Nebraska at Ohio State: What to know about Saturday’s game

Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

TV/Radio: Fox/1410

Series history: Ohio State leads 9-1 in a series that began in 1955. The Buckeyes beat the Cornhuskers in Columbus in back-to-back seasons by a combined score of 62-27. They did not play again until 2011 when Nebraska rallied for a 34-27 win in its first season in the Big Ten.

Last meeting: C.J. Stroud threw for 405 yards and Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught a school-record 15 passes for 240 yards, but Ohio State needed four field goals from Noah Ruggles to hold off a late challenge from the Huskers in Lincoln in 2021. Ruggles’ last field goal with 1:29 to go gave Ohio State a 26-17 lead it would not relinquish.

Coaches: Ohio State’s Ryan Day is 61-9 overall and 41-4 in the Big Ten in six seasons, all at Ohio State. Nebraska’s Matt Rhule is 10-9 in two seasons with the Cornhuskers and 57-52 overall in nine seasons at the college level.

Ohio State notes: Ohio State is celebrating its 112th homecoming, and two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin is set to be the grand Marshall of the parade prior to the game… Ohio State is also celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its 2014 national championship team… QB Will Howard is fourth in the nation in passing efficiency (177.8), third in completion percentage (73.3) and 21st in TD passes (14) and yards per game (262.3)… Ohio State has outscored Nebraska 333-127 in the last seven meetings… Ohio State is sixth nationally in total offense and scoring, and the Buckeyes rank second nationally in total defense and third in scoring defense… Ohio State is 32nd nationally with 17 sacks and 64th with 40 tackles for loss.

Nebraska notes: Rhule added 60 players to his roster in the offseason, including 48 freshmen and 12 transfers… Cornhuskers are 18th nationally in total defense (304.3 yards per game) and 19th in scoring (17.7 points per game) but 88th in total offense (370.3 ypg.) and 90th in scoring (25 ppg.)… Nebraska is 5-2 for the second time in the last 10 seasons… The Huskers have held five opponents to 10 points or less this season, but they gave up 56 to Indiana last week… Nebraska has the No. 16 run defense in the country but ranks 42nd in pass defense… QB Dylan Raiola, a former Ohio State recruit, is on pace to break the Nebraska freshman single-season passing yardage record of Adrian Martinez, who threw for 2,617 yards in 2018…Raiola has completed 66.2 percent of his passes to rank 29th nationally and third among freshmen.

Quoted: Rhule on Ohio State’s running game: “It’s Chip Kelly, right? He’s gonna find a way to run the ball. I mean, they can run the ball any which way. They have an elite offensive line and defensive line. They have elite guys up front, but, they’re not no huddle, spread tempo anymore. They’ve got the quarterback run game. They’ve got two great tailbacks. Their tailbacks are special, but they create all different kinds of angles. And they’re gonna run with a lot of different run schemes. They’ll play with two tight ends. And then they’ve got outstanding receivers who, if you play one on one, they’ll go to them. So they’ve got great, great players. They start with the run game to create one on ones, to throw the ball, and then they have a QB run game, which you know is a great equalizer. Really outstanding football team.”

Prediction: Ohio State 35, Nebraska 17

Next week: Ohio State will play at Penn State at noon next Saturday. Nebraska will return home to take on UCLA at 3:30 Eastern.