The game didn’t end how the Husker’s wanted but Nebraska showed up on defense and stopped one of the most prolific offenses in the country. Nebraska had three, yes three field goals coming from Hohl. After being 1 of 5 on the year, today John Hohl was 3 of 3 with a 54 yard long. Nebraska got slapped last week and didn’t seem to like the taste it left in their mouth as they gave Ohio State everything they could handle today in Columbus.
Dylan Raiola showed the fire that was needed. Raiola wears number 15 for Tim Tebow, not Patrick Mahomes and today he showed a Tebow like fire taking off on multiple drive extending runs. Going 21/32 for 152 yards and rushing for 39 yards Dylan Raiola played very well. The true freshman fell short on the final drive but showed huge improvement this week in comparison to the last 3 weeks. Most importantly, Raiola showed immense heart and drive to win today. Another true freshman, Jacory Barney led the team in receptions with 7 for 49 yards. While Fedone reeled in 55 yards and Neyor and Banks combined for 27 yards. Early Raiola was shaken by the pass rush but settled in when the rushing game picked up in the second half.
Dowdell had a great game on the ground rushing for 60 yards on 14 carries. Nebraska started to open up holes in the second half and finally established a run game. Emmett Johnson and Raiola also had a combined 61 rushing yards on 17 carries. The offensive line held off Ohio States pass rush and opened up holes that led to multiple runs of 10 yards or greater. Dowdell ran like a Big Ten starting running back today making himself very hard to tackle one on one. A big bruising back, Dowdell kept delivering body blows to the Ohio State defense.
The play calling for Nebraska once again tapered the Cornhusker offense. Calling lateral plays against a defense that is faster than the offense is never recommended. Since the receivers cannot seem to get separation, and when they do Raiola has developed a bad habit of missing the wide open receiver, Raiola has been fantastic however with ball placement to draw the pass interference. The Buckeyes played man defense and the Nebraska offense did not attempt to hit Lloyd deep down the field and did not take enough advantage of the large bodied Banks and Neyor. Constant lateral plays are setting the Huskers up for a constant 2nd and 11.
The Blackshirts played fantastic. Facing one of the best offenses in the country, the blackshirts only allowed 64 yards of rushing. With 2 running backs that will be in the NFL, Nebraska shut down Ohio State’s rushing attack. Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was 13/16 for 221 yards. The weakness today seemed to be that if at any given time Ohio State wanted to go over the top and score they could. With 4 receivers that will be drafted as well over the Next few years, the Husker defense struggled to match-up. However the Blackshirts held Ohio State to a season low 21 points. Overall the Huskers played very well and need to focus on offensive play calling. After last week I don’t think Husker Nation was expecting the game to come down to the final drive, but I believe most of Husker nation should be happy with this outing from the Nebraska Cornhuskers.