Nebraska coach Matt Rhule praises Ohio State fans for atmosphere at Ohio Stadium: 'What a great environment'

“Thanks to Ohio State,” Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule said at the conclusion of his postgame press conference. “They made plays. They created a desire to go there and win, and their defense made one more play than we did.”

However, the end of his press briefing was largely similar to the first 20 minutes. Rhule praised the Buckeyes while making it clear that he was proud of his Nebraska team even though they didn't do enough to pull off a shocking win over Ohio State.

In addition to praising Ohio State on the field, he also praised Buckeye Nation and praised the atmosphere at Ohio Stadium throughout the game.

“When you're out and about, in that environment, with the noise and all the things that are happening. Thanks to the Ohio State fans. What a great environment. I mean, the Redcoats are nice and friendly to you from the first minute, but when the game starts, they're here to give you a hard time.”

Before Saturday's matchup, Ohio State's three-headed rushing attack – Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson and Will Howard – were a trio the Buckeyes could lean on. Against Nebraska, OSU struggled to find success on the ground, managing just 64 total yards on 31 carries as a team, a dismal 2.1 yards per carry.

While much of that was due to Ohio State's struggles on the offensive line in the first game this season without Josh Simmons at left tackle, Rhule believes the Buckeyes' issues on the ground were also due to Nebraska's physicality and how well its defense performed.

“They have a great running game. They have great players, a great coach. I think our guys just played really well. Played physically. Played hard. Got out of the blocks.”

After the loss at Oregon two weeks ago, Ohio State's pass rush, or lack thereof, was a key point. So much so that Ryan Day spent much of the last two weeks, including the bye week, on the defensive side of the ball.

After the Buckeyes had just two tackles for loss in Eugene, the Silver Bullets had 13 tackles for loss against Nebraska, their most since Oct. 23, 2021, when OSU had 15 tackles for loss in a 54-7 win at Indiana.

Jim Knowles and Co. were more creative schematically with rotations along the defensive line and simulated pressure, and Nebraska was prepared for the Buckeyes to run a different scheme on defense. Rhule quickly changed the Cornhuskers' game plan when he realized Ohio State was applying different pressure than in previous games.

“They have quite a pass rush. They have great players on defense. … They were usually a four-man rushing team with Larry Johnson, but they applied a lot more pressure today.”