3 takeaways from Ohio State football’s stumbling win vs Nebraska
By Riley Thomas
Ohio State football’s underwhelming 26-17 win over Nebraska was deflating, to say the least.
The Buckeyes managed to narrowly escape Lincoln with Noah Ruggles’ game-sealing 46-yard field goal with only 1:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. By the way, Ruggles is automatic and deserves all the credit coming his way after two massive games. Somehow, OSU overcame losing the turnover battle, constantly making self-inflicted mistakes, and overall poor play.
Ohio State’s tight game with the Corn Huskers was similar to the Penn State game—the Bucks are capable of playing far better and should have never been in such a close one. The in-conference clash was even more frustrating with Big Ten refs consistently missing huge calls yet again. How many times can the Big Ten officials miss holding calls? It is getting ridiculous.
There was plenty to learn after watching such an aggravating performance from OSU, here are three takeaways from the game.
1. What is going on with Ryan Day’s play-calling?
The offense has plenty of problems that must be figured out. The production has had a massive dropoff in the last two weeks, and questionable play-calling is part of the blame.
Ohio State football fans are used to seeing Ryan Day meticulously pick apart defenses with his exceptional play-calling, showing absolutely no remorse with his aggressive style. Where has that gone? It seems Day has become far more conservative at times, as seen in running the ball three times in a row into a cloud of dust on one particular series vs. Nebraska.
In addition to being conservative at times, the play-calling seems less detail-orientated and simplified. Day has been fantastic setting up big plays in nearly every game, that has not been quite so present. Plus, his overall decision-making has been head-scratching at times.
Day has been conservative in the wrong situations, as well as aggressive at the wrong times. The situational play-calling has not been there.
Why would the Buckeyes drop back to pass on a first and 10 in the clutch when they finally were running the ball effectively, ultimately chewing the clock to escape with a win. Instead, C.J. Stroud drops back to pass and is stripped, thankfully, Luke Wypler managed to fall on the ball preventing a turnover.
Still, this ended up putting the Bucks in a very tough situation now sitting at 2nd and 19. In the end, Ohio State got the yardage they needed and kicked the game-ending field goal, but Day should not have ever put them in this situation, to begin with.
The poor play on the offensive line is a glaring issue right now, which is certainly hindering Day’s ability to call games. The run game was all but abandoned since the line got absolutely no push, leading to Stroud throwing the ball 54 times. That’s reminiscent of 2018 with Dwayne Haskins, more times than not, big games cannot be won in that fashion.
The offensive line has to get it together so this offense can become balanced and dangerous once more. But another coaching decision that is confusing right now is the tendency to rotate offensive linemen. No less than three different offensive line combinations took the field in a close game vs. Nebraska, that can’t happen. Practice is where you figure out what the best o-line combination is, tinkering with that mid-game is a bad idea.
Like most positions, offensive linemen need to establish rhythm, cadence, and overall feel when taking the field. There’s a reason when a new starter is inserted on the o-line it typically doesn’t go well. Offensive lines are very much a unit that must be cohesive with great teamwork. That becomes difficult to establish when different combinations are constantly taking the field.
Issues on this offense that should be dominant could be discussed at length. Overall, this offense has to be better and there are some potential issues with coaching right now that are lingering. Day needs to get this unit figured out or the Ohio State football team is going to drop another game soon.