Three questions Ohio State must answer beginning this week vs. Nebraska

There was a moment in time earlier this season, in late September, when Big Ten football fans might have looked ahead to the looming matchup between Nebraska and Ohio State as a potential showdown between unbeatens. The Cornhuskers had won their first three games by a combined margin of 82 points on the shoulders of true freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, a former five-star recruit and burgeoning face of the program. The Buckeyes had won their first three games by a combined margin of 137 points and were tipped by many as legitimate national championship contenders after entering the year ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll.

Nearly a month later, and only a few days from kickoff between Nebraska and No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday afternoon (Noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App), the backdrop for this highly anticipated conference game has changed. For the former, which is now 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, the rude awakening came in the form of a spine-rattling 49-point loss to then-No. 16 Indiana on national television last weekend, a result so lopsided that it called into question the speed with which second-year head coach Matt Rhule is reshaping the program considering just how much better the rebuilding Hoosiers were under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti. "I'm just embarrassed about the job I did," Rhule told reporters that day. 

And for the latter, which is now 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten, the dream of an unblemished season like the one archrival Michigan enjoyed in 2023 was hacksawed by conference newcomer Oregon in a brilliant game two weeks ago. The loss sunk head coach Ryan Day's record to 2-7 against top-five opponents and poked serious holes in what many considered the best defense in college football, a unit the Ducks gashed for 496 yards and 32 points after the Buckeyes had surrendered just 34 points over their first five games combined. "Trust me," Day said in a news conference earlier this week. "Nobody is working harder and nobody felt worse coming out of that game than I did."

With two conference losses already on Nebraska's résumé and a point spread in which it will enter Ohio Stadium as a 25.5-point underdog against Ohio State this weekend, it seems all but certain that Nebraska won't factor into the race for this year's Big Ten Championship game and expanded College Football Playoff. This is a rebuild that still needs more time, much to the chagrin of a fan base yearning for a breakthrough nearly three decades removed from its last national title.

Of course, competing for and winning national championships remains an annual expectation at Ohio State, where Day and his team are still well-positioned for qualification in this year's 12-team field and could even be granted a rematch with Oregon in the Big Ten title game along the way. But the Buckeyes' first encounter with another elite roster invited some legitimate doubts about whether this program can get over the hump for the first time since 2014. 

Here are three questions the Buckeyes will have to answer beginning this week against Nebraska: 

1. Can the pass rush generate enough pressure when facing quality opponents?

In the aftermath of Ohio State's loss to Oregon, it didn't take long for a video clip of former Alabama coach Nick Saban skewering the Buckeyes' defense to make the rounds on social media. Saban, who now works as an analyst for ESPN, questioned both the overall quality of an Ohio State unit that hadn't faced a high-level opponent before visiting Autzen Stadium earlier this month and some of the schematic choices by defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. The Buckeyes failed to tally a single sack of quarterback Dillon Gabriel on a night when he threw for 341 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. 

"We talk about these teams that have the No. 1 defense in the country, they're the No. 1 scoring defense," Saban said during an appearance on The Pat McAfee show. "But who did they play to come up with those stats? And then they play somebody really good, and they sort of get exposed a little bit. And you start to wonder exactly how good are they. Especially when they play somebody good, because that's when it counts. 

"The way that Oregon, you know, sort of picked Ohio State apart. They didn't affect the quarterback [Gabriel] in any way. They didn't ever pressure. It was just four guys rushing, which, you know, that's kind of an antiquated way to play defense. And I'm not being critical of somebody's philosophy at Ohio State. But there's so much four-man rush, simulated pressures, still able to play the coverages that you play, drop different people, rush somebody that is supposed to be dropping, drop somebody that is supposed to be rushing. And these things are ways to get pressure without giving up anything in coverage. I think in this day and age of football, you've gotta go down that road a little bit, or you're gonna be behind the 8-ball."

As difficult as it might be for Ohio State fans to accept given the sky-high recruiting rankings for edge rushers JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer, both of whom were five-star prospects coming out of high school, it's clear at this point in their respective careers that neither player possesses the kind of game-wrecking potential that ex-Buckeyes like Joey Bosa and Chase Young clearly did. The former has tallied just two sacks against ranked opponents in seven such games since his breakout two-sack, two-interception and one-touchdown performance against Penn State on Oct. 29, 2022. The latter has four sacks in nine career games against ranked opponents, though three of those came in the Cotton Bowl loss to No. 9 Missouri last December. 

Now it falls on Knowles and Day, who has taken on a larger role with the Buckeyes' defense in the two weeks since losing to Oregon, to find other ways to pressure opposing quarterbacks. The edge rushers have proven they can't do it alone when it matters most. 

