COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — It wasn’t pretty and it was far from perfect. But at the end of the day, Ohio State did what it had to do to avoid a colossal upset by Nebraska, defeating the Cornhuskers 21-17 to get back on the winning track.

In the process, the Buckeyes avoided back-to-back regular season losses for the first time since 2011 and kept head coach Ryan Day perfect against unranked opponents since taking over the program. More importantly, the win keeps all of Ohio State’s goals ahead of them heading into another pivotal matchup on the road at Penn State next weekend.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to win the game in the fourth quarter. That’s it,” Day said. “The truth is, we don’t often find ourselves in games like that.”

Here are three takeaways from the Buckeyes’ sixth win of the season.

Run game struggles amid offensive line changes

For an offense that stole headlines early in the season with talented running backs like Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State’s ground game was practically shut down for much of Saturday afternoon. The Buckeyes only managed 64 rushing yards on 31 carries, averaging out to 2.1 yards per attempt. That’s a far cry from the averages that Judkins (6.9) and Henderson (8.2) are used to seeing.

“That’s not even close to good enough. We’re averaging under three yards a carry with Quinshon and TreVeyon. That’s not getting it done,” Day said. “We got to do better than that.”

After the game, the players didn’t directly correlate the lack of a ground game to the struggles experienced by the offensive line. But Judkins did recognize that the players in the trenches were in positions they weren’t used to. With Josh Simmons out for the season at left tackle, Zen Michalski made his first career start. Then when the senior went down with an injury in the fourth quarter, further changes were made on the front line.

“Especially when you have new guys in the rotation, they have to get used to the tempo and how things go up front. Especially in-game tempo compared to a walkthrough or different things like that,” Judkins said. “Having those guys mentally dialed in and getting those reps that they need, I think that’s the biggest part. But it’s not anything that they couldn’t handle.”

Howard executes with big throws

Quarterback Will Howard wasn’t going to let a bad day on the offensive line become an excuse, even if the Buckeyes were held scoreless in the third quarter. Three of Ohio State’s four third quarter drives ended in a punt with the other ending in an interception. Howard was emphatic in letting reporters know that the changes at left tackle didn’t affect his decision making.

“I don’t know if it’s one thing that we can put our finger on. We gotta go back and look at the film and get it corrected,” Howard said.

The Kansas State transfer did just enough to put the Buckeyes on top, throwing 13 completions for 221 yards and three touchdowns against one interception. One of those scoring throws was a 60-yarder to Jeremiah Smith, who caught his eighth touchdown throw of the season, tying the program record set by Cris Carter in 1984.

But it’s his nine-yard throw to Judkins in the fourth quarter that ended up being the difference in the game as the Buckeyes trailed the Cornhuskers.

“A win is a win. When the going gets tough and when things aren’t going our way, we’re able to win the fourth quarter,” Howard said.

Defense bounces back to carry Buckeyes

Howard gave much of the credit to the defense, which consistently kept Nebraska out of the endzone for most of the afternoon. After allowing nearly 500 yards of offense two weeks ago in the loss to Oregon, Ohio State gave up 273 yards of offense to the Cornhuskers. The defense made 13 tackles for losses, led by Cody Simon who had three.

“On defense, I thought our response was excellent. I liked the way our demeanor was. The way we were playing. We were flying around. We were getting lined up. A lot of things to build on there,” Day said. “We played angry. We played possessed.”

And it was the defense that secured the win as Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola was leading his offense in the game’s final minutes. Cornerback Jordan Hancock came up with the crucial interception that ended the Cornhuskers’ chances of pulling off the upset.

“That’s the way we got to play all the time,” Day said. “So now we got to do that again this week.”

Yes they do. Because next is another top five showdown for the Buckeyes. This time at Penn State.