NCAAF Game Recap - Nebraska at Ohio State
Sat Nov 3, 2018 12:00 PM EDT

Bama
29
LSU
0
F
Lou
16
Clem
77
F
ND
31
NW
21
F
PSU
7
Mich
42
F
UGA
34
KY
17
F
Okla
51
TxTch
46
F
Neb
31
OSU
36
F
Temp
40
UCF
52
F
Cal
13
WaSt
19
F
WVU
42
Tex
41
F
MIZ
38
Fla
17
F
Utah
20
AzSt
38
F
Hou
31
SMU
45
F
UtSt
56
Hawaii
17
F
Iowa
36
Purd
38
F
Fres
48
UNLV
3
F
LT
3
MissSt
45
F
Syr
41
Wake
24
F
Pitt
23
UVA
13
F
BC
31
VaTec
21
F
TxAM
24
Aub
28
F
MiaOH
42
Buff
51
F
Kent
35
BGSU
28
F
Ball
13
Toled
45
F
Ohio
59
WestMI
14
F
NIU
36
Akr
26
F
W Ky
10
MidTN
29
F
Colo
34
Ariz
42
F
Rut
17
Wisc
31
F
SCar
48
Miss
44
F
IASt
27
Kans
3
F
OkSt
31
Bayl
35
F
MSU
24
MD
3
F
C Mi
7
E Mi
17
F
Mem
59
ECU
41
F
AF
14
Army
17
F
GATec
38
UNC
28
F
JMU
24
UNH
35
F
SJSU
9
Wyo
24
F
TxSt
40
GASt
31
F
UT-M
14
JacSt
21
F
GaSo
25
ULMon
44
F
SoAl
14
ArkSt
38
F
Marsh
24
SMiss
26
F
SamHu
26
(N/A)
43
F
ULLaf
16
Troy
26
F
K St
13
TCU
14
F
UTEP
34
Rice
26
F
MIN
31
Ill
55
F
Tul
41
SoFL
15
F
FlaSt
28
NCSt
47
F
Lib
59
UMass
62
F(2OT)
Navy
0
Cin
42
F
AlcSt
42
NMS
52
F
UNCC
3
Tenn
14
F
App
23
CoCar
7
F
UConn
19
Tuls
49
F
Duke
20
MiaFL
12
F
UCLA
21
Oreg
42
F
UTSA
3
UAB
52
F
FlAtl
49
FLInt
14
F
Stan
23
Wash
27
F
USC
38
OreSt
21
F
SDSU
31
NM
23
F
BYU
16
Boise
21
F
Kent
14
Buff
48
F

Nov 3, 2018, 12:00 PM EDT

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Nebraska (2-7)

7

14

0

10

31

(8) Ohio State (8-1)

16

0

14

6

36

No. 8 Ohio State rallies to beat Nebraska 36-31
Sat Nov 3, 2018 6:02 PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) With five minutes left in the game and Ohio State clinging to a six-point lead, J.K. Dobbins burst through a hole between center and right guard and rumbled untouched 42 yards for a touchdown and some breathing room.

The breakaway by the Buckeyes' tailback was hugely satisfying for coach Urban Meyer, considering the running game has been absent for the past month, most notably in the inexplicable upset loss to Purdue two weeks ago. He harped on it with his team in the days afterward.

Dobbins ran for a season-high 163 yards and two more touchdowns as No. 8 Ohio State rallied in the second half and then weathered a late Nebraska score to win 36-31 on Saturday.

"It was great to get back to our old ways," Dobbins said. "We knew what we could do."

It wasn't only Ohio State's running game that showed up again. Its depleted and much-maligned defense - missing three starters in the secondary and prone to giving up big plays - staged a second-half stand.

Down 21-16 at half after the Huskers (2-7, 1-5 Big Ten) turned two Ohio State fumbles into touchdown drives, the Buckeyes (8-1, 5-1, No. 10 CFP) rallied in the second half. They forced five straight punts and held Nebraska to a field-goal when a drive stalled at the 1.

"We had every chance to in the world to win that game," Nebraska coach Scott Frost said.

After the field goal, Dobbins broke off his run to cap the next series. Nebraska's Adrian Martinez threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to JD Spielman to pull the Cornhuskers within five with 3 minutes left, but Dobbins pounded away for two first downs to run out the clock.

"The biggest thing is to get that darned bad taste out of your mouth from two weeks ago and win the game," Meyer said. "It was a close game against a team that was hitting its stride now."

HASKINS GRINDS IT OUT

Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. didn't have a great day, but he got the job done.

After nearly flawless performances early in the season put him in the Heisman Trophy conversation, he was 18 for 32 for 252 yards Saturday with a pair of touchdowns, including a 42-yard scoring toss to J.K. Dobbins in the first quarter . But he also fumbled twice and threw an interception.

