Buckeyes surge from 14-14 tie to lopsided win
Adrian Martinez and Luke McCaffrey combined for 165 yards on the ground, but Nebraska couldn’t keep pace with No. 5 Ohio State as the Buckeyes turned a 14-14 game late in the second quarter into a 52-17 rout.
Nebraska generated 370 yards of total offense, and while Nebraska’s quarterbacks combined to complete 16 of 20 passes, Ohio State’s Justin Fields was even more efficient, completing 20 of 21 for 276 yards and two touchdowns. Fields added 15 carries for 54 yards and another score as Ohio State amassed 491 yards, including 215 rushing yards.
After Nebraska took a quick 7-0 lead on a four-play, 75-yard drive to open the game, Fields led the Buckeyes on an 11-play, 75-yard drive to tie the score at 7-7 with 8:04 left in the first quarter. After the Buckeyes got a stop on Nebraska’s next drive, OSU took a 14-7 lead on Fields’ 42-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson.
The two defenses settled down for the next 10 minutes until Nebraska found the end zone to tie the score at 14 on Dedrick Mills’ three-yard touchdown run with 8:24 left in the first half.
Three consecutive scores by Ohio State in just 6:48 of game time put Nebraska in a must-score position on its opening drive of the second half, and the Huskers started marching. However, on Nebraska’s sixth play, Martinez fumbled at the OSU 45 and the Buckeyes’ Sevyn Banks scooped up the ball and raced 55 yards for a touchdown to give Ohio State a 38-14 lead.