Game Thread Nebraska Cornhuskers at tOSU, Oct 6th, 8 ET, ABC/ESPN/2

[1926Buckeyes]

I'm confident that OSU will be able to score 35+ points against this Nebraska team, but I'm not sure about the defense. They still have a lot of improving to do and Nebraska can exploit the LBs and Safeties. I'm also hoping that Miller can hold onto the ball and not turn it over. There will be moments in this game when OSU absolutely needs to answer a big score and they can't be turning the ball over, especially as they did against MSU when they had an opportunity to open up a 10+ point gap against them.

It's going to be a 5-10 point game and probably 75+ points total.

 

[Taosman]

My first thought is this will be a higher scoring game than MSU.
We could just as easily lose it.
Do we have enough in the tank left after last Saturday? Can the crowd supply the needed "juice" to help?
Should be a much more entertaining game.

 

[Coqui]

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

Ohio State has played against Pelini already. Nebraska hasn't played against Meyer (with Ohio State personnel - I don't feel the need to verify if they played him at any of his other stops). In person is different than on the field.

Our players have experienced the nuances of the players based off of the plays called. Nebraska hasn't yet.

That's all I meant by that.

 

[knapplc]

Ohio State has played against Pelini already. Nebraska hasn't played against Meyer (with Ohio State personnel - I don't feel the need to verify if they played him at any of his other stops). In person is different than on the field.

Our players have experienced the nuances of the players based off of the plays called. Nebraska hasn't yet.

That's all I meant by that.

I figured as much. My only comment to this is, aside from a few regular plays, we haven't run the same offensive scheme in two games yet this year. I don't think you've seen what you think you've seen.

Now, does that mean Nebraska can execute what they want to do against you guys? Haven't a clue. But there are several formations, plays and personnel groupings that I know we have in our hip pocket, but which we haven't seen through five games.

Last year's game won't be any indicator of what this year's game will be. Nebraska is better on the O Line, worse at LB, about the same at WR, better at RB (more depth), Martinez has shown surprising improvement. We're very different than we were last year.

Bottom line, for me, is to see what our O Line and D Line do. If we play like we played in the second half of Wiscy, we'll win this game. Unfortunately, we haven't played like this very often.

 

[muffler dragon]

Abdullah's the player that scares me more than anyone else on the 'Husker O.

 

[Woody1968]

Am I the only one that feels about as confident as they did about the MSU game even at home?

I was very confident that we would win against MSU. I am less certain about Nebraska. This is the best offense we will face all year. Is their defense the same one that showed up for the second half against Wisconsin, or is it the one that showed up for UCLA? Whoever said that "We will have to deal with Taylor Martinez passing - fortunately, so will Nebraska," had it right.

 

[DiaBuckeye]

I'll be there screaming from 16AA.

 

[Jaxbuck]

My Sunday take:

Our OL is better than their DL.
Our DL is better than their OL.
Their offense is better than ours, in terms of multiple weapons.
Their defense will not be phased by Braxton, having seen Martinez week in and week out. They also won't blink about our "no huddle".
Their offense will test our LBs and DBs on the edges- which has been a nightmare at times.
We have to worry about Martinez' passing. Problem is, so do they.
They're streaky, and get better as the game progresses.
We're young, but growing. They've got experience, but can be inconsistent.
We're still not totally healthy. We also haven't unleashed every wrinkle that we have.
We're at home, at night, where they won't be able to feed off their crowd. They also haven't been all that successful as visitors.

This will be a close game, and the one I had pegged as a loss at the beginning of the year. Ohio State's giving 4.5 points in Vegas, it would be tempting to take Big Red at that spread.

But, I believe in Urban Meyer and this team. Go Bucks.

Pretty much sums it up for me. Every time I think about how much of a threat this Nebraska offense is to the OSU defense I remember last year with a healthy Miller and the fact it's a night game in the 'Shoe.

