Going into Saturday’s game against Nebraska, Ohio State remained a fringe playoff contender in spite of several things: its blowout loss to Purdue two weeks ago, its coach’s health issues, its No. 10 ranking that left the door open to sneak back into the top four. After a 36–31 victory in which the Buckeyes trailed a two-win Cornhuskers team for more than a quarter, it may be time to adust that ceiling downward.
Nebraska started the year 0–6 and had fired off two straight wins over Minnesota and then Bethune-Cookman before giving the Buckeyes all they could handle in Columbus.