Buckeyes Now

Offensive Observations From Ohio State's 26-17 Win Over Nebraska

Buckeyes survive scare in Lincoln, thanks to Noah Ruggles making four field goals for the second week in a row.

Spencer German

Ohio State took their offensive show on the road hoping to keep things rolling in Lincoln, but found out pretty quickly they were in for quite a fight from the Cornhuskers.

Early struggles from quarterback C.J. Stroud carried over into the second half and kept the Buckeyes from ever truly pulling away, as they're generally accustomed to, as Nebraska provided a bit of a scare in a 26-17 win. 

Here are some offensive takeaways from the victory. Check out the observations from the other side of the ball here.

No Garrett Wilson, no problem

With the news coming out prior to kickoff that Garrett Wilson was unavailable for Saturday, the Buckeyes offense didn't miss a beat. That's what happens when you're next man up is Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

The sophomore scorched the Huskers' defense all afternoon, surpassing David Boston's single-game receptions record with 15 catches and a career-high 240 yards receiving. A big chunk of that came on an impressive 75-yard touchdown where he made a ridiculous cut to take it to the house.

The Buckeyes also received contributions from Julian Fleming and Marvin Harrison Jr., who combined for four receptions and 47 yards respectively. This team's embarrassment of riches was on full display in this one. Also worth noting, Wilson tweeted before kickoff that he is "all good."

First series inconsistencies continue

So many times in football the way a team, or more specifically the offense, starts a game, can set the tone for the rest of the day. For the Buckeyes, this season has been a hodgepodge of results on opening drives.

That streakiness continued against Nebraska. For the second time this season OSU turned the ball over on downs on their first possession of the contest. The other game by the way, that forgettable 35-28 loss to Oregon.

Only four times in their nine games have the Buckeyes managed to score points on their opening drive, finding the endzone against Minnesota, Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana. It's also worth noting that in all but one of the five games they didn't score on their first series (Akron) the Bucks managed three points or less in the first quarter. Those slow starts could become problematic against stronger opponents.

Red zone or dead zone?

The box score will say the scarlet and grey were three-for-three in the red zone, but that crucial area of the field was not too kind to the Buckeyes in Lincoln. 

Twice, the offense had to settle for field goals inside the 20, halting promising drives short of the end zone. If you extend that to the 30-yard line, the Bucks were one-for-six. It's fair to wonder what the score could have been if they had finished those series with touchdowns instead.

For what it's worth, OSU had scored touchdowns on 68-percent of their red zone trips entering Saturday.

Rough day in the trenches

The header may be putting it nicely. It's well known that Ohio State has one of the best offensive lines in the game, but that group was might have played their worst game of the season against Nebraska. In turn, Stroud played what was easily the worst game of his tenure under center. His struggles can certainly be contributed to the constant pressure Nebraska was able to get.

Stroud was under duress more than usual, particularly off the right side where Paris Johnson was a turnstile for most of the afternoon. He and his offensive line-mates also failed to create much running room for TreVeyon Henderson as well, who finished with 92 yards on 21 carries. That's an average of 4.4 yards per carry, for a guy who was averaging double that prior to.

Stroud on the move

One of the most obvious areas where C.J. Stroud is a much different player than his predecessor Justin Fields, is his mobility.

Through the first eight games of the season, Stroud had only carried the ball 18 times for 17 yards and had shown a hesitancy to pull the ball and run in the option game. This week, the redshirt Freshman actually started to buck that trend and kept the ball a twice on speed option plays.

While the results of both Stroud runs weren't anything spectacular, they added a wrinkle to the offense that defenses simply haven't had to worry about to this point. That may come in handy.

The Real MVP

All due respect to Smith-Njigba's record-setting stat line, but the real MVP in this one was senior transfer Noah Ruggles. Four-for-four on the day on field goals – for the second straight week – including a game sealer from 46 yards. Ruggles was named a Lou Groza finalized earlier this week and helped his case in this one.

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Spencer German
SPENCER GERMAN

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