3 takeaways from Ohio State football’s stumbling win vs Nebraska

2. The Silver Bullets made mistakes, but continue to show improvement

One of the clear positives from Ohio State’s close win was the defense. Going into the game, OSU’s defensive ends had an advantage in pass-rushing situations, they capitalized on that.

Tyreke Smith and Zach Harrison lived in the backfield similar to last week vs. PSU. Both Smith and Harrison came away with a sack—which could have been more if the refs did not allow Nebraska to hold all game long—as they constantly pressured Adrian Martinez.

The true freshmen J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer had a nice game.  Sawyer came away with a hit on the QB after his driving bull rush.

Javontae Jean-Baptiste had a sack after a fantastic swiping speed rush. It was total domination from the defensive ends, exactly what we were looking for heading into the season.

The linebackers Steele Chambers and Palaie Gaoteote turned in impactful performances, flying to ball carriers with little doubt. The perimeter corner play was solid; Denzel Burke is still lockdown no shocker there.

However, the two glaring issues were in the slot with Lathan Ransom and Cameron Martinez making mistakes. Also, Bryson Shaw continues to make grave mistakes at safety that are ending up in huge plays for opposing offenses. The 72-yard passing touchdown towards the end of the second quarter was a mess.

Ransom gets beat, and if that wasn’t bad enough, Shaw is nowhere to be seen as the single deep safety, instead, he is overcompensating along the left sideline. This is why OSU went away from man coverage and Cover 1, it was immediately burnt for a huge play. We have seen various zone coverages with man rarely mixed in backed up with two high safeties is what works best.

The improvement in this defense continues every week. With the amount of misdirection from the Huskers in the run game, it was impressive how well the run defense held for the majority of the game. Ultimately, it was the big plays that allowed Nebraska to score, which were primarily due to a handful of Buckeyes having rough days.

The recipe for success is zone coverage that limits the big plays and gives the d-line time to create pressure. The Ohio State defense has it figured out, unlike the offense, and should keep improving.