With a big non-conference matchup against TCU looming next week, it would be easy for Ohio State to look past Rutgers.
After all, the Scarlet Knights haven’t come close to playing a competitive game with Ohio State since joining the Big Ten, losing by at least 39 points in each of the first four meetings, including a 56-0 loss last season and a 58-0 loss the year before.
Ohio State associate head coach and defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, however, insists the Buckeyes are putting all their focus into beating the Scarlet Knights.
“You have to have some plans of what is going on in the background, because you're always a week ahead, but all our focus is on one team, and that's the team we're playing that week,” Schiano said this week.
While the Scarlet Knights have been a bottom-feeder since joining the Big Ten, they’re still a conference opponent – and this year, the Buckeyes’ first conference opponent of the season – and Ohio State defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones says that’s enough to ensure that he and his teammates won’t take them lightly.
“We don’t take any team lightly in the Big Ten,” Jones said. “This is our conference. We got to show that we’re the best team on this side of the conference and the conference in general. Our goal is to win the Big Ten and win the national championship.”
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Rutgers was a 35-point underdog for Saturday’s game as of Thursday evening, according to Vegas Insider, and like last week’s season opener against Oregon State – which Ohio State won 77-31 – no one expects the Buckeyes to be in any real jeopardy of losing this week. That said, the Scarlet Knights are showing signs of improvement in former Ohio State assistant Chris Ash’s third year as head coach, and they should be a step up in competition – if only slight – from what the Beavers presented last Saturday.
Ash knows the odds are stacked against his team, but he says they’re looking forward to the challenge.
“We’ve got a challenge this week in going to play Ohio State in Columbus,” Ash said. “Our football team is eager to continue to improve, and go out and measure where we’re at against a great football team.”
Buckeye Breakdown
Last Saturday’s first game of the season went about as well as anyone could have expected for Ohio State’s offense. The Buckeyes accumulated 721 total yards of offense – the second-highest total in any game in school history – and scored 10 offensive touchdowns (with their other touchdown coming on a fumble recovery in the end zone by defensive end Nick Bosa).
Dwayne Haskins threw for 313 yards and five touchdowns – both the most ever by an Ohio State quarterback making his first start – while the Buckeyes also ran for 375 yards, led by a career-high 186 rushing yards from Mike Weber.
Ohio State’s offense was dominant in every sense of the work in its season opener, giving the Buckeyes many reasons to be excited about their potential on that side of the ball the rest of the season. But that performance did come against an Oregon State defense that was one of the worst in the country in 2017 – and without multiple projected starters in the secondary – so the Buckeyes know they must continue to work hard and get better in order to build off that first game, particularly as the competition gets tougher.
“As a whole offense, one play can ruin your whole afternoon, and we have to be aware of that,” said Ohio State acting head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day. “So as the games get closer and closer, we're on top of that, and we're making good decisions to manage the game.”
The big question going into the Buckeyes’ second game of the season, however, isn’t whether their offense can perform at the same level they did in their first game, but whether their defense can perform better.
Even though Ohio State beat Oregon State by 46 points, there’s plenty of reason to be concerned about the Buckeyes’ season-opening defensive performance. In particular, there’s reason to be concerned about the big plays they gave up, as the Beavers had seven plays of 20 yards or more last Saturday, which Schiano said made up 82 percent of their total offensive production.
The Buckeyes’ defensive line was largely dominant against Oregon State – with Bosa and Jones recording two sacks each – but there were too many instances across the defense as a whole of players being out of position, and fixing that has been a point of emphasis leading up to playing the Scarlet Knights.
“We’ve worked hard at really going back to the drawing board, and making sure that everybody understand their angles,” Schiano said. “We thought they did, but obviously when that happens, you’re wrong.”
Ohio State’s defensive struggles were particularly noticeable in the season opener at the safety position, where Isaiah Pryor and Jahsen Wint each made their first starts against Oregon State while Jordan Fuller was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Buckeyes coaches haven’t indicated whether they expect Fuller to play this week, but even if he doesn’t, there could still be lineup changes at the position; Schiano said Thursday that Shaun Wade has been practicing at safety in addition to cornerback, and suggested that Wade could be in for a bigger role, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the Buckeyes give someone other than Pryor or Wint a chance to upgrade their play at safety.
Outside of the safety position, though, the Buckeyes aren’t expected to make any significant lineup changes this week from their season opener. Middle linebacker Tuf Borland is expected to see more playing time than the nine snaps he played in the season opener, but he’s still on a “pitch count” – in Schiano’s words – making it likely that Baron Browning will remain the starter for Saturday’s game alongside outside linebackers Malik Harrison and Pete Werner.
One big difference for the Buckeyes this week, in contrast from last week, is that Urban Meyer has been back with the team and helping them prepare. Meyer won’t be with the team on Saturday, as he serves the second game of his three-game suspension. But Day said the return of the team’s permanent head coach has made a positive impact on the Buckeyes in their preparation to play the Scarlet Knights.
“It’s great to have him back this week. Back at practice, running around and inserting a ton of energy into practice,” Day said. “And then obviously in the meetings and pushing the staff and everything like that.”
