{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Ohio State 26, Nebraska 17
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 6, 2021
Where: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Temperature: 50°
Head Official: Michael Cannon
Attendance: 84426

Noah Ruggles kicked four field goals for the second straight game for the struggling Ohio State offense to help the No. 5 Buckeyes defeat host Nebraska 26-17 Saturday.

Ohio State (8-1, 6-0 Big Ten) led 17-10 at the half, and Ruggles made field goals of 46 and 35 yards in the third quarter to increase the lead to 23-10.

Nebraska (3-7, 1-6) responded with a 75-yard drive to pull to 23-17 in the final minute of the third quarter on a 1-yard keeper by Adrian Martinez, one play after a 53-yard catch by Samori Toure.

But that would be as close as the Cornhuskers could get even though they got the ball back and reached the Ohio State 13-yard line before Chase Contreraz missed a 31-yard field goal.

Ohio State made it a two-possession game when Ruggles added a 46-yard field goal with 1:29 remaining, which made it 26-17. The graduate transfer from North Carolina is 15 for 15 this season.

Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud was 36 of 54 for 405 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

His favorite target was Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who had one TD while setting a school record with 15 receptions that totaled 240 yards, second-most in school history.

Martinez was 16 for 31 for 248 yards, a touchdown and an interception, which ended Nebraska's last drive at midfield with 56 seconds remaining. Toure had four catches for 150 yards.

Nebraska, whose previous six losses had come by one score, played the Buckeyes tight throughout.

Ohio State was held scoreless in the first quarter for the second time this season, the other time being in the 35-28 loss to Oregon in the second game.

A 26-yard field goal by Ruggles at 1:25 of the second quarter gave the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead, and a 2-yard TD pass to Chris Olave made it 10-0 6:41 before halftime.

Nebraska made it 10-3 on a 39-yard field goal from Contreraz before the teams swapped explosive scores.

First, Smith-Njigba caught a 75-yard pass for Ohio State with 3:34 left in the half, then Toure's 72-yard reception for the Cornhuskers 41 seconds later made it 17-10.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Ohio State   Nebraska
TreVeyon Henderson Player Rahmir Johnson
21 Attempts 16
92 Yards 62
4.4 Avg Yards 3.9
0 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Receiving
Ohio State   Nebraska
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Player Samori Toure
15 Receptions 4
240 Yards 150
16.0 Avg Yards 37.5
1 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Ohio State 495 90 405 2 4 1 5.0 1
Nebraska 361 113 248 2 1 2 2.0 1