Husker ground attack an edge in Ohio State matchup

The big news out of Lincoln is hiring of former Miami athletic director Shawn Eichort.

Eichort will be replacing the retiring Tom Osborne. However, here at Wine Country Husker headquarters in Napa, CA, we will reserve commentary on the hire until after his scheduled press conference on Tuesday.

For now, Nebraska has matters on the field to take care of when it visits Ohio State Saturday for a primetime telecast. While much of the attention from a Nebraska standpoint is how are the Huskers going to contain Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller, the Husker offense generating drives, points and avoiding turnovers are equally vital.

Nebraska is averaging 305 yards rushing per game but is generating yards on the ground differently than last season, which was the Rex Burkhead Show. This year the rushing totals have been divided between Ameer Abdullah, Taylor Martinez, Burkhead, Imani Cross and Braylon Heard. Part of the reason is because Burkhead missed most of the first three games with a knee injury but even without the injury, the Nebraska coaching staff had publically stated its intentions of preserving Burkhead. With so many weapons, Nebraska can afford to ride the hot hand.

Husker offensive coordinator Tim Beck will also play a vital role because Nebraska had a tendency to unravel in the second half of road games. Part of the reason is because Beck sometimes prematurely abandons the running game if the Huskers are even slightly behind. Keep Reading

Equally important, however, is the Nebraska offense avoiding turnovers. True, you can say that about every game but in the Huskers 30-27 win over Wisconsin, half of the Badgers points were as a result of turnovers deep in Nebraska territory. On the flip side, Nebraska needs to generate a few takeaways. If the Huskers lose the takeaway battle, winning in Columbus will become much more difficult.

Nebraska’s task on defense is simple – slow Miller. However, no team has been able to do so thusfar as Miller has passed for 933 yards and eight touchdowns. He has rushed for 577 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Husker defensive ends, specifically Eric Martin and Cameron Meredith, will need to play a key role, not so much what they generate on the stat sheet but containing the outside where Miller is very dangerous. If Nebraska can force Ohio state to run between the tackles or throw the ball, the chances for victory are much better.

Let’s not forget special teams, most notably punter-placekicker Brett Maher. After an outstanding 2011 season, Maher has gotten off to a shaky start in 2012 in converting just 7 of 12 field goal attempts. Maher, however, appeared to be closer to his old self again as he delivered six touchbacks on seven kickoffs and his punting helped the Huskers gain field position. They will need a similar effort Saturday.

Nebraska’s average starting field position has been at its own 27-yard line for the 2012 season, according to FBSDriveStats.com (my new favorite website, with thanks to HailVarsity.com for pointing it out). That’s 101^st in the country, and has been a quiet hindrance on NU’s ability on offense.

In Nebraska’s one loss (and only road game), NU’s average starting field position was at its own 22-yard line, as opposed to UCLA’s average field position starting at its own 37-yard line. That 15-yard differential, coupled with the safety that was directly related to poor field position, was enough to tilt an otherwise-close cont

Ohio State’s numbers aren’t dramatically better, with an average starting field position at its own 29-yard line, ranking 77^th in the county. And Nebraska is averaging 39.6 yards per drive, which is 20^th in the country. So if Nebraska can dig itself out of the holes the offense has found itself in to start drives, ch

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Nebraska has an unfortunate history of unraveling in the second half of games against strong opponents away from Lincoln (Wisconsin, Michigan and South Carolina from last season; UCLA from this se

A common thread in all of those losses is that Nebraska, offensively, has gotten away from a run-focused offense and put the ball in the air more frequently. The clearest example was against Wisconsin in Madison, WI last year, where Taylor Martinez’s three interceptions put the game out

But against UCLA, once Nebraska fell behind in the fourth quarter, Nebraska ran eight plays. Six were passes (one of which was an interception), two were quarterback scrambles and none went to a running back.

In the comeback against Wisconsin, like against Ohio State last season, Martinez was the key that got Nebraska’s offense moving. But he wasn’t the entire offense. If Nebraska faces adversity in Columbus—which it almost certainly will at some point—it will be important for NU offensive coordinator Tim Beck to not panic and stick with the game plan to right the ship.

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Nebraska’s rushing offense is one area the Huskers appear to have an edge and while Miller is playing at a high level, the Buckeye offense is still getting its football under new head coach Urban Meyer.

This is likely to be a hard fought game and even though Ohio State is not eligible for conference title or bowl games based on NCAA sanctions, this game will certainly have ramifications for Nebraska.