LINCOLN, Neb. — Ready to watch all four quarters of an Ohio State game?
Well, you might have to wait at least another week. If Las Vegas is the arbiter of the future, the Buckeyes are going to beat Nebraska with ease Saturday, as they are favored by 17 points.
The meat of Ohio State’s schedule has arrived, with games against Nebraska, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Wisconsin over the next five weeks. In Nebraska, Ohio State is facing a team that’s desperate to give its fan base a taste of the 1990s and jump start the Scott Frost era.
Three things to watch when the Buckeyes and Cornhuskers meet at 7:30 p.m. Saturday:
1. Ohio State’s defense is much improved. Nebraska’s is not.
Do we really need to explain again how bad the Buckeyes’ defense was last season? I didn’t think so. The new-look unit has made incredible strides through four games, ranking second in yards allowed and third in points per game. It’s taken Ohio State from a team that could score a lot of points, but didn’t stand a chance against the nation’s best teams, to being elite and capable of winning the national championship. Nebraska and its famous Blackshirt defense is still picking up the pieces of years-long struggles. The Cornhuskers rank 56th in yards allowed and 62nd in points per game, marginal improvements from last year. Can they beat Ohio State? Sure. But it would come as a surprise if you compare the teams on paper.
2. Adrian Martinez will be the best player OSU’s defense has faced all season.
The sophomore quarterback has the “look,” according to teammates. What, exactly, is the look? When Martinez believes he can do anything on the football field, a skill he exhibited in practice this week. Nebraska passed for more than 300 yards and rushed for more than 300 yards against Illinois last week, only the second time in school history the team has accomplished that feat. Martinez has 1,052 passing yards, 234 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns, and two interceptions through four games. Of course, he’ll have to navigate Chase Young on Saturday.
3. Ohio State could further separate itself from the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes are already the class of the Big Ten. Yet another blowout victory, this time against the preseason Big Ten West favorite, would catapult them even more. Wisconsin appears to be OSU’s chief competition, with games against Michigan State, Penn State, and Michigan not exactly sending shivers down Ohio State’s spine. The season is still young and teams can improve. At this point, though, it looks like the gap between the Buckeyes and the rest of the Big Ten is widening.
First Published September 27, 2019, 1:06 p.m.