That said, the gameday responsibility will remain on the shoulders of Day, Schiano and the rest of Ohio State’s coaching staff to make in-game decisions and make sure the Buckeyes take care of business to earn their fifth straight win against Rutgers and improve to 2-0 – which might not happen quite as easily as history suggests.
“We don’t take any team lightly in the Big Ten. This is our conference. We got to show that we’re the best team on this side of the conference and the conference in general. Our goal is to win the Big Ten and win the national championship.”– Ohio State defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones
Rutgers Breakdown
Rutgers is coming off a 35-7 win in its first game of the season against Texas State, in which its offense accumulated 423 yards while its defense allowed only 169.
Ohio State, of course, is a much tougher opponent than Texas State, so there’s reason to expect that this week’s outcome for the Scarlet Knights will be much different than last week’s. But they have enough talent on both sides of the ball to make sure the Buckeyes pay attention.
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| OFFENSE | ||||
| 77.0 | 2nd | POINTS FOR | 35.0 | 57th |
| 375.0 | 4th | RUSHING OFFENSE | 218.0 | 45th |
| 346.0 | 19th | PASSING OFFENSE | 205.0 | 83rd |
| 721.0 | 4th | TOTAL OFFENSE | 423.0 | 67th |
| .800 | 2nd | 3rd DOWNS | .643 | 13th |
| .875 | 76th | RED ZONE | .667 | 99th |
| DEFENSE | ||||
| 31.0 | 85th | POINTS ALLOWED | 7.0 | 12th |
| 196.0 | 93rd | RUSH DEFENSE | 69.0 | 19th |
| 196.0 | 51st | PASS DEFENSE | 100.0 | 15th |
| 154.4 | 100th | PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE | 65.6 | 9th |
| 392.0 | 74th | TOTAL DEFENSE | 169.0 | 8th |
| .375 | 71st | 3rd DOWNS | .077 | 3rd |
| 1.00 | 65th | RED ZONE | 0.00 | 1st |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||||
| 10.3 | 39th | PUNT RETURN | -1.5 | 121st |
| 21.0 | 61st | KICKOFF RETURN | 16.5 | 84th |
| 65.0 | 1st | NET PUNTING | 39.7 | 49th |
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||||
| +0.0 | 51st | TURNOVER MARGIN | -1.0 | 83rd |
| 6.0 | 50th | PENALTIES | 7.0 | 70th |
| 11 | EDGE | 7 | ||
The Scarlet Knights’ offense is led by true freshman quarterback Artur Sitkowski, the most highly touted quarterback recruit that Rutgers has lured in some time. He completed 20 of 30 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown in his first game last week. Simply put, he offers more passing ability than Kyle Bolin, Chris Laviano and Gary Nova – the Rutgers starting quarterbacks the Buckeyes have faced over the past three years.
Schiano, who has known Sitkowski for years through his work on the recruiting trail – Ohio State was one of more than two dozen schools to offer Sitkowski – expects the Old Bridge, New Jersey, native to present a challenge to the Buckeyes defense on Saturday.
“He is a big, strong-armed, drop-back passer with good mobility,” Schiano said of Sitkowski. “He's not a stiff back there. So you have to be ready to be able to have ways to get him down when he does move.”
At the same time, Sitkowski is entering just his second game as a college football, and made plenty of freshman mistakes in his debut – throwing three interceptions and fumbling once against Texas State. Now, he faces the daunting task of playing his first road game as a collegiate quarterback in one of college football’s largest venues.
“Any time you play a freshman early on in his career, there are a lot of challenges,” Ash said of his quarterback. “Now we’re going to go on the road, and not only on the road, but we’re going into one of the biggest and loudest stadiums in the country, against a very talented football team. There are a lot of unknowns still about our freshman quarterback, and how he can handle that environment. We’re hoping that he’ll do just fine, but it is a different animal.
“There’s going to be noise. There’s going to be more speed at the D-line position that’s going to be rushing the passer. So it’s completely different, and I couldn’t sit here today and tell you how he’s handle it yet, until we see him play. But I do have confidence and belief that by the time the ball is kicked off, and we go play, that he’ll be locked in and ready to go.”
That said, Sitkowski isn’t the only offensive player to watch for the Scarlet Knights. Their most dynamic playmaker is running back Raheem Blackshear. A triple threat who can make plays as a runner, receiver and kickoff/punt returner, Blackshear could pose the biggest threat to a Buckeyes defense that struggled to limit big plays one week ago.
“Raheem’s one of our best players on our football team,” Ash said. “He’s very quick, he’s elusive, he’s good with the football. He’s a guy that can make a lot of things happen for us. I don’t want to make the same comparison, but not a lot different than what Curtis Samuel was to Ohio State’s offense there a couple years ago. He can be in the backfield, he can be a wideout, he can return punts, he can return kicks. That’s the type of player he is for us. And we’re going to lean on him to do a lot of things for us.”
