Ohio State freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith breaks free for a 60-yard touchdown reception during the second quarter of Saturday’s Big Ten matchup with Nebraska in Ohio Stadium. The touchdown catch was Smith’s eighth on the season, tying him for the most receiving touchdowns as a true freshman with Cris Carter.
Joshua Keeran | The Gazette
COLUMBUS — After two long weeks off following its first loss of the season, No. 4 Ohio State finally got its opportunity to return to the field and begin answering some of the looming questions stemming from a concerning performance at Oregon.
But rather than deliver an empahtic performance to ease the tension that had been surrounding the program throughout the bye week, Ohio State was pushed to the brink by 25-point underdog Nebraska before narrowly escaping with a 21-17 win on Saturday in Ohio Stadium.
Buckeye quarterback Will Howard threw the go-ahead touchdown pass to running back Quinshon Judkins with just over six minutes remaining in the game, and Nebraska was unable to muster much of anything on its final two drives as Jordan Hancock’s interception of Dylan Raiola sealed the win a minute to play.
“The way we went out in the fourth quarter and won the game, that’s something we talked about in the off week while digesting the Oregon game,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said following the game. “It’s one thing to have stats, it’s one thing to get turnovers and everything like that. But at the end of the day you have to win the game in the fourth quarter. That’s it. We’re down by three in the fourth quarter and put a drive together to score a touchdown, and then the defense gets stops. That, to me, is what we have to do if we’re going to win these games.”
Playing in its first game since losing talented left tackle Josh Simmons to a season-ending injury against Oregon, Ohio State did little to inspire confidence that the offensive line will be able to survive the massive void left by Simmons’ absence. Making the first start of his career, senior left tackle Zen Michalski struggled mightily throughout the afternoon before leaving late in the game with an injury of his own.
The issues along the line extended beyond Michalski, though, and as a result Ohio State mustered just 64 rushing yards on the day. Running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins each carried 10 times and failed to eclipse 30 yards for the game. As a result of its inability to find any traction in the run game, Ohio State was a combined 2 for 12 on third and fourth down.
“It’s not good enough,” Day said of the line play. “We have to be able to run the ball, and we didn’t do that today. That’s why we put our defense in bad spots. That’s why we were 1 of 10 on third down and 1 for 2 on fourth downs…”
While Ohio State’s rushing attack led to a stagnant offensive performance for much of the game, its defense delivered the kind of rebound performance Day hoped to see after a humbling performance at Oregon.
Raiola, who originally committed to Ohio State in high school, was held to 152 passing yards and an interception. He was also sacked three times, a positive sign for a defense that failed to generate any pressure at all the last time it took the field.
“I really like the way the defense played,” Day said. “We played with energy and fire. We kept fighting even though there were tough spots early in the game.”
Senior linebacker Cody Simon recorded a team-high eight tackles, including four solo stops and three tackles for loss, to lead the Buckeye defense.
Ohio State appeared poised to strike first early in the first quarter after its defense forced a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession. Nebraska punter Brian Buschini’s punt traveled just 31 yards, setting Ohio State up with prime field position at the Husker 36 for its first possession.
The opportunity proved fruitless however as Ohio State failed to pick up a first down. After electing to keep the offense on the field on 4th and 1, Henderson was stopped for no gain to turn the ball over on downs and foreshadow the problems to come for the Buckeyes.
While the run game continued to sputter, Ohio State broke through in the waning seconds of the first quarter on a 40-yard touchdown strike from Howard to Carnell Tate to take a 7-0 lead.
Following a 39-yard field goal from John Hohl to get Nebraska on the board, Howard took to the air again to deliver another big strike for Ohio State.
With a fresh set of downs at his own 40, Howard faked a handoff to Judkins before hitting a wide-open Jeremiah Smith in stride for a 60-yard touchdown to push Ohio State’s lead to 14-3. The touchdown was Smith’s eighth of the season, trying Cris Carter for the prorgram’s freshman receiving touchdown record with still five games to play.
Nebraska place kicker John Hohl, who came into the game having made just one of his five attempts on the season, had no troubles splitting the upright on a 54-yard kick in the final seconds to cut Ohio State’s lead to 14-6 heading into halftime, sending the Huskers into the locker room with some momentum.
Ohio State outgained Nebraska 197-115 in the first half despite the slim lead thanks to the failed fourth-down attempt and a badly missed field goal attempt from Jayden Fielding.
The big plays that buyoued an otherwise dreadful offensive showing for Ohio State in the first half also dried up in the second half as inched closer to taking a lead with another field goal from Hohl.
Ohio State punted on three of its four possessions to begin the second half, failing to pick up a first down in all three drives. The lone drive that didn’t end in a punt, ended in an even bigger disaster as a poor throw by Howard was intercepted by Nebraska’s Malcolm Hartzog Jr. deep in Ohio State territory.
Hartzog returned the interception to the Ohio State 7 before being pushed out of bounds, setting the Huskers up to finally capture that first lead.
Forced into a tough situation, the Ohio State defense rose to the occasion, turning Nebraska away on four consecutive runs inside the 5 to preserve the lead late in the third quarter.
Nebraska refused to fade away, and with Ohio State continuously incapable of doing anything on offense, possessions were not hard to come by for the Huskers.
After Ohio State punted on the first play of the fourth quarter, Raiola and the Nebraksa offense finally broke through. Raiola completed a pair of passes on 3rd and 7 to keep the drive alive, and Dante Dowdell capped off the nine-play, 72-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Huskers a 15-14 lead with 10:47 remaining in the game.
A successful two-point attempt added to the Nebraska lead, putting Ohio State into a 17-14 hole as the stunned crowd inside Ohio Stadium grew increasingly restless.
But on a day when little else was going right, and when they absolutely had to have it, the Ohio State had one more big play to deliver through the air to set up the game-winning score.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Howard connected with Tate for a 37-yard gain to move the ball to the Nebraska 38. Ohio State’s lone fourth-down conversion of the day kept the drive alive at after Howard found Emeka Egbuka for three yards to the Nebraska 26, setting up Judkins’ game-winner three plays later and staving off the upset bid.
“It wasn’t perfect, but a win is a win,” Howard said. “We were able to show that when the going gets tough and when things maybe aren’t going our way, we’re able to win in the fourth quarter. I think our defense did in unbelievable job of getting some stops and making some really big plays in that fourth quarter to give us a chance to go down and put that last (touchdown) in and give us the lead.”
While hardly a masterpiece, the win moves Ohio State to 6-1 on the season and keeps its conference championship hopes on track heading into next week’s showdown at Penn State.
Howard, who is a Downington, Pennsylvania native, could barely contain himself when asked his thoughts on returning to his home state.
“I’m stoked. I cannot wait,” he said. “It’s going to be a homecoming for me. I grew up a Penn State fan and wanted to go there my whole life. They didn’t think I was good enough, but I guess we’ll see next week if I was.”
Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on X @DillonDavis56.