"I'm not happy with anything right now," Day said. "But certainly we want to get more pressure on the quarterback, there's no question. And it's the coaches' job to make sure that we put our players in a situation and environment to be successful, so that's the first thing we've gotta look at. And then it's the players' job to go do it and execute it. All those things were part of the conversation this past week, and we definitely need to do a better job there."

2. Can the secondary adequately defend deep passes?

An inability to consistently rush the passer meant that Gabriel was afforded enough time to test Ohio State's defense vertically — and more often than not, the results weren't pretty. Cornerback Denzel Burke, who is a vocal leader for the Buckeyes and the first player to utter the phrase "natty or bust" when describing the team's ambitions in 2024, turned in arguably the worst showing of his career against Oregon. He allowed eight completions on eight targets for 179 yards and two scores, according to Pro Football Focus, after only allowing a single touchdown all of last season. 

Burke and the rest of his fellow defensive backs struggled against the turf-melting speed of wide receiver Evan Stewart, a former five-star recruit and transfer from Texas A&M. Stewart was one of four Oregon skill players to make catches of at least 30 yards against Knowles' defense alongside wideout Tez Johnson (long of 48 yards), tight end Terrance Ferguson (long of 32 yards) and wideout Traeshon Holden (long of 32 yards). 

Attempting to exploit the Buckeyes' secondary down the field wasn't a strategy unique to Oregon. Knowles' defense has already given up 12 catches of 20-plus yards this season — and while that number is tied for the seventh-fewest in the country, it's also more than half of what Ohio State allowed a year ago in that same category (22). And the Buckeyes' schedule still includes games against Nebraska, Penn State and Indiana, all of which have strong-armed quarterbacks who take numerous deep shots each week. 

"You've got to find ways in practice [to test your defensive backs]," Day said. "And that's been part of the conversation, as you can imagine, this past week of putting those guys in that situation, challenging them more vertically in practice because it's our job as coaches to put them in an environment so that they're ready to go. That's it. But you learn some hard lessons in a game like that [against Oregon] when things like that get behind you. So it's our job as coaches. We've got to own it and train these guys better."

3. Can the offensive line overcome a season-ending injury to left tackle Josh Simmons?

Through six games, Ohio State ranks sixth nationally in total offense (503 yards per game) and sixth nationally in scoring offense (43.5 points per game) in its first season with Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator and playcaller. The two tailbacks, Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, are combining to average exactly 8 yards per carry. The two leading receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka, are both on pace for more than 1,000 yards. The offensive line has allowed the seventh-fewest sacks in the country and fewest in the Big Ten (five).

Which means that the only real concern about the Buckeyes' offense at this point in the season is injuries. And, more specifically, the season-ending knee injury suffered by left tackle Josh Simmons, who was playing the best football of his career and blossoming into a potential early-round NFL Draft prospect. 

Not only was Simmons, a former San Diego State transfer, the team's highest-graded pass blocker through the first six games of the season at 86.7, according to Pro Football Focus, but he'd also allowed the fewest quarterback pressures (two) of any Ohio State starter along the offensive line. He was on pace to shatter his mark of 15 quarterback pressures allowed in 2023, his first year as the Buckeyes' left tackle, and had yet to allow a sack. That he also cut down on his penalty total from eight a season ago to just one thus far in 2024 spoke to his improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 at Ohio State. 

Without Simmons, the Buckeyes turned to senior Zen Michalski to finish the game at Oregon two weeks ago. Michalski, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 319 pounds, was a four-star prospect from Indiana in the 2021 recruiting cycle. He'd only logged 102 snaps during his first three years combined at Ohio State before stepping into more of a rotational role this season. 

Michalski surrendered two quarterback pressures and two hurries against Oregon and was also flagged for a penalty. Day confirmed that Michalski will be the starting left tackle against Nebraska on Saturday. How well he holds up this weekend and beyond could be a significant barometer for the Buckeyes' national title chances. 

"That's the thing about being a backup is you never know when your time is gonna be," Day said. "Then all of a sudden you get thrust into a game like that one. But he was ready. Was it perfect? No. But he did some good things. He's got some good guys right next to him with Donovan [Jackson] and Seth [McLaughlin], who can communicate some of those things that are going on with the calls. 

"But again, that's the other thing that I try to tell guys like that: When you're going against Jack [Sawyer] and JT [Tuimoloau] and Kenyatta [Jackson Jr.] every day in practice, you should be able to go into those environments and compete and have confidence."

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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