Nebraska Recap

WOW.

There is no more adequate word to describe my feelings about the game versus Nebraska last Saturday. The Buckeyes started excruciatingly slow, and had it not been for the quick 7-point interception return by Bradley Roby, it would have been a bleak situation for the Buckeyes in the 1st quarter, with just 17 offensive yards, 6 of which were actually the result of a failed fake punt attempt. This attempt brought a lot of criticism from my section, but I was thrilled with the call. Think about it: You are Urban Meyer, and your offense has mounted just 11 yards of offense through the bulk of the 1st quarter. How do you get things going and change the momentum of the game? You try something bold and unexpected to jump-start things. Granted, it made things rough on the defense, but it also made a statement that Meyer believed his defense could hold Nebraska if the attempt failed.

So after falling 17-7 early in the 2nd quarter, following a field goal by Nebraska after the botched fake punt, a lot of Buckeye fans in the stands were getting a bit discouraged. That's when something happened and the offense seemed to figure out the formula to move the ball on Nebraska's defense. They did it on the ground with Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde, and they did it through the air, utilizing the tight ends! And just like that, OSU was up 21-17.

And then, the officials made one of the worst calls I have seen in a collegiate game this season. Nebraska's Taylor Martinez dropped back to pass, and he got rid of the ball a split-second before getting hit in the backfield, completing the pass downfield. His receiver then grabbed the facemask of not one, BUT TWO of our defensive backs (granted our second DB grabbed his as well, but that was well after the first facemask). So flags are thrown, and the fans believe that the play will be called back from the first facemask penalty. So you can imagine our shock when we hear that there were multiple fouls on the play, BOTH ON THE DEFENSE!?!? The refs called roughing the passer, which in itself was ridiculous, because our defender hit Martinez in a reasonable amount of time after Martinez released the ball (i.e., there was no real way he could have held up) and a personal foul facemask penalty against the defense. WHAT?!?!? Terrible. And I will go on to say that there were at least 2 reviews that were reversed in the game, so needless to say, I think the officiating was less than stellar.

So there the Buckeyes sat, down 24-21, after a bungled series of events. But OSU didn't quit -- they marched themselves downfield once again, even after getting hit with a personal foul late hit penalty along the way, following a lack of disciplined play by one of the receivers who showed up late to block on a Braxton Miller run. But even after that, the Buckeyes managed to go up 28-24, and finished the half up 35-24, having put up 4 offensive TDs in the second quarter.

The halftime show was ridiculously good. I haven't seen many other marching bands, but I know there can't be many out there near the calibre of TBDBITL. It has been years since I have seen this level of excitement from the fans during halftime -- even the students were excited. Check out the performance if you get a chance. It has more than 6 million hits on YouTube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAzzbrFgcUw)

After halftime, Nebraska came out firing the ball downfield, and I was a little worried. I think I may have made a remark about Fickell needing to work on his halftime pep talks. Nebraska scored quickly, putting the score at 35-31. But as soon as OSU's offense got the ball, all fear was erased. They continued to move the ball at their will, and by the end of the 3rd quarter, the score was 49-31.

The Buckeyes even scored on a punt return for a TD by Corey "Philly" Brown, who was standing in for Devin Smith.

The offensive line was really clicking, the defense was playing harder than I have seen them play all season, and when it got to be about 13 minutes left in the 4th quarter, I was feeling pretty good about OSU's chances of finishing out the game with a victory. Even when Nebraska scored in the 4th quarter, they had to exhaust 5 minutes of the clock to do so. The Buckeye offense was moving the ball well enbough to burn at least 3 minutes of clock with each possession, and given that Nebraska needed 3 scores to catch up, it seems that unless the Huskers were able to orchestrate 2 successful onside kicks, the Buckeyes would finish 6-0 and remain the only undefeated team in the Big Ten.
So when the Buckeyes were up 56-38 and Carlos Hyde broke free for a final TD to put the score at 63-38, it seemed like icing on the cake in a stellar offensive performance.

Takeaways:

• Braxton just keeps getting better. After a rough outing last week at MSU where he turned the ball over 3 times and was banged up, Braxton failed to run the ball over this week, broke his own QB rushing record by racking up 186 yards on the ground, threw for more than 100 yards and had one rushing and one passing TD. Though his completion percentage isn' the best, he seems to have a leadership quality the team responds to, and he makes things happen when the team needs a first down. If his growth continues and he can avoid serious injury, it will be exciting to watch him get better with every week.
• Carlos Hyde has been getting better as well, since the last offensive series against MSU when OSU needed to convert first downs on the ground. He is running hard, and despite giving up a fumble on what appeared to be a scoring drive, Hyde has managed the ball well and keeps his legs churning on every down.
• The offensive line is finally clicking.
• John Simon returned to what most fans expected out of him this week, causing nightmares for Taylor Martinez in the backfield for much of the game. Not only did the defense get to the QB, they pressured him into throwing THREE interceptions, which is three times what Martinez had thrown up to this point in the season. 
• Tackling is still sub-par. Missed tackles and poor tackles are prevalent, and really that is inexcusable at this point in the season. It is getting to the point that I want to award medals to great tackles, because they are so rare! 
• Special teams is so-so. Basil is not kicking touchbacks, and I can't figure out if that is by design or from lack of ability. At times it pays off, when our coverage can down the receiving team before they hit the 25 yardline, but there were occasions on both kickoffs and punt returns where the kicker/punter had to make a touchdown-saving tackle. NOT cool.

Next week brings the Hoosiers and another night game, though I think this may be for BTN's and Indiana's benefit moreso than it is for the Buckeyes. Don't sleep on the Hoosiers. They make me nervous every year. They always seem to be just on the cusp of being that sleeper team that can upset you if you overlook them, and the Buckeyes haven't exactly avoided playing down to their opponents this season.