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Steven M. Sipple Husker sports columnist Steven, a lifelong Nebraskan, newspaper enthusiast and UNL grad, joined the Journal Star in 1990 and has covered NU football since 1995. Follow Steven M. Sipple Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Zack Darlington makes a decent case why Nebraska could slow Ohio State's offense, and he might know better than most people.

After all, he's J.T. Barrett — for a few days, anyway.

If you greet Darlington this week and say, "Hello, J.T.," he'll probably smile, for he is assigned to play the role of the gifted Ohio State quarterback for Nebraska's scout team as it prepares the defense for Saturday night's challenging task against the Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium.

"The reason the coaches wanted me to do it is just because they know my dual-threat background, and they know I considered going to Ohio State — so they knew I fit into that offense," Darlington said after Wednesday's practice.

Sixth-ranked Ohio State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) runs a spread-option system similar to the one Darlington operated in 2012-13 as one of the nation's best dual-threat quarterbacks at Apopka (Florida) High School. In fact, he said, he didn't even have to watch video this week of Ohio State, such is the depth of his familiarity with the Buckeyes' system and its various reads and keys.

Apopka's offense was almost identical, he said.

It also helps that Darlington is razor-sharp mentally.