Nebraska defense shakes off slow start, finds stride late against Ohio
Nebraska's Jamal Rule (25) shushes the opposing team after scoring his third touchdown of the game during the second half on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska's Kwazi Gilmer (3) caches a touchdown pass during the second half on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, at Memorial Stadium.
LINCOLN — Leaks in the hull of Nebraska’s defense were starting to add up.
The Huskers’ win over Ohio began with a busted coverage that led to a 68-yard catch and run for OU receiver Riley Neer. Later in the first half came a third-down facemask penalty on Williams Nwaneri, extending an Ohio drive that led to a field goal.
At times, the Huskers struggled to contain quarterback Nick Poulos’ scrambling ability.
They went into the locker room up 14-13. Non-Power Four conference opponents scored a total of seven points against NU in two games last year.
“At first we were beating ourselves,” linebacker Dawson Merritt said. “Just calming down, resetting and just getting back to what we’re used to doing.”
If the first half represented a shaky start to new coordinator Rob Aurich’s defense, the second showed its capacity for burying an opponent. Ohio’s running backs might as well have been running into a brick wall at the line of scrimmage. Poulos completed four of 12 passing attempts as the Bobcats gained 115 total yards.
Now the Huskers have to parlay the momentum into 60 minutes of good football with harder teams than Ohio coming up at the end of the month.
“All it really was is being on the same page and understanding what they were trying to do,” defensive lineman Jahsear Whittington said. “Probably one or two things that we knew they were trying to do that they did get away with a little bit, but it’s all right. That’s little things that we just have to be real more intent with on Monday, Tuesday and following throughout the week and sticking to that plan on Saturday.”
Many of the issues that hampered Nebraska early on were mental. Ohio wasn’t out-scheming NU or imposing its will physically. There was nothing that required massive adjustments or wholesale changes.
Nebraska had prepared for situations like this, though. Each position group has its own methods of refocusing. It was an emphasis within the players’ work with director of mental health and performance Dr. Jacob Cooper all offseason.
“Getting into the locker room and talking to each other and understanding what we’ve been working on this whole offseason, and that’s resetting,” lineman Anthony Jones Jr. said. “We knew we couldn’t beat ourselves. We gave them a couple cheap things, penalties, things like that, so we just had to get into the rhythm, but we understand that we can’t start slow like that.”
Things should get at least slightly easier for Nebraska in the coming weeks when linebacker Owen Chambliss returns to action. Chambliss transferred from San Diego State — where he played for Aurich — and established himself as one of the leaders of the Blackshirts over the offseason. The plan was for Chambliss to be the defender with an earpiece in his helmet, relaying play calls from the sideline.
But after dealing with a hamstring issue toward the end of training camp, Chambliss was out of uniform for the opener. NU coach Matt Rhule was satisfied with the way Merritt and Vincent Shavers Jr. played in his place but said Chambliss would likely be back for the Huskers’ Week 2 game against Bowling Green.
“Chambliss is kinda the guy who knows everything,” Rhule said. “He’s been in the defense, and there’s not a guy that puts more time in than him, so getting him back obviously will be a big boon for us.”
The Huskers otherwise had a mostly full cupboard and rotated players liberally on a hot day. Jeremiah Charles started at cornerback opposite Andrew Marshall, but Victor Evans III and Danny Odem played as well. Rex Guthrie and Dwayne McDougle III both saw the field at safety.
Regardless of personnel, the first three weeks of the season are something of a ramp-up period for Nebraska’s defense to get comfortable with game action in a new system. The real bullets start flying with Michigan State on Sept. 26.
A loss to Bowling Green or North Dakota would open up a different can of worms, but Nebraska has a chance in the early part of the season to establish a baseline against smaller schools. A quality second half against Ohio was a start. A more complete performance is the next step.
“There was really no adjustment,” Rhule said. “We ran the same plays, did the same things. We just stopped shooting ourselves in the foot.”
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Sam McKewon recaps the Nebraska vs. Ohio game
