Ohio State Football: Buckeyes narrowly escape an upset by Nebraska

Ohio State football returned to action in Week 10 looking to get a crushing loss to Purdue behind them. They beat Nebraska, but left even more questions.

There’s a strong possibility that Ohio State had already blown their chance at reaching the College Football Playoff prior to their game against Nebraska in Week 10. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 10 in the initial playoff rankings, well within reach of the top four, but separated by a crushing loss for the second year in a row.

Last year Iowa blasted the Buckeyes; this year Purdue did the honors. Even if Ohio State wins out, will a 1-loss Ohio State team overcome a 1-loss SEC squad, Notre Dame or Clemson? It’s too early to know definitively, but to say the wind had come out of the Buckeyes’ sail would be a massive understatement.

The lack of focus was apparent from the start. Nebraska marched down the field with a 75-yard, 12-play drive capped off with a Devine Ozigbo touchdown run. Nebraska then gifted Ohio State the ball on their side of the 50-yard line thanks to one of the worst onside kick attempts in college football history.

Ohio State got the scoring going on a blocked punt out of the endzone, resulting in a safety. They followed up with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Dwayne Haskins to Johnnie Dixon to take a 9-7 lead but found themselves trailing 21-16 at halftime.

After that, the Buckeyes settled down. Their second half rally moved slowly but put them ahead entering the fourth quarter. By the end of regulation, they had done just enough to walk out of Ohio Stadium with the win.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. That works when you’re undefeated or you’ve suffered an understandable loss to a College Football Playoff contender. At this point, Ohio State needs all the style points they can get.