Is Nebraska ready for the spotlight?
The jury seems out on that one, given the Cornhuskers’ start to the season. They dropped out of the Top 25 after a fall-from-ahead overtime loss at Colorado on Sept. 7, and had to rally from a 35-27 fourth-quarter deficit last week for a 42-38 victory in their Big Ten Conference opener at lightly regarded Illinois.
Well, Nebraska has no choice but to be ready Saturday night. No. 5 Ohio State is heading to Lincoln for a prime-time showdown, and the Buckeyes have looked the part of a national championship contender in four overwhelming wins against less-than-overwhelming competition.
Whether it’s because the network believes this will be a game worthy of the flashing red light or because it wants to give the country a glimpse of the Buckeyes’ immense gifts, ESPN is showing up with its College GameDay program.
Cornhuskers coach Scott Frost is embracing the expanded spotlight.
“If we weren’t improving and getting better and going in a really good direction that was obvious to a lot of people, we wouldn’t have those guys on ESPN coming to town,” he said.
That Nebraska (3-1, 1-0) is on the escalator going up isn’t the question. After close to 20 years where it ran in place under a succession of coaches, it hired Scott Frost from Central Florida and is back on the path toward being the program it was under Tom Osborne.
But it might not be ready yet for an opponent like Ohio State (4-0, 1-0). The Buckeyes changed coaches but haven’t missed a beat. Ryan Day took over for Urban Meyer and has them playing at a level that screams powerhouse.
Last week’s 76-5 evisceration of Miami (Ohio), which featured an outrageous six second-quarter touchdowns from quarterback Justin Fields, was the latest exhibition of Ohio State’s skills. It has outscored opponents 214-36 so far.
Running back J.K. Dobbins is averaging 119.2 yards per game and 7.0 per carry. Five players have multiple touchdown receptions, including four from Chris Olave.
Fields has completed 69.5 percent of his passes for 880 yards with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions while adding 150 yards and six scores on the ground. But the Buckeyes have not been challenged much, and they certainly haven’t run a play yet with 80,000 fans hooting at their every move, as will be the case in this one.
“A lot of things to clean up if we’re going to go beat those guys next week,” Day said after the rout of Miami. “So, a job well done, but it’s what have you done for me lately?”
Ohio State’s defense, which has allowed only 241 rushing yards, will get a legitimate test from Cornhuskers quarterback Adrian Martinez. In addition to being one of three players on his team with at least 234 yards on the ground, he has completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 1,053 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
Maurice Washington (268 rushing yards) and Dedrick Mills (229) are a formidable running back combination, and Frost can have fun finding ways to get true freshman wideout Wan’Dale Robinson the ball. He has 17 catches for 195 yards, as well as 27 carries for 119 yards.
Robinson had 168 yards of offense last Saturday.
“If he keeps playing like that, you have to try and create ways to make sure he touches the ball a certain amount of times,” Frost said. “I don’t know how many he can handle, but he’s going to make us better.”
