by Coming off their second bye week of the season, the Ohio State football team will return to action at home on Saturday against Nebraska. The last time we saw these Buckeyes was in their frustrating defeat at the hands of Oregon two weeks ago, and it’s safe to say that everyone is beyond ready to get the bad taste out of their mouths.
Nebraska is one of the more interesting teams in college football, as after years of struggling, second-year Head Coach Matt Rhule looks to have the best Cornhusker team in years. So far, they’re 5-2 and even if they lost every game from here on out, they’d still tie for the most wins by the program since 2016. Rhule, the former head coach of the Carolina Panthers, really looks like he’s turning things around in Lincoln, and it starts with true freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola.
Buckeye fans know a thing or two about true freshman superstars themselves, but Raiola is the real deal. A former Ohio State and Georgia commit, the five-star flipped his commitment to Nebraska last second, earning the starting job in camp and for the most part, has not disappointed. So far, Raiola has thrown for 1,592 yards and nine touchdowns to go along with six interceptions. While he’s inexperienced, the talent is clearly there and the pro comparison to Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes, both in appearance and style, is a common one.
While Rhule and Raiola certainly have the program headed in the right direction, there are still a lot of holes that need to be filled and the rest of the offensive skill position players are no exception. The leading rusher for the Cornhuskers is sophomore Dante Dowdell, an Oregon rusher with 350 yards and five touchdowns. Emmett Johnson also gets touches, with 231 yards on the year. In the receiving room, Nebraska goes with quantity over quality, with Jahmal Banks, Isaiah Neyor, Thomas Fidone III, Jacory Barney Jr. and Rahmir Johnson all accruing over 19 catches each so far. Defensively, the Cornhuskers also have among the most average defenses in the Big 10, with a susceptibility for big plays.
Looking at Nebraska’s schedule, they got off to a hot start to the year, going 3-0 and beating Colorado, one of the most interesting teams in the country, in Week 2. They took an unfortunate home loss to Illinois in Week 4, but won their next two games against Purdue and Rutgers before getting absolutely dismantled at the hands of Indiana last week, who all of a sudden is looking like a playoff hopeful.
For Ohio State, the defense will have the most critical eyes on them. They looked bad against Oregon, like really bad, and fans will sleep much better at night if they can see the unit start to look like themselves again. The defensive line, which is usually a strength, has slowed down lately, and many people are wondering if J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer, the starting edge rushers, are really more effective than backups Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Caden Curry. Sawyer has been pretty good this year, but it’s overdue to be critical of the performance of Tuimoloau.
The linebacker core seems to have been established, with Cody Simon and Sonny Styles taking almost all the reps and Arvell Reese and C.J. Hicks fading into the second unit. While it’s still a work in progress, the pairing of Simon and Styles are slowly getting better.
The secondary is a different story. Denzel Burke, the Buckeyes’ number one corner, got absolutely torched a couple weeks ago and that should be incredibly troubling. What should be even more troubling is the lack of other guys stepping up to make up for Burke. Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock each made costly mistakes late in the game and Jermaine Mathews Jr., the fourth cornerback with loads of potential, didn’t even see any defensive snaps. To add to the frustration, Lathan Ransom apparently went down with a foot injury in practice last week and is likely out for a while. There’s only so much ground Caleb Downs can cover, folks.
Offensively, look for Will Howard to continue to improve. He may have made the game-ending error versus Oregon, but we shouldn’t let that make us forget that he actually played a very good game. If he can continue to look like that, the talk of poor quarterback play will dissipate and fast.
Running back Quinshon Judkins had his worst game of the season two weeks ago, and it now looks like a hand injury was hindering him. He underwent a minor procedure last week but isn’t expected to miss any game time. Look for TreVeyon Henderson to pick up the slack and build on his explosive runs of late. Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka have been outstanding all year, but it’s time we see the likes of Carnell Tate and Gee Scott Jr. see some more targets. Getting them involved should make things so much easier for the superstar playmakers.
The offensive line, who has turned from a negative to a positive this season, is in the midst of change following the season-ending injury to left tackle Josh Simmons. Simmons was fabulous this year, working his way into first rounds in 2024 NFL mock drafts, but will now have to be replaced. Zen Michalski filled in against Oregon and it looks like he has won the job on a permanent basis. There were talks of moving right guard Tegra Tshabola to left tackle and utilizing Austin Siereveld to play guard like he did earlier in the year when Donovan Jackson was injured, but it’ll likely be Michalski that slots in. With that, more pressure will be on center Seth McLaughlin, who has been great this year, as well as Josh Fryar, Jackson and Tshabola.
At the end of the day, Ohio State should beat Nebraska. Every time. Buckeye fans aren’t used to losing this early in the season, so please, let’s make things right and move onto Penn State in a couple weeks.
