
The lack of consistency in the offensive line also clearly hindered the running game, which has slowed down dramatically in recent weeks. The unit combined for just 64 yards on the ground, with Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson going for 29 and 25 yards, respectively, on 10 carries each. Judkins reportedly has been hindered with a hand issue recently, but the supposed two-headed monster of a backfield has absolutely got to get back into form. The best way to start that is to see improved offensive line play, and a big part of that is finding the right guys to fill in for the injured.
Defense overcomes adversity
Now it’s time for some positivity. The defense looked horrendous against Oregon (O.K., that’s not very positive), but today, it looked much, much better. The pressure has never been higher on defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ group, but they came to play today.
The unit fought off some serious adversity, as it was announced before the game that veteran safety Lathan Ransom would be unavailable with an injury. To a secondary that has looked shaky, that hurts, but they did a really nice job, especially freshman Jaylen McClain who started the game in place of Ransom. Jordan Hancock also took reps at safety, moving over from his nickel spot and played well, recording a forced fumble and sealing the game with a very intelligent interception. Davison Igbinosun and Denzel Burke both still had their moments of question, but Caleb Downs was stellar once again. He’s turning out to be one of the best safeties the Buckeyes have had in years. Additionally, linebacker Arvell Reese played more snaps than in previous weeks.
Speaking of Reese, he was ejected from the game on a very questionable targeting call late in the fourth quarter. With just over three minutes remaining, Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola threw a pass across the middle that was caught by wide receiver Jahmal Banks before Reese absolutely crushed him, causing the ball to pop out and be recovered by Sonny Styles. However, upon further review, Reese, while he didn’t lead with his helmet, went forcefully into the head and neck area of Banks and was ejected. He’ll miss the first half of the Penn State game next week as a result.
Finally, the defensive line got back to wreaking havoc. J.T. Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton all recorded sacks and the unit that went into the season as a strength seems to be back to looking that way.
Howard makes mistake, but is efficient on the day and outduels Raiola
Not to go back to Oregon once again, but Howard’s overall performance was one of the few positives that could be taken away. This week, he went 13-for-16 with 221 yards as well as three touchdowns and a pick. He was efficient and looked pretty good on his completions, but his interception was not good. He badly overthrew Egbuka right into the arms of Cornhusker defender Malcolm Hartzog Jr. that put Nebraska in very good field position.
Many people (including me) are still high on Howard, but the lapses in judgment are going to keep burning the Buckeyes. However, he did get the better of the true freshman Raiola, who is at the exact opposite point in his career than Howard. People seem to forget about the alternate universe where Raiola never decommits from Ohio State, meaning that Howard probably wouldn’t have ever come to Columbus. In this universe, though, Howard is the victor today and Raiola can head home in defeat (for now). It should also be stated that the playcall from offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was atrocious. Just saying.
New face at the top of the receiving room
Lastly, for the first time all season, neither Jeremiah Smith nor Emeka Egbuka led the team in receiving yards. Sophomore Carnell Tate, a former five-star recruit, earned that honor today with four catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. After the Oregon game, we said that Kelly needs to get Tate more involved in the game plan and he did just that. Both early and late in the game, Tate showed up in crucial spots and without him, the outcome of the game could have been different. Let’s keep that going.
Also, it should be stated that Smith kept his stellar season going with three catches for 70 yards and a big touchdown. We’re getting closer and closer to record breaking territory.
Overall, a win is a win and now we need to move on. The tight victory could cause the Buckeyes to move down a bit in the AP Poll, but that shouldn’t matter too much because looming next week is a road game in an always tough environment at No. 3 Penn State. However, Ohio State hasn’t lost to the Nittany Lions since 2016 and this team is more than capable of extending that streak.
