Ohio State football: Buckeyes ready to put last game behind them

“You sit on it and you chew on it and then eventually you move on and you look forward, and that’s kind of where we are.”

The Buckeyes only dropped two spots to No. 4 in the Associated Press poll after losing to the Ducks, who moved up to No. 1 after Georgia beat Texas last week.

Ohio State has at least two potential top 20 games later this season against Penn State and Indiana to bolster their Big Ten title hopes and chances of making the College Football Playoff, but first thing is first: A visit from one of college football’s storied programs.

Here are four things to know for the game:

1. Will Howard sees positives in the Buckeyes losing when they did.

The senior quarterback is in his first season in Columbus, but he figured out quickly how people around town take losses: Poorly.

But he sounded OK with that.

“We talked about we wanted to flush that game, but we’re not going to forget about it and it’s going to be in the back of our head. We’re going to use it,” Howard said.

“And I feel like this is kind of the point of the season where I’m almost glad it happened now and not at the end of the season to where some of those issues that may have gotten swept under the rug, if we win that game, they might not have to get addressed.”

The offense put up 31 points but left some on the field, including the final drive when he scrambled and the clock ran out before the Buckeyes could try a game-winning field goal.

“We’re really working at cleaning up every little thing that we can, and I want to be able to look back and say this is the reason that we went on a run and won a national championship and not the other way around,” Howard said.

2. Ohio State knows more about Dylan Raiola than the typical freshman.

Nebraska’s quarterback was set to be Ohio State’s quarterback at one point in his high school career.

Raiola verbally committed to Day and the Buckeyes as a high school sophomore in the spring of 2022 but rescinded his pledge that winter. After also committing to Georgia, Raiola ultimately signed with Nebraska last December, choosing to follow in the footsteps of his father, Dominic, and uncle, Donovan, who both played for the Cornhuskers in the 1990s.

Ranked the No. 2 high school quarterback in the class of 2024, Raiola will enter the Horseshoe on Saturday having completed 141 of 213 passes for 1,592 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.

He is is on pace to break the Nebraska freshman single-season passing yardage record, and his 66.2% completion percentage ranks 29th nationally and third among freshmen this season.

“I think he’s got an opportunity to be a great player,” Day said this week. “I think he’s already playing at a high level, and he’s got a lot of talent, and he’s got a great family.”

3. The Cornhuskers could provide a unique look defensively.

Raiola’s offense has had a rough go of it this season, ranking 90th in scoring (25 points per game) and 88th in total offense (370.3 yards per game), but the defense has looked better.

Despite being bludgeoned for 56 points last week at Indiana, Nebraska ranks 19th in scoring defense (17.7 ppg.) and 18th in total defense (304.3 ypg.).

Howard said the 3-3-5 scheme reminds him of what he worked against in practice when he was at Kansas State the past four years.

“I’m excited for the challenge,” Howard said. “I think they’ve got a good team. I know they’re going to be hungry after last week. It’s going to be a good challenge. They’ve got some young guys that are doing some good things, and it’ll be fun.”

4. The Ohio State defense is looking to bounce back.

With a talented Penn State offense on deck, the Buckeyes could use a feel-good performance against the Cornhuskers.

Senior linebacker Cody Simon said he takes responsibility for the unit giving up 32 points and nearly 500 yards at Oregon after showing few cracks the first five games of the season.

“The biggest thing is going back to what makes us good, go back to our fundamentals,” Simon said. “All that stuff that we do all camp — all everything. So I think (the coaches have) done a really good job of just reminding us and getting us back into that intensity of just do your job 100 percent as fast as you can, as hard as you can and that stuff will take care of itself.”

SATURDAY’S GAME

Nebraska at Ohio STate, Noon, FOX, 1410