No. 5 Ohio State shakes off upset scare vs. Nebraska for 26-17 win

Things looked shaky at times for the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, but it managed to pull things together late to put down the Nebraska Cornhuskers for a 26-17 win in Lincoln, NE.

Ohio State (8-1, 6-0 Big Ten) held control late in the first half, seemingly poised to walk into halftime with a 17-3 lead. Nebraska (3-7, 1-6 Big Ten) had different plans as quarterback Taylor Martinez bombed a 72-yard touchdown pass to Somori Toure to cut the deficit to seven heading into the locker rooms.

The Buckeyes booted a pair of field goals to add to their lead in the third quarter. The Cornhuskers suddenly injected some life into Memorial Stadium when Martinez once again again hooked up with Toure for a 53-yard completion, setting up a one-yard TD run to get back to within one score. They put OSU on major upset alert when picking off OSU QB CJ Stroud late in the third. However, the home team squandered that opportunity when missing a field goal at the start of the fourth.

Nebraska would get the ball back with 5:45 left and a chance to pull ahead with a touchdown. Instead, the offense were forced to punt after a quick three-and-out. Ohio State bled the clock and officially put the game out of reach with a 46-yard field goal from Noah Ruggles. The Buckeyes entered as a two-touchdown favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook.

For Ohio State, we’ll see how this performance will help or hurt them in the next batch of College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday. For the Cornhuskers, they have officially been eliminated from bowl contention and with a bye week coming up, we’ll see if a move is officially made on head coach Scott Frost.