Five burning questions heading into Ohio State week

Here are five of the biggest questions facing Nebraska as it tries to rebound this week at home against No. 6 Ohio State...

Nebraska has endured several gut-punch losses this season, but last week's meltdown vs. Purdue very well could end up being the knockout blow.

The Huskers had everything riding on that game - not just to keep their bowl hopes alive for another week, but also to restore some faith that the program was still making progress.

With a 28-23 loss that didn't feel nearly as close as the final score indicated, NU failed to achieve either of those goals.

Now No. 6 Ohio State comes to town, and you can bet the Buckeyes will be looking to make a statement.

OSU dropped a spot in the AP rankings after a close home win over Penn State, and now it has a chance to win back some College Football Playoff clout in a nationally-televised game in Lincoln.

If Nebraska can't figure out a way to get up off the canvas and fight another round, Saturday could get ugly in a hurry.

Ohio State comes to town this week boasting one of the most explosive offenses in the country, leading the Big Ten with an average of 47.3 points per game.

While the Buckeyes boast a balanced offensive attack, their running game has been a critical part of their success this season.

Led by TreVeyon Henderson, who ranks second in the conference at 105.6 yards per game and 12 touchdowns, OSU rushes for more than 200 yards per contest and leads the league at 6.0 yards per carry.

Nebraska's defense has been good against the run more often than not this season, but last week's showing against a dismal Purdue rushing attack left plenty of questions going into Saturday.

Purdue ran it 41 times for 116 yards against the Huskers, marking its second-highest rushing effort of the season and its best in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers came in ranked 129th nationally in rushing at just 74.3 ypg.

Nebraska was without one of its most important pieces in the secondary against Purdue, as sixth-year safety Deontai Williams was ruled out with an injury he suffered at Minnesota.

It's unclear whether Williams will be able to return this week for Ohio State, but his chances seem to be doubtful at best at this point.

Should Williams have to miss another game, the Huskers would again turn to Myles Farmer to make his second straight start. Farmer played a career-high 85 snaps against the Boilermakers, but this week will be a significantly tougher test.

The Buckeyes feature arguably the best wide receiver tandem in the country in Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, which rank second and sixth, respectively, in the Big Ten in receiving yards per game.

Cam Taylor-Britt has been playing some of the best football of his career the past few weeks, including a strong showing vs. Purdue standout David Bell. But will the rest of NU's secondary be able to step up against OSU's elite passing attack?

Nebraska finally made a change at placekicker over the bye week by promoting Chase Contreraz into the starting role and benching struggling sixth-year senior Connor Culp against Purdue.

Contreraz didn't need to do much on Saturday, but he made both of his extra-point tries and nailed his lone field-goal attempt from 33 yards out.

Was the move just a one-week experiment to give Culp, the 2020 Big Ten Kicker of the Year, a chance to take a game off and reset mentally?

Or has Contreraz cemented himself into that role again this week and even on through the rest of the season?

As Nebraska's offense sputtered through the majority of the second half and Purdue jumped out to a two-touchdown lead, the scene inside Memorial Stadium got a little uncomfortable.

Fans started heading for the exits late in the third quarter, and loud boos rang out after Adrian Martinez threw his fourth interception of the game later in the fourth.

Head coach Scott Frost and several of his players were asked if they noticed the boos and empty seats, and all agreed they were impossible to ignore.

The Huskers were already struggling to fill the stadium last week against Purdue, even going as far as to offer buy-one, get-one deals on tickets.

NU is all but officially eliminated from bowl contention and likely bound for its fifth-straight losing season. How many fans are going to come out in forecasted 40-degree weather on Saturday to watch a game where their 3-6 team opened as 16-point underdogs?

Of those that do show up, will more boos fill the stadium if things again turn for the worst?