One of the most anticipated Nebraska home games in recent history quickly turned into another night to forget.
After coming in as heavy underdogs against fifth-ranked Ohio State, the Huskers made all of the mistakes they couldn’t afford to make in a 48-7 blowout defeat on national television.
When the final whistle finally blew, the Buckeyes ended up with a staggering 580-281 edge in total yards, 212-47 in passing yardage, and 31-15 in first downs. OSU was a perfect eight-for-eight in the red zone, 10-of-13 on third downs, and scored on eight of its first nine drives of the game.
The end result may not have been a surprise to many, but that didn’t take away the sting of whiffing on a potential program-changing opportunity.
As electric as the sold-out Memorial Stadium was at opening kickoff, the game quickly got off to a disastrous start. Martinez was intercepted in NU territory on the sixth play of the game, and Fields ran one in from 15 yards out to put Ohio State up 7-0 less than five minutes into the game.
The Buckeyes got the ball right back and again faced little resistance in their path to the end zone, this time scoring on a two-yard touchdown pass from Fields to K.J. Hill.
Nebraska’s offense finally got something going by turning back to its roots: using fullback traps, I-back tosses, and 38 option quarterback keepers to march into OSU territory.
But another self-inflicted mistake ended the drive when Martinez overthrew a potential touchdown pass to Wan’Dale Robinson, and Okudah ended up with his second pick of the night.
Even backed up at their own four-yard line, the Buckeyes had no problem charging down the field on a 13-play drive and adding to their lead with a 23-yard field goal by Blake Haubeil to make it 17-0 with 9:32 left in the half.
Martinez was intercepted for a third time on just his seventh pass attempt of the night by OSU safety Jordan Fuller at the 50. A 41-yard run by Fields led to an eight-yard touchdown run by Master Teague III.
The Huskers continued to do nothing with the football, and Teague had a 28-yard catch and a 26-yard run before punching in his second rushing score from a yard out and boosting the lead to a dominating 31-0 with 5:42 still to play in the second.
It didn’t end there, either, as Ohio State tacked on another touchdown with 1:34 left before halftime with an 18-yard pass from Fields to Austin Mack to make it 38-0. That score would hold into halftime, which was even more lopsided than the 35-0 deficit NU faced at the half the last time the Buckeyes came to Lincoln.
The 38-point margin was the Huskers’ largest halftime deficit since trailing 39-0 at Michigan last season.
Ohio State ended up outgaining Nebraska by a stunning 378-76 in total yardage, including an 8.4-2.9 advantage in yards per play, racking up 20 first downs to NU’s six, and converting 7-of-8 third downs.
The Buckeyes got the ball to start the third quarter and added to their lead with a 36-yard kick by Haubeil. That was followed by a six-yard touchdown pass from Fields to Garrett Wilson that increased the lead to 48-0 with 3:51 still left in the third.
Finally, Martinez broke free on a scramble for a 56-yard gain for Nebraska’s first big play of the night. Two plays later, running back Dedrick Mills ran in a nine-yard touchdown to end the shutout.
That score would mercifully hold as the final, as Nebraska has now been outscored 292-127 in its six meetings with Ohio State since joining the Big Ten.
The Huskers will look to bounce back at home against Northwestern next week in a 3 p.m. CT kickoff on FOX.
