Nebraska was doing their best to steal their first win over the Buckeyes since 2011 with a 21-16 halftime lead. Thankfully, Ohio State was able to complete a rally in the second half, eventually icing the game with a 42 yard touchdown run from J. K. Dobbins to secure a 36-31 victory for the Buckeyes over the Cornhuskers.
How did Ohio State win, and how did Nebraska manage to keep it so close? Read on for the three key statistics that led to Saturday's outcome.
Ohio State Fumbles six times, only commits three turnovers
Sometimes it seemed as if the Buckeyes did not want anything to do the football on Saturday.
Ohio State was fumbling the ball throughout the whole game, but the two fumbles which they failed to recover both came in the second quarter. The first fumble happened midway through the quarter after Dwayne Haskins was sacked by the Cornhusker pass rush. Nebraska would capitalize, marching 64 yards down the field to score a touchdown. K.J. Hill was responsible for the second fumble late in the quarter, which the Cornhuskers would also manage score a touchdown off of.
Ohio State's third turnover came early in the third quarter when Dwayne Haskins threw an interception in the end zone. This time, the Buckeye defense pinned their ears back, and forced the Cornhusker's to punt the ball, kicking off the Ohio State rally. Considering that Ohio State put the ball on turf six times, the Buckeyes are lucky that the turnover ratio was only as bad as it was.
Nebraska shreds Buckeye secondary, Adrian Martinez has himself a day
Statistically, there is an argument that Adrian Martinez outplayed Dwayne Haskins on Saturday. Going 22-33 with 266 yards and a touchdown, Adrian Martinez went toe to toe with Dwayne Haskins, who totaled 252 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Martinez even had more yards per pass than Haskins, with Martinez reaching 8.1 yards per pass and Haskins following close behind with 7.9 yards per pass.
Realistically, it is just one game and Haskins is still the better quarterback. However, it was Martinez excellent performance that gave Nebraska such a good chance of defeating Ohio State on Saturday. Let's hope the Buckeye secondary finds its groove as the season comes to a close.
Ohio State finds its ground game, rushes for over 200 yards
The Ohio State rushing attack finally found its footing, and it saved the Buckeyes in the second half. With 40 attempts, 229 total rushing yards, and 5.7 yards per carry, there was clearly an emphasis to get the run game going. J.K. Dobbins was the biggest beneficiary of this offensive shift with 163 yards and 3 touchdowns. Mike Weber had a decent game as well with 9 carries for 91 yards.
Overall, it was nice to see the Buckeyes finally have some success rushing the ball again. Hopefully, this resurgence of the rushing attack carries over into the last games of the season. Dobbins and Weber would certainly appreciate it.
