McMaster's Keys to the Game: Nebraska Football at No. 4 Ohio State

Matt McMaster gives a different keys column this week as the Huskers are on the road to face the No. 4 Buckeyes.

Aug 31, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) scrambles out of the pocket during the NCAA football game against the Akron Zips at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 52-6. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This is going to be a different type of keys article. If you’re new to the program, I write this article every week and I give you three things that the Huskers need to do in order to beat their opponent. 

It’s supposed to be an educational article. An article where I do the research for you and give you information that will make you seem like a genius at the bar or a whiz kid at a party you’re going to. 

I’m here to tell you that’s not what this keys is going to be. 

I’ve gone through the stats, I’ve watched the tape. There is not a three-step method to beating the Ohio State Buckeyes. There isn’t even one specific thing Nebraska can expose in order to win. This has nothing to do with the Huskers and everything to do with the fact that Ohio State is such a well constructed team. 

They have the backs to run the ball down your throat, the quarterback to gash you in the pass game, the wide receivers to stretch the field, they have elite protection, and all the future NFL talent on the defensive end you could think of. 

They’re ranked in the top five in the country in defensive points per game, defensive yards per game, defensive yards per rush, defensive rush yards per game, offensive points per game, offensive yards per game, offensive points per play, red zone scoring and top 10 in offensive yards per rush, completion percentage, opponent red zone scoring, and sack percentage. 

Am I saying it’s impossible for the Huskers to beat the Buckeyes? No, absolutely not. You play the games for a reason, and that reason is that anything can happen. Bigger upsets have and will happen in college football. 

But, the Big Red will have to be damn near perfect. The offense will need to get ahead of the sticks on first down, get creative on second down and convert on third down. When they get in the red zone they’ll need to get seven points every time. And most important, they absolutely without a doubt cannot turn the ball over. Giving this insanely talented offense more and more opportunities to score is a recipe to losing by 50. 

The defense will need to get to Will Howard. Disrupt the fifth-year gunslinger before he has an opportunity to get the ball to his dynamic pass catchers. It’s too much to ask Nebraska’s corners to stop OSU’s wideouts, but they can’t allow explosive plays. Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka will get theirs; Nebraska just has to make sure it’s not consistently for six points. 

Nebraska is a good football team. I’m aware that after their abysmal performance last week against the Indiana Hoosiers that it might be a hot take but they’re 5-2 for a reason. We’ve seen this squad play high-level football and compete with some of the best competition in this conference. I trust in this coaching staff, from Matt Rhule all the way down to the ball boy. The work they’ve done in Lincoln is astounding considering how badly the program was left by the last administration. 

But the fact is that they’re a couple of years away from competing with teams like the Ohio State Buckeyes. They just don’t have the dudes and depth to keep step… yet. 

Every starter on this team will need to play the best game of his career and maybe, just maybe, they’ll beat the Ohio State Buckeyes at The Horseshoe.

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