By Jordan Hansen
A week after traveling to No. 8 Wisconsin and narrowly losing, No. 10 Nebraska has another huge test this weekend.
The Cornhuskers roll into Columbus, Ohio, for their second-straight top-10 matchup against No. 6 Ohio State. Winning a game there would be huge for Nebraska and help keep its chances at a College Football Playoff berth alive.
It’ll have to limit a potent Buckeye offense that has been excellent throughout the season.
“Ohio State leads the league in total offense, so as I sit and watch film, it’s just impressive,” Nebraska head coach Mike Riley said. “The best thing for us is to take care of the ball and have a more consistent passing game.”
It’s been a huge season for Riley, whose Cornhuskers went 6-7 a year ago. He’s been able to turn much-maligned quarterback Tommy Armstrong into a respectable player and the defense into something to work with.
Certainly it’s the best the Cornhuskers have played in a very long time. They still, however, do not have a marquee win. Ohio State would be the perfect place to find one.
On the Buckeye side of things, however, this is a must-win game. Head coach Urban Meyer’s team dropped a game to Penn State two weeks ago and eked out a 24-20 win over Northwestern on Oct. 29.
The Buckeyes do not look nearly as good as they did early in the season, though they certainly are still in the running for the College Football Playoff if the rest of its games are all wins. However, Meyer can’t afford to look too far ahead.
“Nebraska is a top-10 team for a reason,” Meyer said. “No. 1 is the players, and No. 2 is the coaches putting them in great position to be successful.”
Michigan continues to dominate
The Wolverines are the best team in the Big Ten right now.
They’re the lone undefeated team in the conference and look like a national championship contender in head coach Jim Harbaugh’s second season at the helm. Considering where the Michigan program was at before he got there, that’s incredible improvement.
Since the start of conference play, the Wolverines have been completely dominant, outscoring teams by a score of 241-48. Two-hundred forty-one to forty-eight.
That’s incredible.
There’s a whole bunch of reasons of why the team has been good, but Harbaugh did give his defense plenty of credit.
“It starts up front, with the defensive line, they’ve really been the backbone of our team,” Harbaugh said. “Coverage has really been a strength for us as well.”
Northwestern looking for an upset
After an atrocious 1-3 start to the season, the Wildcats have been much better, winning three of their last four.
Last week’s close game against Ohio State has to give head coach Pat Fitzgerald a little bit of confidence for the rest of the season. He’s been able to start grounded during the year, which has helped keep the team moving forward.
“You just can’t get on a roller coaster; you can only control what you can control,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s just doing the best you can in your role, coaching your kids up. Everything else just takes care of itself.”