Another game, another incredible performance by the Ohio State offense. Dwayne Haskins tossed four touchdown passes, backup quarterback Tate Martell threw for one and ran for another, and the Buckeyes rolled to 579 yards of total offense on the way to pasting Rutgers, 52-3.
Unlike the opener, however, the Ohio State defense matched the offense this time out, holding the Scarlet Knights to just 134 yards, forcing two turnovers and knocking Rutgers quarterback Artur Sitkowski out of the game in the first half.
These 15 GIFs tell the story of the game. To view the GIFs, hover on desktop or touch on your mobile device.
Rob Landers set the defensive tone on the first play of the game, bursting through the Rutgers line and dropping running back Raheem Blackshear for a loss. Landers wreaked havoc all afternoon – at times it seemed as if he was in on the snap count.
Haskins found Johnnie Dixon on Ohio State's first possession for a beautiful 38-yard touchdown.
Later in the first, Haskins threaded the needle to Parris Campbell for this 16-yard strike to put the Buckeyes up 14-0.
Minutes into the second quarter, Haskins struck again, this time to tight end Luke Farrell for a 9-yard touchdown to make it 21-0, Buckeyes. An Ohio State tight end has a touchdown reception in each of the team's first two games this season.
Facing a 3rd-and-16, Martell tossed the first touchdown of his Ohio State career, hitting Terry McLaurin for a 51-yarder to make it 28-0.
Celebrate a little, young man.
Cornerback Kendall Sheffield got Ohio State's first interception of the day, picking off Sitkowski in the waning minutes of the first half.
Things didn't get better for Sitkowski as he was mauled by Chase Young on Rutgers' final possession of the half. Young finished the day with two sacks, but was whistled for a costly unsportsmanlike penalty on the play when he spiked the ball after the sack.
Two plays after Young got to Sitkowski, Nick Bosa got one from the other side. The hit would knock the freshman quarterback out of the game. Bosa beat Rutgers tackle Tariq Cole, who only days earlier had pointed out that Bosa had never beaten him for a sack.
More Haskins to Dixon, this time on a 44-yard toss in the third quarter to make it 42-0. Much like the first time these two connected for points, the toss and catch was pretty.
Midway through the third, Rutgers got on the board with a 41-yard field goal. Why is this noteworthy? It's the first time Rutgers had scored on Ohio State in three years.
Here's Shaun Wade recording his first interception as a Buckeye, victimizing Rutgers backup quarterback Giovanni Rescigno. Chase Young was hit with his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for venturing onto the field to celebrate and was tossed from the game. He will be available for the entire TCU game Saturday, though.
Martell takes a brutal hit on the sideline and did not get up for a while. He would leave the game for one play…
…but when Martell returned, he got his revenge, breaking off a 47-yard touchdown run.
Let's take one more look at that juke.
