“Thank you to Ohio State,” Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule said in closing his post-game press conference. “They made plays. They made the drive to go out there and win and their defense made one more play than us.”

However, the end of his presser looked a lot like the first twenty minutes. Rhule praised the Buckeyes while making it clear he was proud of his Nebraska team even though they didn’t do enough to pull off a shocking victory over Ohio State.

In addition to praising Ohio State on the field, he also shouted out Buckeye Nation, complimenting the environment at Ohio Stadium throughout the game.

“When you’re on the road, in this environment, with the noise and everything that’s going on. Thanks to the Ohio State fans. What a great environment. I mean, the redcoats, from the moment you get here, they’re nice and friendly to you, but when the game starts, they’re here to make things difficult for you.

Going into Saturday’s game, Ohio State’s three-man offense – Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson and Will Howard – was a trio the Buckeyes could lean on. Against Nebraska, OSU struggled to find any success on the ground, combining for just 64 yards rushing as a team on 31 carries, a dismal 2.1 yards per carry.

While much of that was due to Ohio State’s offensive line struggles in the first game this season without Josh Simmons on the left side, Rhule believes the Buckeyes’ struggles on the ground were also caused by Nebraska’s physicality and how well his defense played.

“They have a great running game. They have great players and a great coach. I think our guys just played really well. Played physically. They played hard. I got off the blocks.”

Ohio State’s pass rush, or lack thereof, was a major focus after the loss at Oregon two weeks ago. So much so that Ryan Day has spent much of the last two weeks, including the bye week, on the defensive side of the ball.

After the Buckeyes had just two tackles for loss in Eugene, the Silver Bullets tallied 13 tackles for loss against Nebraska, the most since Oct. 23, 2021, when OSU had 15 tackles for loss in a 54-7 win at Indiana.

Jim Knowles and Co. were more creative schematically with turns along the defensive line and simulated pressure, and Nebraska was prepared for the Buckeyes to run a different defensive scheme. Rhule quickly changed the Cornhuskers’ game plan when he realized Ohio State brought different pressure than previous games.

“They have quite a pass rush. They have great players on defense. … They were normally a four-man rushing team with Larry Johnson, but they brought a lot more pressure today.