They are back! Buckeyes roll over Nebraska 52-17

  The Ohio State Buckeyes finally started their 2020 season in an eerily spooky near-empty Ohio Stadium, but slowly pulled away from the Nebraska Cornhuskers on their way to a 52-17 win in Columbus.

Justin Fields completed twenty of twenty-one passes for two touchdowns and 276 passing yards to go with his team-leading fifty-four rushing yards.

Garrett Wilson caught seven passes for 129 yards and a score to lead the skill players in the victory.

The 1-0 Buckeyes travel to State College and an angry bunch of Nittany Lions, who will be looking to even their record after giving what looked to be a sure victory away at Indiana in overtime.

Olentangy Offerings

1)  Can you be any better than 20 for 21?

Only if it's 21 of 21, but Justin Fields looked in mid-season form in this win.

It's only one game against a mid-level Big Ten team, but if this is the type of play that Ohio State fans are going to see from Justin Fields, it might be the best season ever from an OSU quarterback.

2) Fields showed a strong arm and nice touch on two different completions to Garrett Wilson and almost hit the perfect day as the one incompletion was on a Chris Olave pass in the end zone that was a little high.

Olave climbed the ladder and had the ball in his possession before being hit by a Nebraska safety and giving the ball up.

That is how close Fields came to 21 for 21.

3) Garrett Wilson was tremendous out of the slot and I'm not sure how opposition slot corners are going to deal with his combination of speed and strength. 
Wilson is going to improve with time (this was his first game moving inside to the slot position) and here is the problem for the opposing defenses- Wilson is going to be too fast to be covered by linebackers and perhaps too strong for slot corners, creating a nightmare in coverage for the opponent.

Good luck.

4) Chris Olave got his bell rung later in the game on a ball he caught and fumbled.

Ryan Day said he seemed fine after the game, so hopefully, Olave will be available for Penn State.

Olave finished his day with over one hundred yards on six catches, so he didn't take a backseat to Garrett Wilson in any stat other than touchdown receptions.

5) Nebraska was in this game for a while, but Ohio State showed their firepower when they ended the first half with a five-play drive for a touchdown, opened the second with an eight-play drive for another, and when Sevyn Banks vacuumed up a Husker fumble and raced fifty-five yards for another score, the game had moved from 17-14 to 38-14 in less than half a quarter of game time.

6) But the same defense occasionally struggled in the first half and I'm sure it will be a developing defense that will improve as the season moves on.

Ohio State did finish with three sacks against the very mobile Taylor Martinez, so there is room to grow there, but they did have issues with one of the eight thousand McCaffery offspring, who ripped off a 47-yard run and finished with ninety on the day.

7)  Ryan Day apologized after the game for not kneeling on the ball late in the game and the ensuing touchdown run by freshman quarterback Jack Miller.

Day is known for being friendly with Nebraska coach Scott Frost, so this may be trying to stay in good graces with someone he likes.

I doubt he'd worry about such things in their next game.

8) The running game will also need to pick the pace up.

Yes, the Buckeyes did rush for 161 Non-Fields yards and Master Teague's runs on one touchdown drive were powerful in between the tackles, but there is work to be done on the ground.

9) I was impressed by the garbage time carries by Steele Chambers, who carried four times for thirty-two yards.

Chambers ran once for a seventeen yard gain that was impressive and I'm hoping to see more from him.

10) Then there was the play of the day in the phenomenal touchdown catch from freshman Jaxon Smith-Njigba that is pictured above.

How the frosh pulled that pass down and managed to scrape the red of the end zone for a good catch astounds me.

The pass-catching talent in this freshman class is incredibly deep and while Justin Fields will not be around to reap the total benefits of these players as C.J.Stroud, Jack Miller, and 2021 incoming freshman Kyle McCord will, Fields will be on his share of big plays from these young men this season as well.

11) Penn State had a win over Indiana in their hands late in their contest and gave it away as noted above.

It's hard to blame Penn State's Devyn Ford for scoring a touchdown to boost a lead to eight points late in the game.

Players are taught to score when you can from the first game you play as a child, it is the coaches job to make sure the players know what to do in those situations- No matter how prepared you think they are!

Penn State is going to be ready for the Buckeyes as an 0-2 start in a shortened season is even larger than usual.

I'll write more about this in the return of I tell ya' Herbie later this week.