Ohio State Football: Noah Ruggles bails out Ryan Day in win over Nebraska

This was a game that shouldn’t have been this close. The Ohio State football team had been rolling coming into this game today. It was a game that many people, including me, thought was going to be a blowout. Instead, Ryan Day tried his best to lose the game with his play-calling.

Ohio State threw the ball 54 times in this game, including late in the game where C.J. Stroud almost lost a fumble late in the game when the Buckeyes should have been trying to run out the clock. It’s unclear why Day didn’t decide to hand it off to TreVeyon Henderson more in this game.

While Jaxon Smith-Njigba did have an Ohio State football record 15 catches for 240 yards and a touchdown, there’s no reason why the Buckeyes should have been one-dimensional in this one. Stroud also made two terrible decisions on the interceptions that he threw.

Noah Ruggles is the hero in this game for the second week in a row. Ruggles was perfect again, making 4 field goals including one from 46 yards out that put the game away. Contrast that with the fact that Nebraska missed two short field goals, and Ohio State won the special teams battle.

The defense is why Ohio State was able to win this game too. They played really well except for two deep passes that Lathan Ransom got beat deep on. Other than that, they were very good. The defense was able to get 5 sacks and got pressure at opportune times.

Day needs to answer for his baffling play-calling after this game. He has one of the best running backs in the country. They need to use him more and try to bounce him to the outside. His speed is his greatest asset and what helps this team be its best. 21 carries for 92 yards isn’t going to get it done.

Day has to get the offensive line to win at the point of attack. They have struggled with that two games in a row now. That’s something that can’t happen against an opponent like Michigan State or TTUN.