<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0V4h8b_0wKZso0400" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0V4h8b_0wKZso0400" width="1210" height="806" ></figure>The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes haven’t played a football game since their heartbreaking 32-31 loss to the now-No. 1 Oregon Ducks on Oct. 12. The Nebraska Cornhuskers are set to return to the field seven days after getting obliterated 56-7 by the No. 13 Indiana Hoosiers. On Saturday, Oct. 26 at 12 noon ET inside Ohio Stadium, one of these teams will begin to turn things around, while another will add to their fanbase’s increasing neurosis... and depending on how the game goes, it might not be the winning team’s fans that feel better coming out of The ‘Shoe on Saturday afternoon. Before the season began, some prognosticators thought that this weekend’s matchup between the Buckeyes and Huskers could be a battle of unbeatens. However, a narrow defeat in Eugene for Ohio State and a pair of losses to upstart, ranked Big Ten teams for Nebraska has taken a bit of the national intrigue out of the game — despite the fact that Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” will be in Columbus on Saturday. However, given the volatile natures of both fandoms, this Week 9 contest carries more than its fair share of existential importance. For the Buckeyes, after relatively smooth sailing (at least by Buckeye Nation standards) through the first five games of the season, many fans are rightfully back to where they have been over the past few seasons; being passionately spectacle of Ryan Day’s ability to win big games — and therefore conference and national championships. Of course, fans have more concerns than just the head coach’s ability to seal the deal against the best competition. Questions abound about the defensive line’s inability to come up with sacks in key contests and how a philosophical divide between defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and defensive line coach Larry Johnson plays into that fact. Some fans also don’t seem convinced that quarterback Will Howard is able to properly take advantage of the talents of wide receivers Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith since he is not the strong-armed, down-field thrower that previous Buckeye QBs like Dwyane Haskins Jr. and C.J. Stroud were. With a fanbase as large and fervent as Ohio State’s, it’s no surprise that after years of getting super close only to be routinely disappointed, fans are extra sensitive to the issues inside the program. Take that dread and multiply it by a bajillion for Big Red Nation.The once proud and powerful Nebraska football program has not been to a bowl game since 2016, and a victory over Indiana last weekend would have got them to the coveted six-win mark. But with games left against OSU, USC, Wisconsin, and Iowa, the Huskers will likely only be favored over UCLA on Nov. 2 (do not take my gambling insight as analysis analysis, I have won like three sports bets in my life). Last season, the Cornhuskers went into November at 5-3, but preceded to lose out, finishing the campaign at 5-7, missing out on a bowl game in Matt Rhule’s first season as head coach. The former Baylor Bears and Carolina Panthers head coach was brought into Lincoln to turn things around from the Scott Frost Era that was marred with painful one-score losses and a repeatable theme of ripping defeat from the jaws of victory. Could the Huskers be bound for a repeat of last year’s late-season slide? It would seem unlikely given UCLA’s No. 79 ranking in SP+ (compared to Nebraska’s No. 32), but that likely isn’t going to dissuade Big Red fans from being exceptionally nervous when the calendar flips to November should their team not pull off the upset in Columbus this weekend. For the Buckeyes, beating a Nebraska team that you favored by more than 25 points over certainly wouldn’t turn the entire fanbase into Ryan Day apologists, but if Ohio State struggles coming off of a bye week (like it did in Week 4 against Marshall), especially against a team that got its proverbial doors blown off by IU a week ago, Buckeye Nation could go into full panic mode with a trip to Happy Valley looming in a week. No matter what happens in The Horseshoe on Saturday, is is almost certainly not going to completely quiet all of the agita in either fanbase, but at this point, simply producing a performance that doesn’t add more fuel to the “This Is Fine” fire would probably be welcome on both sides, given that there are even more tenuous moments still to come. </div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Ohio State and Nebraska game carries far more importance than a single win or loss

The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes haven’t played a football game since their heartbreaking 32-31 loss to the now-No. 1 Oregon Ducks on Oct. 12. The Nebraska Cornhuskers are set to return to the field seven days after getting obliterated 56-7 by the No. 13 Indiana Hoosiers. On Saturday, Oct. 26 at 12 noon ET inside Ohio Stadium, one of these teams will begin to turn things around, while another will add to their fanbase’s increasing neurosis... and depending on how the game goes, it might not be the winning team’s fans that feel better coming out of The ‘Shoe on Saturday afternoon.