Love the Nebraska at OSU game. It’s hard not to pick the Buckeyes at home in this one, but it wouldn’t be surprising if this is one of the best games for both teams this season. It’s great to hear all the homers and trash talk, but to me their are four keys to who wins this game (in order of importance):

1 – Whether or not Nebraska can contain Braxton Miller. Contained means a win, not contained means a loss. Getting a push on OSU OL might be all Miller needs to suck Nebraska in and watch him run right around those guys. I’m not sure Nebraska LBers have any chance of getting to this guy on the outside.

2 – Fumbles and turnovers. If Nebraska flops the ball around again, this game is likely over.

3 – Nebraska OL vs OSU DL. OSU DL can neutralize Nebraska run game if they play to their capabilities – that means the offensive game rests on Taylor Martinez’s arm. I think OSU would be okay with that.

4 – OSU has a NC caliber coach, Nebraska does not yet have that. In a close game, that matters.

Homefield advantage, a wild running Braxton Miller, a couple of long passes from Miller, a couple of turnovers from Nebraska, a little DL domination by OSU, a seasoned NC caliber coach doing his thing and this might even be a 14-20 point OSU win.

I don’t think it will quite work out that way. In fact, I think Nebraska plays their best game to date this year and this is a one score win for one of these two teams. Flip a coin, there’s your winner. Wait, I’m going to watch that game – that makes me the winner this time.

You are living in the past my friend. Our offense is significantly better than it was last year. If our defense can contain Miller very well at all, it will be game over. Aside from your receiving core (if that), Miller doesn’t have a lot of help. Also, Nebraska is one of the best conditioned teams in the country (have you seen our facilities and workouts?), so if it is just a matter of “keeping up” with OSU, I’m not worried. How do you think we came back from such a big deficit against a good Wisconsin defense? We were better conditioned = they couldn’t keep up.

Your biggest strong points are Miller being very tough to contain, Meyer being an offensive wizard, and home field advantage (the crowd). Our guys played half a game last week where our OWN crowd made it impossible to hear, Bo has coached the best defenses in the country (and you can bet he will put his mark on this one), and Martinez is deadly in his own right. Martinez may not be the same strength of threat that Miller is, but unlike Miller, he has four RBs behind that are big play makers, he has at least two WRs that are quick, fast, shifty, and have good hands (and Kenny Bell can take as big of a hit as OSU can give him and make the play), and Kyler Reed is deadly on that short route.

So Martinez has his own speed, the best passing record in the B1G, a lot of weapons to work with, and a strong and maturing O-Line to help him out. OSU doesn’t have what it takes to out play Nebraska. You might be able to out coach us, but otherwise Nebraska will have to make their own mistakes for OSU to win.

It will be a great game to watch and I guess we will have to see who is right on Saturday.