Nebraska vs. Ohio State: The Morning After

Wisconsin waited until the second half to embarrass Nebraska. Ohio State decided to start from the beginning.

Here’s what some in the media had to say:

Steven Sipple: Nebraska’s lack of fight gives anti-Riley faction plenty of ammunition. Lincoln Journal Star

I asked Riley about his team's lack of fire to begin the contest. He didn't see it the way I did. You know they say about witnesses to a crime — two people can see the same crime in a much different way.

Riley said Ohio State's big early lead was more about Nebraska simply being unable to make a play against a high-grade outfit.

"I didn't sense anything about us (Nebraska coaches) not getting the players ready, them not getting ready to really go after it," Riley said. "We really just had a hard time keeping up with what they were doing — with the totality of their offense."

It was more about Ohio State (6-1, 4-0) just being flat-out better, he said. Much better. So much better that it felt ridiculous.

But c'mon,

you don't expect Ohio State to toy with Nebraska the way it did with UNLV and Rutgers.Sam McKewon, In murky waters: Huskers, unable to stop Buckeyes, suffer one of their worst home defeats. Omaha World Herald.

He’d clap, walk a few steps and stuff his hands back in his coat pockets. A defensive lineman was pancaked. He’d clap some more. An offensive lineman was blown up. He’d fold his arms. A defensive back would timidly swipe and miss at an opposing ball carrier. Hands back in the pockets. A linebacker got trucked. A receiver dropped a pass. Clap. Walk. Fold. Pockets.

Nebraska coach Mike Riley, captain of this pigskin Titanic, looked cold as he passively watched his program sink, perhaps for good, during Ohio State’s 56-14 destruction of the Huskers. OSU led 35-0 at halftime, cleared half of Memorial Stadium in the process, and didn’t let up, throwing the ball on its final drive, ahead by six touchdowns. It was the second-worst home conference loss in school history.

Parker Gabriel, Huskers outclassed, out-everythinged by Buckeyes. Lincoln Journal Star.

OSU overwhelmed the Huskers from the start, forcing a three-and-out, then marching 96 yards in nine plays the first time it had the ball.

Nebraska couldn't stop freshman J.K Dobbins (12 carries for 106 yards) when he ripped a 52-yard touchdown run down the left sideline on the game’s first drive. It couldn't slow Barrett, who, in the rare instance in which he didn't have an open receiver or plenty of time, used his legs to keep the Buckeye offense humming at full-speed.

NU couldn't slow an offense that eclipsed 50 points for the fourth straight week and had set the Nebraska opponent record for first downs before the fourth quarter even began. The Buckeyes finished with 633 yards, 41 first downs and the most points ever surrendered by NU at home to a conference opponent.

Dirk Chatelain. Nebraska Can’t Go On Like This Anymore. Omaha World Herald.

Somebody make it stop.

For the sake of all those national champions and All Americans, for the millions who planned 55 years of fall weekends around a football schedule, for the thousands who grew up and grew old on the planks of Memorial Stadium, for the pride and dignity of a state and its flagship university.

Make. It. Stop.

Nebraska football can’t go on like this anymore. Something’s gotta give. Either the program gets better or its fans find something else to love. It’s insane for 90,000 people to show up and get slapped in the face for 3 ¹⁄₂ hours.

Brandon Vogel. The ‘N’ Stands for Nadir. Hail Varsity.

There were about 9 minutes left in the third quarter and Nebraska had just recently ended Ohio State’s 97-0 scoring run. That was dating back to last year, of course. The Buckeyes scored the final 55 points in the game in Columbus a year ago and the first 42 in Lincoln on Saturday night before quarterback Tanner Lee connected with JD Spielman for a 77-yard touchdown.

Ohio State got the ball back and started moving the ball back downfield with the sort of certainty only the killer in the first hour of a slasher flick gets to enjoy. No need to hurry, we know how this ends. It’s in the script.

Chuck McKeever. Bad news, Big Ten: Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett looks back to 2014 form. Land-Grant Holy Land.

Barrett isn't showing any signs of slowing down. The Buckeyes have steamrolled every opponent they've faced since Week 2, and the wily senior QB's numbers have never looked better. He shone against Nebraska, accounting for seven total TDs: five through the air, another two with his legs.

Barrett threw for 325 yards while completing just shy of 82 percent of his throws, both good for season highs. He added 10 carries for 48 yards on his way to the aforementioned running scores. This is the J.T. Barrett we've been waiting for, the QB who might have been. Ohio State football is fun again, and we're all the richer for it.

An article from Lee Barfknecht, of the Omaha World Herald on a potential new hiring of an Athletic Director. Looking for good news? New Nebraska athletic director should be in place soon. In his article he complies a list of his best “educated guesses.”

Look for Nebraska to introduce a new athletic director this week.

It’s not official, but three sources with ties to NU’s administration Saturday indicated interviews took place late last week and that a decision is either imminent or already made. Other sources told The World-Herald that Interim A.D. Dave Rimington mentioned to friends his time in North Stadium is down to a few days.

As for who succeeds Shawn Eichorst, fired Sept. 21, the guessing game continues. Nebraska President Hank Bounds and Turnkey Search have kept the legitimate information flow to a trickle, at best.

Multiple calls to current and retired athletic directors and to revenue-sport head coaches active in the college grapevine revealed two general themes about the search:

» Nebraska wants a sitting Power Five A.D.

» The Huskers are willing to pay handsomely to hire one.

Mike’l Severe gave us a small slimmer of hope to end the night. I sure hope he’s right.