close
close

The Buckeyes defense rises to the challenge against Nebraska

Posted on by Kennedy
The Buckeyes defense rises to the challenge against Nebraska

As the pass floated toward Jordan Hancock, it seemed like it would hang in the air forever.

“It (felt) like it took us 20 seconds to get there, even though it was only two seconds,” Hancock said.

It probably felt that way in part because Hancock was playing safety against Nebraska on Saturday and not nickel cornerback because Lathon Ransom is injured.

But the ball eventually fell to Hancock, who held the ball for an interception, securing Ohio State's tougher-than-expected 21-17 win on Saturday.

With the Buckeyes' offense stalling for most of the game, Ohio State's defense was left to rise to the challenge. Oregon had torn it apart in OSU's 32-31 loss two weeks ago and was hungry for redemption.

Saturday's performance wasn't perfect. With former Ohio State commit Dylan Raiola at quarterback, the Cornhuskers found holes in the Buckeyes' defense. If Ohio State spent its off week finding ways to confuse the freshman, Raiola didn't notice.

More: Instant Opinions: Ohio State football's running game is struggling, but deep passes are coming

“All I saw was what they showed in the movie,” he said.

But except for the fourth-quarter drive that gave Nebraska its only lead, the defense kept the Huskers out of the end zone.

The Buckeyes had a goal-line stand late in the third quarter to maintain a 14-9 lead.

More: Arvell Reese was sent off for targeting in the Ohio State-Nebraska football game

After OSU regained the lead, Nebraska had two more possessions. In the first, JT Tuimoloau got the Buckeyes' third sack of the day on second down, and Lorenzo Styles Jr. had good coverage on an incompletion on third down, forcing a punt.

Nebraska had the ball on its 46th point after linebacker Arvell Reese called a penalty that Ohio State fiercely contested.

“We got excited,” Hancock said. “There was a TV timeout because Arvell was hit by that goal. We thought we had to stop here. (Targeting) should not have been called. But we had to keep that in mind and stop.”

Ohio State did. After a Nebraska false start penalty, defensive tackle Tyleik Williams diagnosed a pass play and made the tackle for a 3-yard loss. Linebacker Cody Simon then made a tackle, resulting in a 1-yard loss.

On third-and-19, Raiola threw to Hancock over right-center. The senior welcomed the move, filling in for Ransom.

“Being a veteran and knowing the entire defense, I was happy to showcase my versatility,” Hancock said. “It was huge for me.”

This also applies to the overall performance of the defense after the debacle against Oregon.

“I thought they were angry and obsessed on defense,” OSU coach Ryan Day said. “The boys were running all over the place and we have to play like that all the time.

“We won a game on defense, which was great.”

Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *