There’s really only one statistic necessary to reflect Ohio State’s dominance against Rutgers on Saturday: 56-0.
When one team scores eight touchdowns and the other team scores zero, it’s clear that one team – in this case, the road team – overmatched the other.
The rest of the game’s box score, however, gives greater insight into how the Buckeyes were able to beat the Scarlet Knights by such a big margin, as Ohio State improves to 4-0 all-time against Rutgers with four straight wins against the team from Piscataway, N.J. by more than 39 points each.
Here’s a look at three key statistics from the box score that show why Rutgers never came close to even challenging the Buckeyes on Saturday night.
OHIO STATE GAINS 628 YARDS, RUTGERS GAINS 209
Ohio State put up more than 600 yards of offense against Rutgers for a second year in a row – and more than 500 yards of offense against the Scarlet Knights for the fourth year in a row – which was what enabled the Buckeyes to score eight touchdowns against the Scarlet Knights for the second year in a row.
The Buckeyes weren’t gifted with any short fields in Saturday night’s game – all eight of their touchdown drives were at least 48 yards in length, with six being at least 60 yards and three being at least 80 yards – but the offense had little trouble stringing together first downs and big plays to move the ball down the field.
On the other end of the spectrum, Ohio State held Rutgers under 300 yards for a third year in a row. The Scarlet Knights’ 209 yards was the lowest yardage total the Buckeyes have allowed in a game this year, and the third straight game this year in which they held an opponent under 300 yards.
Rutgers was held to 30 yards or less on all but one of its possessions on Saturday night, and had few opportunities to score – while failing to take advantage of the few it had – as a result.
Saturday’s game was the first time this year, and the first time since last year’s 62-3 win at Maryland, that Ohio State had more than three times as many total yards as its opponent.
RUTGERS AVERAGES 3.1 YARDS PER PLAY
If it takes 10 yards to gain a first down, and a team typically punts on fourth down, then simple math suggests a team must average more than 3.3 yards per play in order to consistently keep the chains moving.
Rutgers fell short of that average on Saturday and gained only 13 first downs.
As much as anything else, though, Rutgers’ low average yardage per play is indicative of the fact that the Scarlet Knights had few big plays to inflate that average. Rutgers had one long passing play – a 36-yard catch-and-run by running back Robert Martin – and a 22-yard run by running back Gus Edwards that came with the Buckeyes playing soft defense on 2nd-and-23. Outside of those two plays, however, the Scarlet Knights did not have other plays of 20 yards or more.
OHIO STATE LOSES ZERO TURNOVERS
One area where Ohio State has been consistently great this season – with the exception of a three-turnover game last week against UNLV – has been taking care of the football.
Ohio State went turnover-free on Saturday, a statistic made even more impressive by the fact that the Buckeyes played backups – players who are typically more prone to turning the ball over – for most of the second half.
The absence of turnovers played a key role in the Buckeyes shutting Rutgers out on Saturday, as Ohio State never gave the Scarlet Knights advantageous field position, with the exception of once in the first quarter when Drue Chrisman shanked a punt out of bounds at the 43-yard line.
Saturday’s game was Ohio State’s third turnover-free game in just five games this season.
The Buckeyes also forced two turnovers in Saturday’s game, marking the fourth time in five games Ohio State has had multiple takeaways. Saturday’s game was only the second game this season, however (along with the season opener at Indiana), that the Buckeyes won the turnover margin by two or more.