"We cost ourselves with a couple of fumbles and a couple of miscommunications," Haskins said.

His 18 completions gave him 242 for the year and broke the single-season school record of 240 set by J.T. Barrett last season.

HUSKERS RISING

For a team that lost six a row for its worst start in the program's 129-year history, Nebraska's improvement is astonishing.

Martinez is getting better every week and bested Haskins. He was 22 for 33 for 266 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 72 yards and two more scores.

Running back Devine Ozigbo ran for 86 yards and a score.

"A lot of things had to happen to get a team that would go toe-toe with a top-10 team," Frost said. "Six weeks ago we went to Ann Arbor (Michigan) and played a team like that and we had no chance. We walked out of there with our tails between our legs. Now the guys are banding together and fighting and going blow-for-blow with a team like (Ohio State)."

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The win won't look impressive on paper, so Ohio State is unlikely to gain ground.

THE TAKEAWAY

Nebraska: The Huskers are a different team than the one that started the season with a home loss to Troy and 46-point defeat at Michigan.

"We can play against any team in the country, and that includes Ohio State," Martinez said, "This thing is taking off."

Ohio State: The Buckeyes survived three turnovers while bouncing back from the stunning loss at Purdue. The running game and defense are showing signs of recovery for the stretch run.

UP NEXT:

Nebraska: hosts Illinois on Nov. 10.

Ohio State: visits Michigan State on Nov. 10.

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

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Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacy

Passing

Neb Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
A. Martinez 33 22 66.7 1 266 46 0 101.3
OSU Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
D. Haskins 32 18 56.3 2 252 42 1 89.6

Rushing

Neb Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
D. Ozigbo 20 86 4.3 10 1
A. Martinez 20 72 3.6 24 2
OSU Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
J. Dobbins 23 163 7.1 42 3
M. Weber 9 91 10.1 37 0

Receiving

Neb Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
S. Morgan Jr. 7 87 12.4 46 0
J. Spielman 6 61 10.2 17 1
OSU Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
J. Dixon 5 96 19.2 42 1
K. Hill 2 39 19.5 30 0

Fumbles

Neb F FL
A. Martinez 2 1
OSU F FL
K. Hill 2 1
M. Weber 2 0

Returning

Neb KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
M. Washington 1 12.0 0 12 0 0 0
J. Spielman 0 0 0 1 -2.0 0 0
OSU KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
K. Hill 1 4.0 0 4 1 2.0 0 2
J. Dixon 2 12.0 0 14 0 0 0

Punting

Neb Punt Yds Avg LgPu
I. Armstrong 7 270 38.6 54
OSU Punt Yds Avg LgPu
D. Chrisman 4 191 47.8 59

Takeaways

Neb Int Yds InTD
L. Jackson 1 0 0

Team Stats Comparison

Neb OSU
Points For 31 36
Total Yards 450 481
Rushing Yards 184 229
Passing Yards 266 252
Passing Completions / Attempts 22/33 18/32
Turnovers 1 3
Interceptions Thrown 0 1
Fumbles - Lost 2/1 6/2
First Downs 27 23
Penalties - Yards 5/44 6/46
Time Of Possession 25:25 34:34
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 4/14 3/9
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 1/1 0/1
Punts - Average Yards 8/34 4/48

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter Neb OSU
Neb 05:04 TD Devine Ozigbo 1 yd run (Barret Pickering kick) 7 0
OSU 07:50 SF Team safety 7 2
OSU 09:49 TD Johnnie Dixon 42 yd pass from Dwayne Haskins (Blake Haubeil kick) 7 9
OSU 13:09 TD J.K. Dobbins 10 yd run (Blake Haubeil kick) 7 16
2nd Quarter Neb OSU
Neb 10:08 TD Adrian Martinez 2 yd run (Barret Pickering kick) 14 16
Neb 14:45 TD Adrian Martinez 2 yd run (Barret Pickering kick) 21 16
3rd Quarter Neb OSU
OSU 09:21 TD J.K. Dobbins 3 yd run (Blake Haubeil kick) 21 23
OSU 13:17 TD Parris Campbell 9 yd pass from Dwayne Haskins (Blake Haubeil kick) 21 30
4th Quarter Neb OSU
Neb 07:14 FG Barret Pickering 18 yd FG 24 30
OSU 10:08 TD J.K. Dobbins 42 yd run (failed 2pt rush) 24 36
Neb 12:03 TD JD Spielman 17 yd pass from Adrian Martinez (Barret Pickering kick) 31 36

Game Information

Stadium: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 104,245
Game Time:
Weather: