The Ohio State Buckeyes came into their Week 9 matchup with the Nebraska Cornhuskers as one of the most balanced offense in the country, but on Saturday afternoon, they were anything but. Ohio State's dynamic duo of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, which came into Saturday's matchup with Nebraska rushing for a combined for an average of 152 yards per game mustered just 54 yards on 20 carries against the Cornhuskers.

Because of that one-dimensionality, the Buckeyes found themselves in an unexpected dog-fight with their Big Ten foe, eking out a 21-17 win to improve to 6-1 on the season. After the game, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day commended an “explosive” pass game and a defense that “played with fire,” but he wasn't nearly as thrilled with the effort that his offensive line put forth in the run game.

“We've gotta be able to run the football,” Day said during his postgame presser, per Andy Anders of Eleven Warriors. “We didn't run the football. That's not even close to good enough.”

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In the end, it was 5th-year senior Will Howard who came through, just two weeks removed from a late-game gaffe that cost Ohio State against the Oregon Ducks. The Kansas State transfer threw for 221 yards and tossed three touchdown passes on Saturday afternoon, including a game-winner to Quinshon Judkins with just six minutes remaining in the 4th quarter.

Despite Will Howard's heroics, this game highlighted a trend that everyone in Columbus should be concerned with. After scoring 56 points in their win over Western Michigan on September 7th, Ohio State has seen their scoring total dip in every game since then (56, 49, 38, 35, 31, 21). And next Saturday's game pits the Buckeyes against Penn State, who will enter the game as the 8th-best scoring defense in the country, holding opponents to just 14 points per game.

In Ryan Day's tenure as the head coach in Columbus, Ohio State has not lost to Penn State, but if the Buckeyes put forth this sort of effort in Happy Valley next Saturday afternoon, it's awfully easy to envision a scenario in which that changes.