If I'm betting on it the over is the only thing that makes sense.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

[BWI] Nebraska is going to learn the hard way that the BIG is all about protecting Ohio State and Michigan. Nebraska won't have one call go their way. FACT![/BWI]

 

[bigsexyhusker]

Good luck Buckeyes! I can honestly say this has been the one road game i have looked forward to the most as a new B1G member. Night games at the shoe are always tough for opposition and thats why you guys opened as 5 point favorites. Hopefully the T-Magic who started for us last game shows up. We will be a handfull if our passing attack can match our rushing attack led by Burkhead, Abdullah, Cross!

GO BIG RED!

 

[holybuckeye33]

Singles now available on the Ticketmaster site. Just picked up a "piggy-back" pair in 6A. Earlier in the season, scattered singles somehow turned into a lot of descent groupings later in the week, but I wanted to jump on these now.

If you ever wanted to sit in Block "O" for a big game there are singles in 39AA.

 

[Coqui]

Good luck Buckeyes! I can honestly say this has been the one road game i have looked forward to the most as a new B1G member. Night games at the shoe are always tough for opposition and thats why you guys opened as 5 point favorites. Hopefully the T-Magic who started for us last game shows up. We will be a handfull if our passing attack can match our rushing attack led by Burkhead, Abdullah, Cross!

GO BIG RED!

I'm more concerned about your passing attack than your rushing attack.

 

[scarletngray]

I like our match ups along the OL and DL. Taylor really hurt us in the 2nd half by keeping the ball. You can be sure we'll have a spy on him all game long. The challenge is going to be: Can this spy tackle in open space? We need to approach this game much like we would against TSUN. We need to take Taylor out of the game. I think we do a much better job containing the Fullback running the ball this time around. Though he will still be a threat catching the ball on screens, out in the flat, etc.

The positive for tOSU is that Braxton and the Offense were pretty much having their way before Braxton went down. After that it was a train wreck on both sides of the ball. I've never seen an Ohio State team fall apart that bad as I did that game. Maybe the Sparty game in '98 was the exception?
Should this happen again I have much more confidence in Guiton this year than I did Bauserman last year.

One thing for sure is that the Shoe is going to be rockin!!

GO BUCKS!

:osu:

 

[SidehatchHusker]

Most Husker fans chalked this game up as a loss before the season. I still believe that to be the case. You may be slightly more impressed with Martinez throwing ability. He really has impoved. 70% completions, 11 TD, 1 INT so far. But should the Buckeyes apply pressure in the pocket, Martinez quickly reverts back to his "athelete and not a QB" instincts.

I have a feeling Martinez will play fine. It's Miller that will be the key to this game. NU has fits with mobile QB's and from what I've seen with Miller, he has eyes on the back of his head. I've seen that kid scramble in such unusual, instinctive ways, that there's really no good way to stop it. Pelini said in his press conference today that they're resigned to the fact that Miller will get his yards. Make his plays.

I think tOSU will have to put up 30 points to win. I think both teams will have some big plays on offense. Should be a good one!

 

[Coqui]

Most Husker fans chalked this game up as a loss before the season. I still believe that to be the case. You may be slightly more impressed with Martinez throwing ability. He really has impoved. 70% completions, 11 TD, 1 INT so far. But should the Buckeyes apply pressure in the pocket, Martinez quickly reverts back to his "athelete and not a QB" instincts.

I have a feeling Martinez will play fine. It's Miller that will be the key to this game. NU has fits with mobile QB's and from what I've seen with Miller, he has eyes on the back of his head. I've seen that kid scramble in such unusual, instinctive ways, that there's really no good way to stop it. Pelini said in his press conference today that they're resigned to the fact that Miller will get his yards. Make his plays.

I think tOSU will have to put up 30 points to win. I think both teams will have some big plays on offense. Should be a good one!

No offense to Huskers everywhere, but after last year I want to be up by 50 at halftime. Not score 50 points, be ahead by 50 points.