Raheem Blackshear will be a player to watch on Rutgers' offense in Saturday's game. Noah K. Murray – USA TODAY Sports
Rutgers also has a new offensive coordinator this year, John McNulty, who certainly has Schiano’s respect; McNulty previous worked at Rutgers from 2004-08, when Schiano was the Scarlet Knights’ head coach, and was Schiano’s quarterbacks coach during his final season as the head coach of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2013.
Schiano said McNulty runs an offense that’s like an NFL offense, in that the Scarlet Knights often change personnel groupings from one play to the next, and use motions and shifts that force defenses to react right before the ball is snapped. That’s different than the spread offenses the Buckeyes most often face, so preparing for that has been another challenge for Ohio State’s defense this week.
“We’ve worked hard on that this week,” Schiano said. “They’ll have all different kind of personnel groupings. So we really have to be able to see what’s coming, and then get it in the proper call, and let our kids go do it.”
The Scarlet Knights’ defense prepares challenges in preparations for similar reasons, according to Day, because they also use a variety of personnel groupings that force opponents to be able to adjust to what they see.
“They really change up their front,” Day said. “They’ve played a three-down front, they’ll go to four-down, there’s a lot of movement in there. Especially last week, in their first game against Texas State, a lot of movement. Very veteran, too. These guys have played in this defense for several years, most of them, and so they know the defense. They know all the adjustments that need to be made. So when you have a veteran defense, and the defensive coordinator can quickly see what the offense is doing and make adjustments, that really helps.”
The strength of Rutgers’ defense, meanwhile, is its secondary, where the Scarlet Knights are anchored by several veterans including Isaiah Wharton at cornerback and Saquan Hampton and Damon Hayes at safety.
“I think that their back end really is strong,” Day said. “There’s probably some NFL players back there. So we’ve got our hands full.”
One of those NFL players will be out on Saturday, as the Scarlet Knight’s top cornerback, Blessuan Austin, was ruled out for Saturday’s game by Ash on Thursday. Two other Scarlet Knights defensive backs who are expected to play significant roles this season – cornerback Tre Avery, previously an Ohio State recruit known as Kareem Felder, and safety Kiy Hester – are considered game-time decisions for Saturday with injuries of their own.
Still, the Scarlet Knights have a solid core of veteran talent at all three levels of their defense, including defensive end Elorm Lumor – who had two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and blocked a kick in their season opener – and linebackers Trevor Morris and Deonte Roberts, who have each recorded at least 95 total tackles in each of the last two seasons.
Ash, who was Ohio State’s defensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015 before becoming Rutgers’ head coach, respects the challenge that comes with playing the Buckeyes. But because he believes his team is better than it was for the last two seasons, he’s hopeful that his team will be able to play a competitive game on Saturday.
“I do feel like we are a much, much improved football team than we have been the last two years,” Ash said. “Ohio State is still a very talented football team, one of the top football teams in the country and it’s going to take our best effort and have an opportunity to win this football game. Completely different environment and a different football team than we played in Week 1. But we’re just eager to go out and continue to just measure our improvement.”
How It Plays Out
Like last week, there really shouldn’t be any real drama in regards to whether Ohio State wins Saturday’s game. The Buckeyes never had trouble beating Rutgers in the past, and they’re still the substantially more talented team.
If you’re placing a wager on whether the Buckeyes will cover the five-touchdown spread, however, things could get interesting.
| Date | Location | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 30, 2017 | Piscataway, N.J. | Ohio State 56, Rutgers 0 |
| Oct. 1, 2016 | Columbus, Ohio | Ohio State 58, Rutgers 0 |
| Oct. 24, 2015 | Piscataway, N.J. | Ohio State 49, Rutgers 7 |
| Oct. 18, 2014 | Columbus, Ohio | Ohio State 56, Rutgers 17 |
With Haskins throwing the ball to a talented group of receivers, J.K. Dobbins and Weber running the ball and a strong offensive line leading the way in front of them, Ohio State appears more than capable of scoring in bunches again this week. Still, it would be naive to think the Buckeyes will score as easily every week as they did last week, and they should face at least a little more resistance from Rutgers’ defense.
Defensively, Ohio State has been dominant against Rutgers in the past, but there’s no question the Buckeyes defense will need to play better than last week to have a shot at pitching a third straight shutout against the Scarlet Knights – and the Scarlet Knights offense looks more dangerous than past years, too.
“I do feel like we are a much, much improved football team than we have been the last two years.”– Rutgers head coach Chris Ash
Another variable that could impact Saturday’s game is the weather, as Tropical Storm Gordon is forecasted to potentially bring heavy rain to Columbus. Ultimately, though, it’s tough to predict what impact that could make on the game – though with the Buckeyes’ power running game led by Weber and Dobbins, combined with Haskins’ strong arm and Sitkowski’s inexperience, it would presumably play into Ohio State’s favor.
Either way, it would be a major shock if Ohio State didn’t win Saturday’s game, and improve to 2-0 in the process. That doesn’t make a strong showing for the Buckeyes any less important, though, as they look sustain momentum on offense and improve their play on defense before their much-anticipated trip to Dallas next week.
ELEVEN WARRIORS STAFF PREDICTION: Ohio State 63, Rutgers 17
