Buckeyes find form in Big Ten season-opener
Fields sharp at QB for Ohio State, which pulls away after slow start
Justin Fields and No. 5 Ohio State shook off the rust in the first half and then buried Nebraska the rest of the way.
Fields completed 20 of 21 passes for two touchdowns and ran for another, Master Teague III rushed for a pair of scores and the Buckeyes rolled over Nebraska 52-17 Saturday in the Big Ten teams’ pandemic-delayed opener.
Fields, a Heisman Trophy finalist last season, completed his first 12 passes and threw for 276 yards. He ran for another 52 — including a stunning 17-yard third-quarter touchdown scramble around the left side that saw him spin past a defender.
His 42-yard touchdown pass to slot receiver Garrett Wilson on Ohio State’s second drive of the game couldn’t have been prettier. The only pass he missed on, in the second quarter, may have been catchable, but Chris Olave couldn’t hold on in the end zone.
“You guys saw the arm we saw,” Nebraska linebacker Collin Miller said. “He’s making throws guys on Sundays make.”
Olave caught six passes for 104 yards, and Wilson had seven for 129.
The Ohio State defense took most of the first half to figure out a way to contain quarterback Adrian Martinez, who marched the Huskers down for a touchdown in the opening two minutes of the game.
Nebraska (0-1, 0-1 Big Ten) tied the score at 14 in the second quarter, but a field goal by Ohio State (1-0, 1-0 Big Ten), a defensive stop and Teague’s second TD run gave the Buckeyes a 24-14 lead at the half. Then came Fields’ nifty touchdown run and a 55-yard scoop and score by Buckeyes cornerback Sevyn Banks, and Ohio State had it under control.
“That’s one heck of a run right there,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “It’s the best way you can end a half and start a half, and I thought it flipped the game.”
Effective against the Ohio
State defense to start the game, the Huskers couldn’t keep up.
But Martinez showed flashes of his excellent freshman season in 2018, rushing for 88 yards and a touchdown.
“The first half I thought we did a pretty good job,” Martinez said. “We came out aggressive, and I think we continued to do that in the second half but made mistakes that we can’t make against a really good team in Ohio State.”