South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Short on style, Buckeyes hold for win
Defense steps up following sluggish start by offense
LINCOLN, Neb. — A nine-point win over the last-place team in the Big Ten West might not satisfy Ohio State’s fan base.
Buckeyes coach Ryan Day was just fine with it.
C.J. Stroud threw for 405 yards and two touchdowns, Ohio State’s defense came up with a pair of stops after Nebraska had pulled within six points, and the Buckeyes got out of Memorial Stadium with a 26-17 win Saturday.
“We’re going to watch it and think we could have won by three touchdowns or more if we clean some things up,” Day said. “But (Nebraska) is a good team, this is a good defense. We knew that coming in, I said that, and I believe that. It’s great to get wins on the road. It’s not easy to do.”
The Buckeyes’ nation-leading offense managed only two field goals in the second half, allowing the Cornhuskers — a two-touchdown underdog, according to FanDuel Sportsbook — to make it a one-score game until Noah Ruggles kicked a 46-yard field goal with 1:29 left.
Ohio State (8-1, 6-0 Big Ten) won its 24th straight game against a conference opponent but couldn’t have impressed the committee that made it No. 5 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.
“Some things weren’t clicking right, and they put it on me to execute the passing game, and I felt we did that well,” Stroud said. “We have to start executing and finishing drives.”
The Huskers (3-7, 1-6) dropped their fourth straight game and are assured of a fourth consecutive losing season under Scott Frost and a fifth in a row overall.
“I hate losing more than anybody in that locker room,” Frost said. “But I just love being the coach here, I love these kids. They battled through a lot. This is going to pop at Nebraska. It just is. We’re doing too many good things right. We have too many good young players. We’re putting ourselves in position to win too many games and just not making a play or catching a break.”
The Buckeyes played without top receiver Garrett Wilson for an undisclosed reason but got a school-record 15 catches from Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a career-high 240 yards.
Stroud completed 36 of 54 passes but threw two interceptions after having gone four straight games without being picked off.
His 3-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave and Smith-Njigba’s 75-yard catch-and-run for a TD helped put the Buckeyes up 20-10 at half.
The Huskers scored late in the third quarter to pull within 23-17 and got the ball right back when Myles Farmer intercepted Stroud’s deep ball intended for Olave. Nebraska drove to the 13, but Chase Contreraz missed a 30-yard field goal attempt.