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Keys to the Game for Ohio State to Defeat Nebraska

Justin Fields has options on offense; OSU defense looks to dominate

Bruce Hooley

Keys to the Game for Ohio State to Defeat Nebraska
Keys to the Game for Ohio State to Defeat Nebraska /

Until Ohio State goes through a season without a night road loss, the memories of what happened under the lights at Purdue and as afternoon turned to evening at Iowa will always create some fear in fans' minds.

The fifth-ranked Buckeyes (4-0) can do a lot to dispose of that phobia with a dominant performance in their 7:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff at Nebraska (3-1).

The Cornhuskers aren't as good as either Purdue in 2018 or Iowa in 2017, but they do have the capacity to score and could take advantage of a spate of OSU turnovers if quarterback Justin Fields gets sloppy with the football.

Keys to the game

That leads us to our keys to the game for an Ohio State advance to 5-0:

  1. Fields cannot give Nebraska a short field, making it easier for quarterback Adrian Martinez to get his team in the end zone. OSU can afford one turnover, but two would be dangerous and three could be dicey. Fields hasn't thrown an interception yet. If he doesn't against Nebraska, the Buckeyes will roll.
  2. OSU must deal with Nebraska's defensive beef up front. The Cornhuskers have a rugged three-man front with 300-pounders Darrion Daniels, Carlos Davis and Khalis Davis. If they occupy most of the Buckeyes' attention, freeing their linebackers to make plays, that could be trouble for J.K. Dobbins.
  3. Can Ohio State continue J.D. Martinez's season-long turnover problems? The Nebraska QB has fumbled the ball away four times and thrown one interception. Despite a strong game last week at Illinois (445 yards total offense), Martinez also kept the Illini in the game by turning it over. The Buckeyes are a ball-hawking unit capable of adding to those woes.

Buckeyes have more in their arsenal

Of course, OSU has two X-factors in Fields' rushing and Chase Young's pass rush.

The Buckeyes haven't had to rely on the quarterback run so far, and no team has been unable to block Young, who has seven sacks.

Doing the latter will be even more difficult for Nebraska because senior Jonathon Cooper will start on the defensive line for OSU for the first time this season after missing the first four games with an ankle sprain.

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Bruce Hooley
BRUCE HOOLEY

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