The tenor of this week's stock report isn't bright, but it could have been much darker.
For all the criticisms flung at Ryan Day during his Ohio State tenure, one thing he's tended to do well is guide the Buckeyes to convincing wins over teams they are supposed to beat convincingly. Since 2019, not only has Day never lost to an unranked opponent, but he's beaten every single one he's faced by multiple scores.
That was until Saturday. Nebraska kept Ohio State's offense pinned down for multiple extended stretches and held a 17-14 fourth-quarter lead before Will Howard took an offense that had managed zero first downs on its first four possessions of the second half and engineered an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to go up 21-17. Two excellent stands by the Buckeyes' defense later, that became the final score.
A one-score win against a Cornhusker squad fresh off a 56-7 loss to Indiana that felt one or two plays away from going the opposite direction. Ohio State's offensive line and running game went on a steep decline this week, but there were a few positive takeaways to be had, too.
The Buckeyes will need all the positives they can get with a road trip to No. 3 Penn State looming.
Stock Up
Pass rush
Credit where it's due, Ohio State's defensive staff dove into the Oregon film over the bye week, saw the schematic shortcomings of its zero-sack outing against the Ducks and responded with a three-sack, 13-tackle-for-loss day against the Huskers. The Buckeyes experimented with three-down and four-down fronts, they ran stunts, they simulated pressures – everything a certain Stock Up/Down writer (and Day) called for.
Ball launching
Day said the Buckeyes would be "launching some balls" in practice last Tuesday in response to questions about the team's deep passing attack and that proved prophetic for Saturday, as 48.1% of Ohio State's total offense came on three long passes. Carnell Tate got things started with a 40-yard touchdown reception, Jeremiah Smith got in on the action with a 60-yard score and Tate had another 37-yarder to kickstart OSU's go-ahead drive.
Will Howard hits Jeremiah Smith in stride for a 60-yard touchdown pic.twitter.com/SY6zbMKFhy
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 26, 2024
Howard made one head-scratching throw into double-coverage for an interception but was otherwise fantastic against Nebraska despite limited attempts, going 13-of-16 for 221 yards and three touchdowns with the pick. That's 13.8 yards per pass attempt.
Pitt
The 7-0 Panthers are still somehow just 18th in the AP Poll after returning three interceptions for touchdowns and dismantling Syracuse 41-13. Then again, the Orange somehow outgained Pitt 327 to 217.
Texas A&M
The Aggies won a critical game along the margins of the College Football Playoff, knocking off then-No. 8 LSU 38-23 to vault from No. 14 to No. 10 themselves. Much like Pitt, Texas A&M won despite getting outgained by its competition, 420 to 376 in this instance.
Winning in the fourth quarter
It's true that the Buckeyes shouldn't have been in a position to potentially lose in the fourth quarter against Nebraska, but it is also true that they did what needed to be done to survive and advance another week. That's especially true on the defensive side of things, where Ohio State previously couldn't close out at Oregon.
Ryan Day's grip strength
Ohio State's head coach was livid after a targeting call on Arvell Reese, taking the field to berate the officials and slam his headset to the ground. Well, almost slam it, anyway. Day thought better than to cost his team 15 more yards with the game still on the line and somehow clung to the audio receivers mid-spike. Ohio State appealed to the Big Ten and got the call overturned following the contest.
Ryan Day was not happy about that targeting call pic.twitter.com/ZZ3vQl1Os3
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 26, 2024
Stock Down
Offensive line
Ohio State's struggles with its front five in the Nebraska game are well-documented already. Zen Michalski proved a major downgrade against the All-American Josh Simmons, out for the season with a knee injury, and the rest of the line felt those shockwaves as its level of play lowered. Right guard Tegra Tshabola also struggled with some blocking whiffs and missed assignments. Then, Michalski went down with an injury in the fourth quarter as left guard Donovan Jackson kicked outside to tackle and Luke Montgomery took his place.
Now Day and offensive line coach Justin Frye need to figure out a working configuration for this Saturday. The most likely option keeps Jackson at left tackle and plays some combination of Tshabola, Austin Siereveld and/or Montgomery at the guard spots. The Buckeyes need to address the issue as soon as possible too, because Penn State's defensive front is a fearsome one.
Run game
Due in part to its shuffles on the offensive line, the Buckeyes rushed for a season-worst 2.1 yards per carry vs. the Huskers. Their next-worst outing was against the Ducks, a 4.3 yard-per-attempt day. Neither TreVeyon Henderson nor Quinshon Judkins broke the 3-yard-per-carry plateau.
Rush lane discipline
This is a nitpick of a defense that otherwise played fantastic on Saturday, but Dylan Raiola found room to scramble up the middle several times in the first half against Ohio State, gathering a career-high 31 rushing yards. The freshman entered the game with -89 rushing yards on the season. Aggression up front from a defense clearly eager to pin its ears back may have come at the cost of discipline on a few plays, but it's probably an acceptable exchange for a few extra sacks.
Appropriate respect for our armed forces
Have you no shame, Notre Dame? It's one thing to derail all the fun narratives of an undefeated Navy and (still) undefeated Army in the year 2024, but to make the Midshipmen look like the Midshipmen in a 51-14 win? These are the people who defend our seas. Tsk tsk.
Rutgers
There was a time when it looked like the Scarlet Knights might be capable of emerging as a tier-two Big Ten team with a light 2024 schedule and even possibly entering the CFP conversation. Those days are long past. A moribund 3-4 USC squad trounced Rutgers 42-20 on Friday night to put both teams at .500.
Optimism
Confidence that Ohio State would beat Penn State, who it holds seven straight victories over, on the road felt sky-high roughly three weeks ago. It dipped a little bit after the 32-31 loss at Oregon, but the juice around Columbus just feels completely sapped after this close call. There's a lot more riding on this game than Big Ten Championship ambitions for the Buckeyes – it's a battle for the very narrative around Day's program.
