GAME 9: OHIO STATE v NEBRASKA

GAME 9       OHIO STATE v NEBRASKA

November 5, 2016                              Ohio Stadium              Columbus, OH

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Location: Lincoln, NE

Stadium: Memorial Stadium (86,047)

Coach: Mike Riley (2^nd year): 13-8 at Nebraska/106-88 overall, 8-8 v B1G, 0-0 v OSU

Series: OSU 3, Nebraska 1

Last Meeting: 10/6/2012: OSU 63, Nebraska 38

Last Nebraska win: 10/8/2011: Nebraska 34, OSU 27

Coach Meyer (5^th year): 57-5 at OSU/161-28 overall, 36-4 v B1G, 1-0 v Nebraska

2015 Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-7)(3-5)                      2015 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1)(4-1)

28        BYU                             33                                42        at Virginia Tech          24

48        South Alabama               9                                38        Hawaii                          0       

33        at Miami                     36 (OT)                         20        Northern Illinois           13

36        Southern Mississippi   28                                38        Western Michigan          12

13        at Illinois                     14                                34        at Indiana                      27

21        Wisconsin                    23                                49        Maryland                     28

48        at Minnesota               25                                38        Penn State                    10

28        Northwestern              30                                49        at Rutgers                      7

45        at Purdue                    55                                28        Minnesota                    14

39        Michigan State            38                                28        at Illinois                        3

31        at Rutgers                   14                                14        Michigan State             17

20        Iowa                            28                               42        at Michigan                  13

37        ULCA                          9                                44        Notre Dame                 28

            (Foster Farms Bowl)                                                    (Fiesta Bowl)

2016 Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-1)(4-1)                      2016 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1)(4-1)

43        Fresno State                10                                77        Bowling Green             10

52        Wyoming                     17                                48        Tulsa                              3

35        Oregon                        32                                45        at Oklahoma               24

24        at Northwestern          13

31        Illinois                          16                                58        Rutgers                          0

                                                                                    38        Indiana                        17

27        at Indiana                    22                                30        at Wisconsin                23 (OT)

27        Purdue                         14                                21        at Penn State               24

17        at Wisconsin                23 (OT)                        24        Northwestern              20       

N5        at Ohio State                                                               Nebraska

N12      Minnesota                                                                   at Maryland

N19      Maryland                                                                    at Michigan State

N26      at Iowa (Friday)                                                           Michigan

            The Ohio State Buckeyes square off in a prime time showdown against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who are vastly improved over last year under second-year coach Mike Riley.

NEBRASKA OFFENSE v OHIO STATE DEFENSE: The extremely talented and gifted senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr guides the multi-faceted Husker offense.    Turnovers and poor decision-making are two clouds that hang over Armstrong Jr.'s Nebraska career. He has 64 touchdown passes to his name but also 43 interceptions. In 2015, Armstrong threw 16 picks—the most by any player in the Big Ten. But he is a strong, physically gifted athlete who can break contain and keep plays alive with his feet. The Buckeyes faced dual-threat quarterbacks a few other times this season, first at Oklahoma and Baker Mayfield and most recently two weeks ago at Penn State against Trace McSorley. Armstrong Jr.'s game is similar to theirs.  Armstrong has shown some improvement in the passing game, throwing for 1764 yards and 11 touchdowns against seven interceptions so far in 2016.  The Huskers’ ground game benefits not only from Armstrong, but also from senior RB Terrell Newby who has almost 600 yards this season and four touchdowns.  Senior WR Jordan Westerkamp leads a Nebraska receiving corps that ranks as one of the nation’s best.  Last year, Westerkamp was second-team All-B1G and has continued into this year, with 16 receptions for 290 yards and four touchdowns.  Westerkamp is not alone out there as junior WR De’Mornay Pierson-El, a speedster, has shown the ability to go deep and has hauled in ten catches for 144 yards and a score.  The Ohio State linebackers and secondary will also have to keep their eyes on senior TE Cothan Carter who has chipped in ten receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown.  Nebraska’s offensive line has improved as the season has progressed, led by seniors Sam Hahn and Dylan Utter, at LG and center respectively. Sophomore Tanner Farmer and junior David Knevel provide a push on the right side of the line, at RG and RT, while sophomore Nick Gates mans the LT position.

Obviously, the Ohio State front four and linebackers have to contain Armstrong and deal with an improved offensive line that has allowed only six sacks, the lowest mark in the B1G and third fewest in the entire country.  Don't expect the Buckeyes to drastically change anything they plan to do defensively to keep Armstrong Jr. in check. But the onus is on the defensive line to provide pressure.  Containing runs to the edge and playing tight coverage on third downs are all keys to containing Nebraska’s offense.

                                                       QB Tommy Armstrong

NEBRASKA DEFENSE v OHIO STATE OFFENSE: Ohio State’s offense continued to struggle last week against Northwestern and they will be going up against a Husker defense who is +5 in turnover margin and has a nation-leading 15 interceptions.  Senior Ross Dzuris leads the way on the defensive front with 24 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.  Senior DT Kevin Maurice is right up there as well, with 18 tackles and three TFLs.  Sophomores Mick Stoltenberg and Freedom Akinmoladun man the other DT and DE respectively.  They come in with 16 tackles and 13 tackles respectively.  The play at linebacker has really improved over last year, led by senior MLB  Josh Banderas, leading the team with 51 tackles and three TFLs.  His classmate, Michael Rose-Ivey has 36 tackles and five tackles for loss, as the Huskers will use him to run-blitz quite a lot.  Sophomore Dedrick Young has chipped in 45 tackles, four TFLSs and a sack and he has shown an ability to rush the QB and get out wide to cover backs out of the backfield.  The Husker secondary is led by senior SS Nathan Gerry with 50 tackles, four interceptions and an impressive seven TFLs. He’s already garnered the B1G Defensive Player of the Week Award twice.  Juniors Joshua Kalu and Chris Jones man the corners and come in with 39 and 23 tackles respectively, playing good, tight man coverage.  Junior Kieron Williams is at FS and has made an impressive 49 tackles, four interceptions and three TFLs.  Nebraska’s secondary no doubt is athletic enough to be able to keep up with Ohio State’s receivers on the downfield passing routes.

                                            SS Nathan Gerry

SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior kicker Drew Brown has been very reliable, going 8 out of 10 on field goal attempts with a long of 51.  Last year, he was second team All-B1G.  The punting chores will be handled by freshman Caleb Lightbourn, averaging 40 yards per punt with a long of 58.

SUMMARY: There is no doubt Nebraska has greatly improved in all respects from a dreadful 2015, with a renewed focus on a balanced offensive attack that ranks 12^th in the nation on third-down conversions (56-of-114 49%).  Coupled with a dual-threat QB and a big-play receiving threat in Reilly, they will present challenges to an Ohio State defense who, at times, was gashed by Northwestern on third downs last week.  On defense, the “Blackshirts” have held six opponents to under 140 yards on the ground.  Opponents are gaining 136.8 yards on the ground.  Nebraska’s vastly improved pass defense could be a challenge with a struggling OSU passing game, as they have picked off 15 passes to lead the nation. 

The home field, and Ohio State’s defense’s ability to force turnovers will decide this one in the fourth quarter.

                                                                                                                                              

                                   OHIO STATE 28, NEBRASKA 20