Nebraska Football: 3 reasons Huskers can hang with Ohio State

Nebraska should have the edge on the ground

One part of the game where Nebraska football should have the edge is on the ground. The Huskers own the fifth-best rushing attack in the Big Ten at 220 yards per game and on top of that, they also average 5.6 yards per attempt.

Ohio State, on the other hand, averages only 171 yards per game and just 4.4 yards per rushing attempt. Part of that has to do with the fact that Haskins is more of a throwing quarterback and not a dual-threat guy like J.T. Barrett, however, Ohio State also doesn’t have a dominant back.

J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber are both solid, yet Dobbins is getting 4.3 yards per touch, while Weber is at 5.4. Devine Ozigbo has 710 yards on 96 rushes (7.1 YPC) and eight touchdowns. Martinez also has 408 rushing yards and four touchdowns, while freshman Maurice Washington has over 300 yards and three scores in addition to getting 5.8 per rush.

Nebraska likes to play fast, that’s just how Frost does things. But, if the Huskers can get the run game going, it might not be a bad idea to slow the tempo a bit, milk some clock and keep the ball away from Ohio State as much as possible. The more Nebraska can keep the ball, the better chance it has to keep the game close.