Ohio State kept its CFP hopes alive with a less-then-dominant 26-17 win over Nebraska. The Buckeyes rode a career day from receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and 3 Noah Ruggles’ field goals to the win Saturday in Lincoln.

Nebraska threw the Buckeyes off pace a few times, hitting big passes to WR Samori Toure and slowing the OSU ground attack to keep the game competitive.

With a surprisingly ho-hum game from RB TreVeyon Henderson until late (he finished with 92 yards on 21 carries), OSU and Heisman hopeful QB CJ Stroud had to pass the ball early and often. Sometimes it yielded big plays — with Smith-Njigba posting a career day by reaching a 15 receptions and 240 receiving yards. Sometimes it yielded big mistakes, including a pair of Nebraska interceptions on the Huskers end of the field. But in the end, the Buckeyes avoided a disastrous loss which could have ended their CFP hopes.

Stroud finished 36-of-54 for 405 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs.

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Both teams traded mishaps early, with Ohio State turning the ball over on downs on an incomplete 4th-down pass at the Nebraska 43 to open the game. Nebraska then drove to the OSU 27, before Chase Contreraz missed a 45-yard field goal try. Ohio State moved the ball to the Nebraska 25 before Stroud threw just his 4th interception of the season. After a few more punts, Ohio State put together an 11-play, 57-yard drive that reached the Nebraska 9 before Ruggles connected on a 26-yard field goal to give the Buckeyes a 3-0 edge with 11:25 to play in the first half.

After a shanked Nebraska punt, Ohio State added to the lead with a 49-yard drive that finished with Stroud hitting Chris Olave for a 3-yard touchdown with 6:41 to play in the second quarter. Trailing 10-0, Nebraska mounted an 8-play, 54-yard drive that culminated in a 39-yard Contreraz field goal that cut the OSU lead to 10-3 with 3:52 left in the half.

On the next play, Stroud hit Smith-Njigba on a 7-yard throw, and then a couple of open-field moves juking Nebraska defenders turned the play into a 75-yard scoring strike that made it 17-3 OSU with 3:34 remaining in the 2nd quarter. Nebraska answered on the second play with a 72-yard scoring strike from QB Adrian Martinez to Toure that pulled the Huskers to within 17-10 at the half.

Ohio State increasingly struggled to run the ball, extending its lead in the second half on a 46-yard kick from Ruggles with 9:42 to play in the 3rd quarter and then on a 35-yard kick from the senior transfer that made it 23-10 OSU with 2:05 left in the third quarter.

But again, with Nebraska on the edge of being out of the game, the Huskers responded. Martinez connected on a 53-yard pass to Toure on which the senior receiver spun away from OSU defenders down to the Buckeyes 1-yard line. From there, Martinez carried the ball into the end zone on the next play, making it 23-17 Buckeyes with 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Stroud then threw his second interception of the season in the early moments of the 4th quarter. Nebraska moved the ball to the OSU 13, but after a high pass on 3rd down, Contreraz missed a 31-yard field goal with 9:47 left in the game — 1 of his 2 misses on FG tries. Ohio State moved into Nebraska territory, but punted the ball back to the Huskers.

Ohio State improves to 8-1 on the season and will host Purdue next week, before finishing the season with a pair of blockbuster games against Michigan State and Michigan. Nebraska falls to 3-7, clinching another losing season for beleaguered head coach Scott Frost. Nebraska plays at Wisconsin next week.