As the curtain closes on Week 9 of the College Football season, no one is free from scrutiny in the aftermath. Win or lose, tensions are boiling as we head into the business end, and only perfection is satisfactory. One particular analyst came about a flaw in the Ohio State Buckeyes’(6-1) closely fought win over Nebraska (5-3). Best believe he let this discovery known to the responsible entity.

No.4 Ohio State beat Nebraska 21-17 in Columbus on the back of Will Howard, throwing 3 touchdowns through the air and boasting an 81.25% pass completion (13-16). Meanwhile, the running game wasn’t quite seeing the same success. Buckeyes’ OC Chip Kelly caught some flak from Joel Klatt about how he ran the offense in this game.

During the latest iteration of “The Joel Klatt Show”, the namesake host lamented how the offense didn’t feature their star receiver, freshman Jeremiah Smith, enough for his liking. “The best player on the field had four total targets and only two in the second half, both of those on the first possession of the second half, and then not one target the rest of the game. That’s Jeremiah Smith. That’s crazy. And you know what? They’re going to watch this film, and they’re going to say to themselves, like, That can’t happen again”

Further, Klatt also shed light on how 5-star recruit and auxiliary receiver Emeka Egbuka also had a mere 4 targets. “These two guys are elite players. They have to get, I would say, eight to 10 targets each”. Ohio State has seen great success when featuring their two receivers. They are the 2nd best offense in the B1G, averaging 40.3 PPG.

The Buckeyes left the field with a win and managed to thwart questions about being emotionally spent after the unprecedented circumstances under which they lost their previous game to Oregon. But the manner and margin of victory left a lot to be desired. So why did the team muster their lowest points tally of the season?

Why did Chip Kelly’s offense falter versus Nebraska

Kelly’s game plan was bemusing not only because of the success the passing game was seeing on Saturday but also because Kelly persistently kept deferring to the run. Ohio State’s O-line was banged up and missing key pieces, hence the run saw very diminished returns compared to its usual pomp. They ran for a lowly 64 yards on 28 attempts. That is simply not good enough for a team with national championship aspirations. The uncharacteristic display is not something fans have come to expect from their run game. This casted some doubts over what the Buckeyes’ ceiling is as they stand on the precipice of a behemoth challenge.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have no time to remorse over this offensive display, as they face no. 3 Penn State next. Chip Kelly and Ryan Day would have to bring their A-game if they were to come away with a result from Beaver Stadium, although they may have some help in the form of injury worries for the opposition.

Whether they lean into Klatt’s suggestions or have something different planned, they will not be seeking any style points in that one. A win is all that matters.