Glass House or Sturdy Fortress?

After the embarrassing defeat at the hands of Purdue and two, long weeks to prepare, the Buckeyes look to bounce back against a lowly Cornhuskers team at home.  This will not be a normal home game–it will be a blackout with their black alternate uniforms.

Will this be a funeral for the Cornhuskers who have just two wins under Scott Frost?  Or would it be another slow start coupled with big plays vulnerability and another stellar second half beatdown?  You never know with this team, but I think we will learn a lot about this team in the opening minutes of this contest.

Adversity is a double-edged sword that can make or break an individual and it could also fracture a team, but this feels like it’ll be fun to watch to watch this group of players the rest of the year.  I have a strange feeling, but it’s a good one because of the loss two weeks ago?  It hurt and I think it has lit a fire inside of these players–and an angry Buckeye team is a fun, lethal one at that.

Nebraska’s journey under Frost has been rocky to say it mildly.  With a rash of defections to their former head coach’s alma mater, Oregon State, they will look to compete against Ohio State, but it will be a tall task.  With their first game against Akron being canceled due to weather, Nebraska was pretty bad until they secured wins against Minnesota and Bethune-Cookman.  They are currently on a two-game win streak.

Ohio State struggled but won up until Purdue.  They are riding a one-game losing streak, but they will most likely right the ship on Saturday.  With their CFB Playoffs in question, they have one of the better resumes, but like last year, they could be left out again.  With wins against TCU and Penn State and dates with both Michigan State and Michigan, you just never know until the hammer drops at the end of the season.

Both teams have issues that need to be resolved, which might make this painful to watch.  Martinez is a true freshman and he is a dual-threat, but he tends to turn it over and is prone to mistakes.  Haskins has a cannon, but he cannot run effectively enough to pick up key first downs.  Ohio State also is deficient in the running game and it has been lost with the improvements to the passing game while Nebraska is efficient in the running game and sprinkles in passes to add a balance.

Ohio State’s defense is also suspect and susceptible to big plays and they give those up consistently at an alarming rate and opposing offenses take advantage of their defensive scheme’s weaknesses weekly.  Nebraska’s defense is also suspect and they tend to disappear against potent offenses.

Against Michigan, Purdue, and Wisconsin they gave up a total of 139 points total in lopsided losses.  56, 42, and 41!  Ohio State can win this convincingly, but it must be balanced.  Ohio State gives up a ton of yardage with slants, posts, and runs down the middle.  Two vulnerable defenses will square off against each other’s offenses with the nod going in the Buckeyes favor for the fact that they can get up and down the field, at will, if the balance is there.

PREDICTION:

The Brotherhood is still intact at Ohio State and they will go hard the entire game.  I think there will be an emphasis on the run game and they should be able to salvage and fix it just in time for Maryland, Michigan State, and Michigan.  The passing game will flourish against this defense.  The biggest question will be the defense.  There have been quotes about Tuf Borland saying “the defense has a surprise that the fans will love”, but that has yet to be seen or excecuted.  I think they have a modest showing and they will shut down Nebraska.  Ohio State is riding a three-game win streak outscoring Nebraska 181-55.

Final:  56-13

 

 

 

 

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