Ohio State needed its defense to win the game in the fourth quarter for the second game in a row. This time, the Buckeye defense delivered.
The Buckeyes shouldn’t have needed to rely on their defense to make two fourth-quarter stops to squeak out a four-point win over Nebraska, a team they were favored to beat by 25.5 points. But on a day where Ohio State’s offense had its worst performance of the season by far, scoring a season-low 21 points and averaging just 2.1 yards per rushing attempt as its offensive line struggled mightily without Josh Simmons, the Buckeyes’ defense did what they couldn’t do against Oregon to fend off Nebraska’s upset bid.