Before the start of the season, this game was circled as one of the biggest pitfalls for the 2019 Buckeyes. The Huskers got off to a horrible start in 2018 under Scott Frost but right around the time that the Huskers came to town to play the Buckeyes, they started to figure some things out.

Sure, the Buckeyes ended up winning that game by five points but credit goes to the Huskers for leading at halftime, pushing the Buckeyes to the brink and hold Dwayne Haskins largely in check and to one of his lowest outputs of the season.

But now, the Buckeyes are sitting at 4-0 on the season while the Huskers are 3-1, dropping a game to the Colorado Buffaloes and then getting pushed until the closing minutes at Illinois against a lightly-regarded Illini team.

Even with the issues against Illinois, the Huskers put up a bunch of yardage but just couldn't hold on to the ball and kept the Illini in the game for most of the contest.

Do our staff members see this as a game that the Buckeyes could still drop? Has the narrative changed over the last month? Without any further delay, let's get to our picks in advance of Saturday night's game against the Huskers in front of a national stage.

I am going to admit it, before the start of the season I had the Buckeyes 100-percent losing this game. I felt that Ohio State would be pretty good by this point of the season but the transitions on offense and defense would take more time and while I expected Ohio State to be 4-0 at this point, I felt that they would be tested more.

Okay, I understand that they really have not played anyone and the numbers that they have put up are hard to really quantify based upon that. But I also know that putting up close to 54 points per game against air is a difficult thing to do.

I also expected the Huskers to be a lot better than what we have seen. They have no kicking game, have been dealing with a banged up running back group and Adrian Martinez has not been consistent, despite throwing for more than 250 yards per game but the completion percentage has been good, not great and the touchdown numbers have not been there.

Ultimately this is going to come down to what the Nebraska defense looks like. The Huskers have given up 21 or more points in three of four games, watched a 17-0 lead disappear against the Buffs and rank 62nd in scoring defense. The Blackshirts are not back yet and the Buckeyes could make the most out of that.

Ohio State has held teams to nine points per game and I don't expect that to continue against this offense, regardless of who is healthy and who is not. The Huskers saw the couple of plays that have worked against this defense and will try and replicate things the best that they can and have runners that can get into the second and third levels quickly. The Huskers won't be able to just run alone on this defense however and if they can't show a two-prong attack, the Buckeyes will just be able to stretch plays out to the sidelines and shut down this offense.

I expect the Huskers to hit a couple of big plays that will give Ohio State fans fits but I expect the Buckeyes to hit several more and even more importantly, I expect to see the Buckeyes be able to maintain drives where I only expect to see Nebraska's success to come on a few big plays and that's about it.

Ohio State's depth and experience will be too much for the home team to overcome. Ohio State 45 Nebraska 21

Here is what I said in the A-Deck on Wednesday:

"On paper, this one should be a fairly easy win for Ohio State. They opened up as 15-point road favorites, and the line is now closer to 18. Nebraska has not looked good early on this year, particularly on defense. The talent advantage is titled heavily towards the Scarlet and Gray.

But this one will not be that easy. It wasn’t that easy in Iowa City in 2017. It wasn’t that easy in West Lafayette (Ind.) in 2018. The Buckeyes are going to get every team’s best shot, and you better believe that will be the case with the Cornhuskers on Saturday night, in their house, in the primetime game on ABC with College GameDay there. This is an opportunity for Frost and his staff to get a program-defining victory, to show recruits that Nebraska is indeed coming back and will be at or near the top soon. Ohio State will not see the NU team that barely beat South Alabama, blew a big lead to Colorado, or needed a late comeback to slip by Illinois. I’ll be pretty surprised if Nebraska is not on their 'A-Game' in Memorial Stadium on Saturday evening."

I stand by that and believe this one will be Ohio State's biggest test to date. I think the first half will be played very close and there will adjustments that need to be made. I do think this coaching staff is well equipped to handle those adjustments, though, and I think with that in mind, as well as the talent advantage playing in the Buckeyes' favor, that they'll come out on top, pulling away with about 20 minutes left in this one. Ohio State 41 Nebraska 24

There are games every year that teams will circle on their schedule before the season begins, and Nebraska has been looking forward to the Ohio State game since it was announced.

The Cornhuskers have not looked very good so far this season. An inconsistent defense has prevented Scott Frost's team from taking the next step so far this season, but that could all change if they could knock off the Buckeyes. The game will be under the lights in a stadium that will be rocking. I expect Nebraska to feed off their crowd and give the Buckeyes the best they've got. Adrian Martinez will scramble for a few first downs, and the Ohio State defense will be tasked with their first true challenge of the season. Justin Fields and the offense will have to learn to communicate and execute in a hostile environment, and Ryan Day will be coaching against the best staff he has faced in his young head coaching career.

In the end though, Ohio State has too much talent and momentum for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska may be able to punch the Buckeyes in the mouth early, but to beat Ohio State for four quarters would be very difficult. They would need to force Fields into turnovers he has not made all year in order to have a chance, and I expect Day to fully utilize Fields's legs for the first time this season. Ohio State 52 Nebraska 17

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Every week we are told that Ohio State will finally be tested, and they have increased their margin of victory in almost every game they’ve played, and we then look foolish in our predictions. However, I believe that thankfully, mercifully, this will be the week that the Buckeyes are finally tested, on the road in a big game atmosphere no less.

