Ohio Football Falls to Nebraska in Season Opener

Saturday, September 5

Lincoln, NE

12 p.m. ET

0-1 , 0-0

Nebraska

1-0 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Ohio	10	3	0	8	21
Nebraska	7	7	14	21	49

Photo by: Charley Szydlyk

Ohio Football Falls to Nebraska in Season Opener

9/5/2026 4:26:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Charlie Fadel

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LINCOLN, Nebraska – The Ohio football team (0-1) began its season on the road in Big Ten country against Nebraska (1-0). The Bobcats got off to a great start on offense and held touch through the first two quarters before the Cornhuskers pulled away to win game one, 49-21.

I was really proud of the way we played the first about 35, 36 minutes, Ohio head coach John Hauser said. We fought, we battled, we were down one at the half.

Individually, graduate student quarterback Nick Poulos (Granite Bay, Calif.) finished with 164 yards and one passing touchdown, while redshirt sophomore wide receiver Riley Neer (Bellfontaine, Ohio) ended with six catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Graduate student kicker Will Hryszko (Strongsville, Ohio) drilled two field goals, including a career-long from 45 yards.

Defensively, redshirt sophomore safety JT Haskins (Lexington, Ky.) and redshirt senior linebacker Jack Fries (Cincinnati, Ohio.) led the team with eight tackles each. Redshirt freshman defensive end Ike Ackerman (Omaha, Neb.) had two sacks and four total tackles.

The Bobcats started the season hot, with Poulos finding Neer on the first play from scrimmage for a 68-yard gain, putting them inside the red zone. A few plays later, that connection would come through again when Poulos delivered a pass to Neer in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game and Ohio's first of the season.

It's a great opener, Poulos said. Obviously, it's hard to beat that. (I) would have loved to not see him get chased down… but it's great when you see someone (suceed) who's worked their tail off.

Nebraska responded with an opening-drive touchdown of its own, marching down the field to tie the game 7-7.

On Ohio's next drive, Poulos showed off his rushing ability, using his legs to pick up multiple first downs into Nebraska territory. However, the drive stalled, but kicker Will Hryszko converted a 42-yard field goal to put Ohio back on top.

The Bobcat defense showed up on the next Cornhuskers drive with Ackerman getting home for a third-down sack against Nebraska quarterback Anthony Colandrea to force a punt.

We knew we wanted to get after him, trying to get him flustered, and I feel like we did at times, Fries said.

Ohio opened the second quarter with a methodical drive. A Nebraska penalty helped move the ball for Ohio, along with a downfield completion to Dorwart. Poulos and the offense got back into field goal range, and Hryszko again added a field goal, this time from 45 yards away, his career-long.

After Ohio's special teams made a big play by forcing Nebraska to start its drive from its own eight-yard line, Nebraska drove the ball down the field and found the end zone to tie the game, taking the lead with an extra point.

The Bobcat defense forced a fourth down from the Huskers, and graduate defensive end Tyler Gillison (Pickerington, Ohio.) got pressure on the quarterback, getting his hand on the ball, earning a turnover on downs with less than a minute left in the first half.

Ohio was unable to score with the little time remaining and went into halftime down 14-13.

Coming out of the half, the defense remained tough as pressure forced an intentional grounding penalty that would bring on another Nebraska punt.

Nebraska got the ball back and went on another long drive, punching it in with a rushing touchdown and making it a 21-13 lead. The Huskers again were able to find the end zone on their next possession to take a 28-13 lead.

The Bobcats would not go down without a fight, however. The offense responded with a 70-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a Poulos keeper from the 1-yard line for the score. The two-point attempt was successful after Dorwart made an incredible catch in the back of the end zone to cut the Nebraska lead to 28-21.

The Huskers kept it going on the ground, scoring two more touchdowns from running backs to pad the lead to three scores.

Nebraska capped off the scoring with a touchdown late, ultimately taking the victory, 49-21.

Up next, the Bobcats play at Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium for the first time this season, hosting the Jacksonville State Gamecocks on Saturday, Sept. 12. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+. This marks the first time the two teams have clashed since the 2024 StaffDNA Cure Bowl, where Ohio clinched its first 11-win season in program history with a 30-27 victory at Camping World Stadium.

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