Mission Brief: Ohio State

Here's a pregame rundown for Nebraska's sixth game of the season written in Army Op-Order format:

Situation:
Forget the second biggest comeback victory in school history, for the second week in a row the focus in the Husker program is on the athletic director, with the hiring of former Miami AD Shane Eichorst on Thursday.  There's talk of ruffled feathers with Tom Osborne and Bo Pelini feeling like they weren't adequately involved in the hire.  Whether or not that is true, Chancellor Harvey Perlman maintains that it was his decision, and he's going to run with it.  This whole drama seems pretty silly with such a big game this week.  What was the hurry? The announcement could have waited until next week which is not only a bye week, but also would have allowed Eichorst to be present for the announcement.  Was it too much trouble to ask Bo for a little input?  Was this some sort of power move by a chancellor who was growing resentful of Osborne's influence at the University?  I don't know, but the whole thing is a big fat distraction; not just for the new AD who probably just wants to do his job, but for the athletic department as a whole that just wants to train and win games.  Interesting to see how well-focused the football team comes out tomorrow night if indeed Bo is cheesed with his bosses.

Ohio State on the other hand, looks like a team that is coming together.  With a hard-fought, come from behind win over Michigan State last week, the Buckeyes picked up their best win of the year. and the talk out of Columbus is that the team has come together in a surprising way in Urban Meyer's first year.  Revenge is on the mind of the Buckeyes after Nebraska hurt Braxton Miller and stole the game in Lincoln last season, and Husker fans can expect a not so nice welcome from the team some fans call the "Texas of the Big Ten."  With little to distract the team, the Buckeyes are confident, and a few players started talking a bit of trash ahead of the game this weekend.  I don't personally have any problem with that, but it's not always a great idea to give your opponent extra motivation.     

Mission:
Going in as underdogs on the road to a top 15 opponent, Nebraska just needs to win.  Style and stats mean nothing at this point, survival is all that matters.

Execution:
The biggest test of the season so far will reveal more about the Huskers than any other game yet.  Can the Huskers handle the distractions on the road and back home?  Will the team rebound from their road struggles at UCLA as they enter a stretch of 3 road games?  It will be interesting to see.
Earlier in the week I implied that the Huskers will have to rely almost entirely on Taylor Martinez's arm to win this game.  I want to back off that comment a little bit.  Sure the Buckeyes dominated Michigan State's pathetic offense, but Nebraska poses a far tougher challenge than the Spartans.  Michigan State relies on almost enitrely on RB Le'Veon Bell, and he really doesn't have a lot of help; Ohio State focused on stopping Bell and shut down the whole offense.  On the other hand, Nebraska has talent all over the field, and the Buckeyes would not be wise to focus solely on stopping Rex Burkhead lest they get burned by any number of the impressive athletes in Nebraska's offensive arsenal.  I still think that Nebraska will need a strong passing attack to win, but balance will be important.
Defensively though, there's no reason to focus on anyone but QB Braxton Miller.  More than 70% of Ohio State's offense has been a direct result of his efforts, and Michigan State held the Buckeyes to their lowest numbers of the season last week, coming close to shutting Miller down.  Unfortunately, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades (5 meters is close enough for a grenade, FYI), and Sparty lost because their own offense was unable to capitalize on the defense's outstanding performance.  If the Huskers manage to mimic that performance, I don't see the same outcome.  The defensive line needs to play the game of their lives, contain Miller in the pocket, and the linebackers have to hit and wrap up far better than they did against UCLA.  If the Huskers can keep the Buckeyes under 24 points, I like our chances to win this game.

Service and Support:
Aside from WR Tim Marlowe, there aren't really any injuries of note this week, Nebraska should be nearly full strength for the Buckeyes.
The defensive backfield, sure to be tested by Miller's deep throws tomorrow, must again adapt to a spread offense, which means more nickel, and more Ciante Evans.  That's a good thing as Evans has been one of the most consistent performers on the defensive side.
Thad Randle is listed as the starting DT next to Baker Steinkuhler.  I don't think Randle has finished a game yet this year with his bum knee, so expect to see plenty of Chase Rome, Kevin Williams, and Aaron Curry.  
The already strong WR corps got another boost last week with Kyler Reed in the slot on a few plays, including his TD catch.  That's a nice little wrinkle that gives the Buckeye's weak secondary plenty of mismatch worries.
Speaking of mismatches, the diamond formation made a comeback last week.  If I remember correctly, Nebraska scored 4 or 5 TDs out of that formation last year, including a long TD pass to Quincy Enunwa versus Ohio State.  I would expect Tim Beck to bust it out on the Buckeyes once or twice tomorrow night. 

Command and Signal:
In Nebraska's last road game at UCLA in the Rose Bowl, there didn't appear to be any issues getting plays in from the sideline on either side of the ball.  That might be a bigger issue in the Horseshoe since we can't expect Husker fans to outnumber the Buckeye fans like they did at the Rose Bowl. 
Bo's teams performed very well on the road in his first 3 years, but last season, and again at UCLA this year, turnovers, penalties, poor kicking and mental lapses have doomed the Huskers and resulted in a 2-3 record.  Can Bo's team handle the pressure of being the frontrunner in the Big Ten?  We're about to find out.  Going 2-0 against Ohio State would be a nice feather in his cap for the rest of the season.

Final thoughts:
I still don't feel like Nebraska is going to win this game.  The Huskers' prior performances against mobile quarterbacks is just too poor, and Miller is easily the best one the Huskers have seen since Tyrod Taylor or Colt McCoy.  That's not to say the Huskers are incapable of pulling off the upset, I just think it will take a performance of a lifetime from this defense.