Justin Fields, No. 5 Ohio State Continue Dominance with 48-7 Romp over Nebraska

No. 5 Ohio State thoroughly dominated from start to finish in a 48-7 road win over Nebraska at Memorial Stadium.

The Buckeyes scored touchdowns on all but two of their first-half possessions en route to a 38-0 halftime edge. The lone exceptions consisted of OSU kicking a field goal after a 90-yard drive and watching the clock run out to end the half.

The 5-0 Buckeyes, who have now outscored their opponents 262-43, moved to 2-0 in Big Ten action, while the 3-2 Cornhuskers are 1-1 in conference.

Notable Stats

Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State: 15-of-21 for 212 yards, three touchdowns; 12 carries for 72 yards, one touchdown

J.K. Dobbins, RB, Ohio State: 24 carries for 177 yards

Master Teague III, RB, Ohio State: 12 carries for 72 yards, two touchdowns; one reception for 28 yards

Austin Mack, WR, Ohio State: three receptions for 66 yards, one touchdown

K.J. Hill, WR, Ohio State: five receptions for 39 yards, one touchdown

Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State: two interceptions, two tackles

Chase Young, DE, Ohio State: one sack, three tackles

Adrian Martinez, QB, Nebraska: 8-of-17 for 47 yards, zero touchdowns, three interceptions; 15 carries for 81 yards

Dedrick Mills, RB, Nebraska: 11 carries for 67 yards, one touchdown; one reception for 10 yards

Ohio State's Early Season Dominance Eye-Opening Despite Softer Schedule

Ohio State's phenomenal 5-0 start comes with a tiny asterisk: The Buckeyes haven't played a Top 25 team yet, with their most notable win occurring against 3-1 Cincinnati by a 42-0 score.

On the flip side, Ohio State looks near-invincible en route to beating lofty expectations on a weekly basis.

Caesars Palace listed Ohio State as an 18-point favorite as of Tuesday (h/t Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report), but the Buckeyes found themselves up 17-0 with 9:32 left in the second quarter before scoring three more touchdowns by halftime.

Running back J.K. Dobbins had more rushing yards than Nebraska had yards from scrimmage until late in the third quarter. Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez threw for just 27 yards through three quarters, and quarterback Justin Fields completed passes of 20 or more yards to four different receivers during that same span.

At halftime, Ohio State defenders had more interceptions (three) than Martinez had completions (two).

Nebraska, which has also lost to unranked Colorado, may have been overrated at No. 24 in the preseason Associated Press poll.

However, the Cornhuskers ranked 42nd on Jeff Sagarin's college football rankings entering the evening: They aren't a designed Division I-FCS opponent for an FBS powerhouse to dominate, but this game had the look of such a contest, where one team is above and beyond another's class in all phases.

The compliments rolled in for Ohio State during the evening.

Ben Axelrod of WKYC wondered if we were witnessing a peak in OSU football history:

A compelling case can be made, especially considering how deep Ohio State's offensive talent pool seems. For instance, freshman Garrett Wilson entered Saturday as his team's sixth-leading receiver, but he made one of the best plays of the night on this touchdown catch:

Dane Brugler of The Athletic mentioned the NFL prospects of two OSU stars in edge-rusher Chase Young and cornerback Jeff Okudah, whose work on one play caused a turnover:

Jordan Strack of WTOL 11 pointed out an astonishing stat:

And Joel Klatt of Fox Sports offered the loftiest praise of them all:

It's hard to argue with Klatt after watching Ohio State over the college football season's first month, and the Buckeyes figure to be clear favorites in every one of their games from now until a hypothetical College Football Playoff berth.

What's Next?

Both teams continue Big Ten play on Saturday at home: OSU will host No. 25 Michigan State at 7:30 p.m. ET, and the Cornhuskers will welcome Northwestern into town at 4 p.m. ET.