THE PERTINENT INFO

When: Saturday, November 7, 2020
Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
TV: 7:30 // BTN
Announcers: Brandon Gaudin, James Laurinaitis and Rick Pizzo

This will be the seventh time Ohio State and Rutgers have faced each other in football. The Buckeyes hold a 6–0 advantage in the all-time series and are 3–0 when playing the Scarlet Knights in Columbus.  

Greg Schiano's team is coming off of a 37-21 loss to Indiana. Two weeks ago, Rutgers beat Michigan State, 38-27, in East Lansing. The Scarlet Knights have lost 11 of their last 13 games. The wins were against Liberty and Sparty. 

Below, you will find some interesting facts about the teams, key offensive player stats, coach information and team stats.

THE LAST TIME...

• Ohio State played Rutgers, the Buckeyes left Piscataway with a 56-21 victory. 
• This game was played in Columbus, the Scarlet and Gray won 52-3 in 2018.
• The Buckeyes played on November 7th was 2015. The team defeated Minnesota 28-14 in Ohio Stadium. 
• The Scarlet and Gray lost the third game of the season was 2011. Miami beat Ohio State 24-6 in Sun Life Stadium.
• Ohio State rushed for over 400 yards in a game was against Rutgers in 2016.
• The Buckeyes played a night game against an unranked opponent at home was Nov. 7, 2015. Unranked Minnesota came to town and left with a 28-14 loss.

ON THE HORIZON

• If a pair of receivers goes over 100 yards in another game this season, it will be the first time in program history for this to occur three times in the same year.
• With a win over Rutgers, the Buckeyes will extend their home winning streak to 22 games (25 is the program record). 
• Tuf Borland's next solo tackle will be the 100th of his career. Borland is also nine stops away from 200 career tackles.
• Pete Werner is six shy of 150 career tackles.

LET'S GO STREAKING

• Ohio State has won 17 consecutive conference games.
• The Buckeyes lost the coin toss against Nebraska and Penn State
• Ryan Day is 13–0 against Big Ten opponents.
• Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson have gone over the 100-yard receiving mark in consecutive games. The first time a duo has done this in program history.
• All of Day's conference wins have been by double digit margins.

GET TO KNOW RUTGERS

• Rutgers University is located in New Brunswick, Piscataway and Camden, NJ. 
• The university was established in 1766. It was formerly known as Queen's College (1766-1825) and Rutgers College (1825-1925). 
• The Scarlet Knights are 1–1 this season.
• Since joining the Big Ten, Rutgers is 12–51 (.190) against conference opponents.
• The original mascot for Rutgers was named Chanticleer, a fighting rooster. It is believed the school switched to the Scarlet Knight after students complained about being represented by a chicken.
• Rutgers and Princeton played in the first collegiate football game on November 6, 1869. Rutgers won the game by a score of 6 runs to Princeton's 4. The rules of the game were believed to be closer to soccer than the football we are accustomed to.
• Notable alumni are: James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Bernard Marcus (Home Depot founder), Bill Rasmussen (ESPN founder), David Stern (former NBA Commisioner) and Jim Valvano (NC State basketball coach and inspiration of the V Foundation).

NEW JERSEY IN MUSIC AND FILM

The Band covered Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City" in 1993. Fifty-one years earlier, Ella Fitzgerald had a No. 1 single with "Jersey Bounce". Fountains of Wayne recorded the song "Hackensack" for their Welcome Interstate Mangaers album in 2003. 

"Clerks", written and directed by Kevin Smith, focused on a man who worked as a clerk at Quick Stop Groceries in Leonardo, NJ. The independent comedy was selected for the National Film Registry in 2019. "Friday the 13th" was based in the fictional town of Crystal Lake, NJ. The Jersey movies with the highest Metascores are "On the Waterfront" and "Being John Malkovich". 

TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTIONS:

1. Can you name the current Rutgers player who was a Buckeye last year?
2. Saturday will be the 13th time the Scarlet Knights have faced a top three opponent. How many wins does the program have in this scenario?
3. Can you name the first Big Ten team Rutgers defeated as a member of the conference? 

Answers at the bottom of today's article.

2020 Player Comparison

OFFENSIVE LEADERS
JUSTIN FIELDS	594 YDS // 6 TD // 0 INT	PASSING	NOAH VEDRAL	297 YDS // 3 TD // 4 INT
MASTER TEAGUE III	151 YDS // 4.3 YPC // 3 TD	RUSHING	ISAIH PACHECO	85 YDS //  3.0 YPC // 2 TD
GARRETT WILSON	240 YDS // 1 TD	RECEIVING	BO MELTON	100 YDS // 2 TD
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
PETE WERNER	13	TACKLES	OLAKUNLE FATUKASI	24
TOMMY TOGIAI	3.0	SACKS	MOHAMED TOURE	2.0
MARCUS HOOKER	1	INTERCEPTIONS	BRENDON WHITE	1
SPECIAL TEAMS
GARRETT WILSON	11.5 YPR	PUNT RETURNER	AVERY YOUNG	6.0
DEMARIO McCALL	10.0 YPR	KICKOFF RETURN	ARON CRUICKSHANK	24.1
DRUE CHRISMAN	43.8	PUNTING	ADAM KORSAK	40.5
7		EDGE	3

 

THE COACHES

Ryan Day

• 18–1 (.947) at Ohio State
• 18–1 (.947) overall

Day's hometown is Manchester, NH. He attended Manchester High School and attended college at New Hampshire. Day has been in coaching for 19 years and is Ohio State's 25th head coach. 

