Chris Ash's return to Ohio Stadium went as expected.
Ash, Ohio State's former defensive coordinator who coaches Rutgers, brought his new team to Columbus on Saturday and was beaten soundly by his former side. The Buckeyes dropped the Scarlet Knights, 58-0.
J.T. Barrett threw for 238 yards and had four touchdown passes — his 16-yard strike to Marcus Baugh in the second quarter was the 58th of his career, a new school record — as Ohio State racked up 669 yards of total offense.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RUTGERS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| OHIO STATE | 6 | 24 | 21 | 7 | 58 |
Redshirt freshman running back Mike Weber racked up 144 yards on just 14 carries. Weber had a 49-yard touchdown run to open the second-half scoring. Curtis Samuel had 154 total yards on 16 touches and a score.
The Buckeyes' defense limited Rutgers to just 116 total yards as the Scarlet Knights ran exactly three plays in Ohio State territory the entire game. Rutgers also only completed three passes in the game.
After a slow start that began with Barrett throwing an interception on Ohio State's opening drive, the Buckeyes rolled to a comfortable 30-0 halftime lead.
Ohio State had 360 yards of total offense in the first half compared to just 93 for Rutgers. Barrett completed 16 first-half passes to seven different receivers and threw four first-half touchdown passes.
Barrett connected with Dontre Wilson for an 18-yard touchdown to open the scoring. He then threw touchdown passes to Terry McLaurin, Baugh and Samuel to cap the first half onslaught.
With the win, Ohio State moved to 4-0 (1-0 B1G) on the season. The loss dropped Rutgers to 2-3 (0-2).
The Buckeyes will next be in action Saturday when they host Indiana at 3:30 p.m.
| Ohio State | Stat | Rutgers |
|---|---|---|
| 669 | NET TOTAL YARDS | 116 |
| 410 | RUSHING YARDS | 83 |
| 53 | RUSHING ATTEMPTS | 38 |
| 7.7 | AVERAGE PER RUSH | 2.2 |
| 4 | RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS | 0 |
| 259 | PASSING YARDS | 33 |
| 25–36 | COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS | 3–16 |
| 10.4 | AVERAGE PER COMPLETION | 11.0 |
| 4 | PASSING TOUCHDOWNS | 0 |
| 32 | 1st DOWNS | 9 |
| 21 | RUSHING 1st DOWNS | 6 |
| 10 | PASSING 1st DOWNS | 2 |
| 1 | PENALTY 1st DOWNS | 1 |
| 89 | TOTAL PLAYS | 54 |
| 7.5 | YARDS PER PLAY | 2.1 |
| 8-9 | RED ZONE | 0-0 |
| 10-15 | 3rd DOWNS | 4-14 |
| 3-4 | 4th DOWNS | 0-0 |
| 6-64 | PENALTIES | 4-21 |
| 38:48 | POSSESSION | 21:12 |
Game Notes
- Urban Meyer improves to 158-27 in his career and maintains the highest winning percentage (.854) among active coaches.
- With the win, Meyer improved to 15-0 in October at Ohio State.
- Ohio State is the only FBS team to not allow a rushing touchdown this season.
- The shutout was Ohio State’s first since a 38-0 blanking of Hawaii Sept. 12, 2015.
- Ohio State allowed just 33 passing yards against the Scarlet Knights, marking the fewest passing yards allowed in a Big Ten game since holding Wisconsin to zero passing yards in 1989.
- Ohio State totaled 410 yards on the ground. The last time Ohio State ran for at least 400 yards in a game was when the Buckeyes ran for 441 at Illinois Nov. 16, 2013.
- With his 16-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Baugh in the second quarter, J.T. Barrett broke Bobby Hoying’s school record of 57 career touchdown passes.
- Mike Weber’s 49-yard rush in the first quarter was the longest of his career.
- Terry McLaurin’s 14-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was the first touchdown of his career.
- Parris Campbell’s five-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the first score of his career.
- Alex Stump recorded his first-career reception on an eight-yard catch in the third quarter, Austin Mack picked up his first-career catch on a seven-yard reception in the third quarter and Binjimen Victor caught his first-career pass on a seven-yard catch in the fourth quarter.
- Eight different Buckeyes scored a touchdown in the game.
- 12 different Buckeyes caught a pass against the Scarlet Knights. The last time at least 11 different players caught at least one pass in a game for Ohio State was Sept. 13, 2014 against Kent State.
- Weber’s 144 rushing yards set a career high.
- Demario McCall rushed for a career-high 85 yards on 10 carries.
- Johnnie Dixon scored his first-career rushing touchdown on a five-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.
