Three bold predictions for Ohio State football vs. Nebraska
By Ryan Stano
3. The Ohio State football team will allow fewer than 200 total yards
What happened in Eugene two weeks ago was far from what we expected from the Ohio State defense. This defense was billed as one of the best defenses in the country. Up to that point, the Buckeyes had the stats to validate that claim. They were at the top of almost every category.
Then Oregon absolutely lit up the secondary. Oregon ended up with 496 yards of total offense. It wasn't just the passing game that hurt the Buckeyes though. They didn't do a great job of stopping the run either. The whole defense was a failure that day.
Day spent a lot more time with the defense this week to fix that problem. He said that there were meetings with Jim Knowles and Larry Johnson to clean up any miscommunications that were happening. He expects the defense to play much better this weekend.
I do expect them to play better. I think they allow fewer than 200 yards this weekend. Part of that is due to the fact that Nebraska's offense isn't very good. They looked inept last weekend. I don't think they'll fix many of their issues this Saturday against an angry Buckeye team.
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If Ohio State does have a defensive performance like that, they can build some confidence as they head into their big matchup with Penn State next weekend.