As Ryan Day said on Tuesday, Nebraska is the best team Ohio State has faced and Adrian Martinez is the best quarterback they have faced so far this season. He brings dual-threat ability, and with the Cornhuskers giving a significant number of carries to three of their backs, this is a team with some serious play action potential that the Buckeyes haven’t had to deal with this season. The defense is questionable having given up 38 points to an even more questionable Illinois offense, but they will still be the biggest challenge for Ohio State’s offense so far this season.

However, while I do think Ohio State will get pushed for the first time this year, I think this game will eventually go the way of other games this season. Things will probably get off to a slow start for the offense, possibly a punt on their first one or two drives, and Nebraska may make a couple of big gains down the field. As the game progresses, though, Ohio State will eventually find its groove and start functioning like the well-oiled machine Ohio State fans have come to love early in this season. The defense will adjust to whatever Scott Frost and Martinez are throwing at them, and this game will be comfortably in hand by the end of the third quarter. Ohio State 48, Nebraska 17

Ohio State faces it’s first truly hostile environment on the road at night in Nebraska. According to SP+, Nebraska is not actually the best team Ohio State has played this year (Indiana is 31, Nebraska 35), but they present unique challenges in a difficult environment.

Scott Frost and Nebraska had success last year offensively against Ohio State by pulling the Buckeye linebackers out of the box to the field and running back to the boundary, forcing Ohio State defensive backs to fill interior gaps. One of the basic principles of Greg Mattison's new defense is to keep the Will and Mike linebackers in the box regardless of formation. This puts a lot of pressure on the "leverage" players -- cover safety Shaun Wade and Sam Pete Werner. Frost will likely look to force Werner to play in space and attack horizontally. Is this the game where we see more bullet Brendon White? Do the Buckeyes use more of their split safety schemes? This will be a game that tells us a lot more about how Ohio State intends to respond to spread-to-run schemes.

Ryan Day's new mantra of "the ability to spread it out, get big and have the ability to go in and out of those with tempo" should come in handy against the Cornhuskers' odd front defense. Look for Ohio State to use wide zone and duo to get outside Nebraska's interior three defensive linemen -- before taking some hard play action shots down the field when the Cornhuskers are in cover 1 man. Ohio State 38 Nebraska 15

This one won’t be close. Given the level Thayer Mumford and the OL are playing at, they will maul Nebraska’s front and pave the way for 200 yards rushing. JK Dobbins will have a monster game as well.

Defensively, the Greg Mattison crusade will keep Nebraska behind the chains and make Nebraska throw the ball. The speed of our defense will bottle up Adrian Martinez early, and our pass rushers will be teeing off the rest of the way. Ohio State 45 Nebraska 14

Ryan Day gets his first real test as full time coach in Lincoln and he’ll pass with flying colors. His emphasis on the running game will pay off as JK will go for 150 yards and two TDs. Justin Fields will break Nebraska’s back with his legs and will convert on 3rd downs versus Nebraska’s pressure package.

Defensively, we have Chase Young, which is like having the Nuke in WWII. He will be good for two “havoc plays”, which result in forced fumbles. Defense and a running game travel well, and the Buckeyes are going 1st class. Ohio State 38 Nebraska 21

Once upon a time, the Big Ten Conference had ten teams. Then in the 1990s, Penn State brought its baggage to the conference. The talk of them dominating the conference never materialized. But because of money, The Big Ten became the Big Eleven. We often dwell on the most recent additions to the conference and just how much of a waste it was to add Maryland and Stupid Rutgers. But right in between teams 11 and 13-14 lies Nebraska. Ho-hum, just like life is in Lincoln, Nebraska.

A good time for Lincoln kids is packing up the Buick and driving to Omaha. Wow. That doesn’t seem like a good time. So besides driving to Omaha and staring at lots and lots of corn, Nebraskanians (I made that up) worship mediocre football. Similarly, to the state up north, the state of Nebraska is a bit of a fantasy land. They’re still harking back on the days when Tom Osborne would lead them to Orange Bowl victories that would give them a SHARE of the national title. A share. How cute.

Nebraska seems to hire/fire a coach every 2-3 years and now they’re in the Scott Frost era. Scott Frost looks like a guy who still runs around his neighborhood after dark and tosses rolls of toilet paper in people’s trees. That grittiness helped him win a national championship or two at UCF. Now Nebraskatonians (I also made that up) are counting on him to get to perhaps an Outback or Taxslayer.com bowl to satisfy their fan base. They have a quarterback in that Martinez kid who will play his little heart out on Saturday night, but a one-man team won’t get it done against us.

Our defense will finally show blitzes that Florida Atlantic, Cincinnati, Indiana and those crazy Miami RedHawks didn’t need to see. Justin Fields will be asked to run the football more than he has and we’re going to do things like throw the ball to the tight ends who will be open all night. It might be close at first, but the Nebraskholes (that wasn’t made up/its accurate) will be sad and head home to corn and/or Omaha by the middle of the third quarter. Ohio State 48, Nebraska 17