Last season, Ryan Day and the Buckeyes outscored their opponents 656-192. That is an average victory of 47-14. 

After 19 games with Day as head coach, Ohio State is beating teams by an average score of 48-16. He has the program record for points scored after his first 19 games with 915. The Buckeyes are outscoring their opponents by a whopping 619 points under Day. 

Ryan Day and Urban Meyer are the only coaches in program history to start their careers with 16 straight consecutive victories. Meyer won 24 straight between 2012 and 2013. 

Greg Schiano

• 69–68 (.504) at Rutgers (11th year)
• 69–68 (.504) overall as a college head coach (11th year)
• 1–1 (.500) in B1G conference play

Schiano played linebacker for Bucknell. He was awarded All-Conference honors during his junior season after he led the team with 114 tackles. Schiano was a captain during his senior season and was named to the Sporting News Pre-season All-American Team. 

The high school ranks is where Schiano started his coaching career. He was an assistant at New Jersey's Ramapo High School in 1988. Schiano then spent one year at each Rutgers and Penn State as a graduate assistant. He was hired as the Nittany Lions' DB coach for the 1991 thru 1995 seasons.

The Bears called on Schiano in 1996 and he remained in the Windy City until the Miami Hurricanes hired his as their defensive coordinator in 1999. Following the 2000 season, Rutgers hired Schiano as the Scarlet Knights' head coach. His best season in Piscataway was 2006. The team started 9-0 and finished the year by defeating Kansas State, 37-10, in the Texas Bowl. The bowl win was the program's first.

In January of 2012, the NFL came calling again. This time, Schiano was hired as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His stint lasted two years and Schiano was shown the door after 11 wins and 21 losses. After the short stint in Tampa Bay, Schiano returned to the high school ranks before joining Urban Meyer's Ohio State staff in 2016.

CLIFF CLAVEN'S LITTLE KNOWN FACTS CORNER

• 1......INT for Justin Fields in his 11 B1G games.
• 3......sacks for Tommy Togiai against Penn State.
• 7.......TDs and incompletions for Justin Fields this year.
• 8.......number of Buckeye national championships.
• 9.......games in which Justin Fields has rushed and passed for a touchdown.
• 10.....straight road wins over AP ranked teams for the Buckeyes.
• 13.....consecutive conference wins for Ohio State.
• 15.....night game victories for the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium.
• 18.....times Ohio State has finished a season with at least 11 wins.
• 21.....straight home wins for the Buckeyes
• 24.....bowl wins for Ohio State.
• 25.....Ryan Day is the program's 25th head coach.
• 34.....victories for the Buckeyes when GameDay is at the game.
• 35.....true road game victories for the Scarlet and Gray since 2012.
• 38.....the number of Big Ten titles the football team has won.
• 46.....returning letterman are on the 2020 roster. 
• 48.....number of times Ohio State has been at the site of College GameDay.
• 50.....B1G wins for the Scarlet and Gray since 2014.
• 55.....yards Sevyn Banks ran on his scoop and score against Nebraska.
• 84.....Buckeyes selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
• 87.....Consensus All-Americans.
• 90.....this will be the 90th time Ohio State has played in a night game. 
• 99.....this is the 99th season the Scarlet and Gray have played in Ohio Stadium.
• 151...the number of years The Ohio State University has been in the education business.
• 451...victories for the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium.
• 600...offensive TDs by the Scarlet and Gray since 2012, best in the nation.
• 904...times Ohio State has been ranked in the AP poll.
• 926...number of official wins for the program (we know it's actually 938).

2020 Statistical Comparison

OFFENSE
45.0	4th	POINTS FOR	29.5	52nd
211.5	17th	RUSHING OFFENSE	114.0	85th
297.0	22nd	PASSING OFFENSE	147.5	94th
508.5	9th	TOTAL OFFENSE	261.5	101st
.581	2nd	3rd DOWNS	.310	88th
.833	59th	RED ZONE	.833	59th
DEFENSE
21.0	19th	POINTS ALLOWED	32.0	66th
127.0	31st	RUSH DEFENSE	78.5	4th
220.5	38th	PASS DEFENSE	278.5	84th
157.9	81st	PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE	160.3	84th
347.5	25th	TOTAL DEFENSE	357.0	29th
.368	38th	3rd DOWNS	.310	9th
1.000	94th	RED ZONE	1.000	94th
SPECIAL TEAMS
11.5	27th	PUNT RETURN	6.0	61st
7.0	103rd	KICKOFF RETURN	25.6	16th
38.8	54th	NET PUNTING	38.9	53rd
MISCELLANEOUS
+1.0	9th	TURNOVER MARGIN	+0.5	35th
6.0	39th	PENALTIES	8.5	92nd
14		EDGE	6

TODAY'S TRIVIA ANSWERS

Can you name the current Rutgers player who was a Buckeye last year?

Answer: DB Brendon White of Olentangy Liberty HS in Powell. After three seasons in Columbus, White joins Schiano at Rutgers. 

Saturday will be the 13th time the Scarlet Knights have faced a top three opponent. How many wins does the program have in this scenario?

Answer: Two. The first victory was over No. 3 Louisville, 28-25 in 2006. The second win was a year later against No. 2 USF, 30-27. Both triumphs were in Piscataway. 

Can you name the first Big Ten team Rutgers defeated as a member of the conference? 

Answer: The Scarlet Knights defeated Michigan, 26-24, on October 4, 2014. 

Foggy Forecast: Ohio State 55, Rutgers 10

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