Ten Things People Will Be Saying After The Nebraska Game

The Buckeyes haven’t played a game in two weeks, which means everybody has had ample time to move on and get over the loss at Oregon. Now they can focus on a brand new kind of angst and anguish now with Nebraska coming to town.

The Huskers are coming off of a 56-7 loss at Indiana, which means the baseline has been set for the Buckeyes, and if they don’t live up to expectations, there could be some harsh words said.

There could also be a segment of the Ohio State population that simply wants to get back on the winning side of things and get moving in the proper direction prior to next week’s game at Penn State.

Those two sentiments will be the overriding message put forth from the fandom afterward, but there will still be at least 10 other things said as well.

“I hope Lathan Ransom isn’t out long.”

Starting safety Lathan Ransom is dealing with an undisclosed injury and is not expected to play this week. His availability — or lack thereof — has not been confirmed by head coach Ryan Day yet, though Day did say on Wednesday that this is not a “long-term” thing. Day also called Ransom “day to day,” which is something he often says when he doesn’t want to say how long a player is actually expected to be out. With Caleb Downs at free safety and a healthy Lathan Ransom at strong safety, the Buckeyes have a high level of security in the back end. Without Ransom, there will be some new moving parts that might squeak more than you’d like.

“They’re gonna need to get Zen Michalski some help.”

With every eye on Zen Michalski at left tackle, people are going to notice his failings much more than they otherwise would. Nobody is expecting him to be flawless, though Ohio State will need him to be good enough with which to win. After the first time a pass rusher gets past him, the comments will begin. After the third time, they may not stop. Regardless, people will be talking about “keeping a tight end in” or “having a running back in there to chip.” And none of these would necessarily be bad ideas. It is going to be interesting to see how much Nebraska attacks the left side of the Ohio State offensive line, because it probably won’t be “not at all.”

“Good to see they worked on the deep ball in practice.”

Now, this may or may not be sarcasm, but one way or the other, it’s going to be said. Ryan Day said they were going to be taking a bunch of shots in practice in preparation for increasing their ability to throw the deep ball in a game. He’s not been happy with their overall execution deep downfield. Quarterback Will Howard said this week that they haven’t called many deep shots this season, and sometimes the coverage doesn’t always allow for it. So while the Buckeyes have worked on it, we still may not see it. Hence the possible sarcasm.

“Good to see they tweaked the pass rush.”

Again, this may or may not be sarcasm. Much has been made this week about Ryan Day wanting to see a more effective pass rush. He has promised to get that done and has requested certain unnamed tweaks be made. No matter what changes have or haven’t been made, if the results aren’t there, it won’t matter. If the results are there, it also won’t matter what changes have been made, most people will simply be happy with what may be temporary results. This will either be an eye-roll comment or a “let’s roll” comment.

“As angry as I get, it’s always a nice feeling being able to watch JJ Smith.”

For frustrated Ohio State fans, Jeremiah Smith is football Calgon (and you have to be at least 45 years old to even have a chance of understanding that reference.) No matter how bad things get — in a relative sense — there’s always the hope and anticipation that you’re about to see Jeremiah Smith do something fun and the stress will all go away. At least for a moment. And then he does it. It’s been a long two weeks for Ohio State fans. They should get back to some brief moments of happiness on Saturday thanks to their fabulous freshman.

“Denzel Burke appears to have bounced back.”

After the worst game of his career two weeks ago in Eugene, Oregon, everybody inside of the Buckeyes football building is expecting Denzel Burke to bounce back this week. Ryan Day said Burke got back to the fundamentals in practice, which will serve him well this week against Nebraska freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, who will throw the ball from any angle and without a care. Raiola threw three interceptions last week against Indiana. There will be opportunities. Burke has been preparing for a bounce back. Feel free to give him credit for it when it happens.

“I’ve got confidence in Will Howard the next time he needs to win a game.”

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard came up one second short in the loss at Oregon. He has learned from it, but so have Buckeye fans. They saw him making plays all game long, and they’ll see it again this week. No quarterback is perfect, but no quarterback in the nation is going to want to avoid coming up short in a last-minute situation more than Will Howard moving forward. That doesn’t mean he’ll get it done, but it means he’ll have your confidence while he’s trying to make it happen.

“When TreVeyon Henderson runs like this, we can’t be beat.”

To be fair, you probably also said this against Oregon after he had just ripped off 70 yards on two-consecutive runs. But then that was it. TreVeyon Henderson is one of the most dangerous running backs in the nation. He’ll show it again this week, and then keep showing it. With Quinshon Judkins being good to go according to Ryan Day following a procedure on his hand a week or so ago, Judkins’ status is still not entirely clear (see: Ryan Day, day to day). This could be a nice reminder from Henderson to everybody watching that he’s still here and he’s still legit.

“I’d rather have Julian Sayin than Dylan Raiola.”

I don’t know if we’ll see Ohio State freshman quarterback Julian Sayin in Saturday’s game, but that won’t stop Buckeye fans from going to bat for their guy and touting Sayin’s future over Dylan Raiola’s. In fact, after a particularly bad pass or two, Ohio State fans will also throw in freshman Air Noland’s name as well. Raiola may have been the end-all, be-all of the 2024 quarterback class, but the Buckeyes have done just fine for themselves too.

“This won’t get it done at Penn State.”

This is always a good reminder from the person who loves to tell you that your aggressive brand of driving wouldn’t fly in their city, or that your mow pattern isn’t going to work long-term, or that rock climbing isn’t actually that dangerous — it’s only the falling that will kill you. As always, thank you for your astute contributions. And why do you care so much about Penn State anyway? They’re not even a rival.

[Herbie Husker header photo courtesy of the Nebraska Dept. of Athletics.]

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