Nebraska @ Ohio State preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 14, 2017 ) Ohio State 56, Nebraska 14

Eighth-ranked Ohio State looks to bounce back from a thorough beating when it hosts Nebraska on Saturday in Big Ten action. The Buckeyes, who are 10th in the first College Football Playoff rankings, saw their unbeaten season come to an end when Purdue delivered a 49-20 trouncing on Oct. 20 and the team is aware it can't afford another upset loss.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and his staff spent extra time working on issues on both sides of the ball after the Purdue setback in hopes of being ready for the stretch drive. "I think there is urgency," Meyer said at a press conference. "I’m not saying it feels bad, but there is a tremendous amount of urgency. We understand November. We understand where we’re at. We understand what’s at stake, and we understand our shortcomings. So urgency is probably the key word around here." Nebraska lost its first six games under new coach Scott Frost but has averaged 49 points the past two games while beating Minnesota and Bethune-Cookman. "We are playing an elite team on Saturday. We played several teams that are really good and one elite team (Michigan) already this year and we weren’t ready for that challenge earlier in the year," Frost said at a press conference. "I hope our team is a lot more prepared and a lot more confident going into this one.”

TV: Noon ET, FOX. LINE: Ohio State -17.5

ABOUT NEBRASKA (2-6, 1-4 Big Ten): Freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez (1,656 yards, 11 touchdowns, six interceptions) has thrown two or more scoring passes in four of the past five games but he was overwhelmed during a road game at Michigan on Sept. 22 when he went 7-of-15 passing for 22 yards and one interception. "The beating he took in Michigan, I hope it never gets worse than that for him in his career and I think he’s going to be prepared for it," Frost told reporters. "On top of that, he’s going to be a lot healthier than he was going into that one. I think he’ll be ready, I think the whole team will be ready.” The defense has experienced issues while allowing an average of 33.4 points per game, but junior inside linebacker Barry Mohamed (team-high 75 tackles) and senior outside linebacker Luke Gifford (team-best 11 stops for losses) are having solid campaigns.

ABOUT OHIO STATE (7-1, 4-1): Sophomore Dwayne Haskins Jr. is the first quarterback in school history to top 400 yards passing in three straight games and he also broke Art Schlichter's record (458 in 1981) by accumulating 470 in the loss to Purdue. Haskins has thrown 30 touchdown passes - tied for third most in school history - with junior K.J. Hill (49 receptions, 656 yards) stepping up to become the first Ohio State player with consecutive 100-yard outings since Santonio Holmes in 2005. The Buckeyes are allowing 22.5 points per game and are receiving stellar play from junior defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones (5.5 sacks, one interception).

EXTRA POINTS

1. Ohio State has won the past three meetings and owns a 5-1 series lead.

2. Buckeyes sophomore RB J.K. Dobbins (team-high 521 rushing yards) is 56 yards away from becoming the 27th player in school history to reach 2,000.

3. Cornhuskers sophomore WR JD Spielman (53 receptions) is the third player in school history with back-to-back 50-catch seasons, while senior WR Stanley Morgan Jr. (44) is closing in on becoming the fourth.

PREDICTION: Ohio State 56, Nebraska 24