Princeton and Rutgers played the first ever college football game back in 1869. The Scarlet Knights, then known as the "Queensmen," came out on top, 6-4.
Rutgers couldn't quite do it this time. Ohio State jumped out to a big lead in the early minutes, then looked like they stopped trying as hard, and coasted the rest of the way en route to not covering the spread and coming out of New Jersey with a 56-21 win.
Anyway, #VARSITY is 10-0 heading into a top-10 showdown with Penn State in the 'Shoe next Saturday. Let's debrief.
Eh, Let's Change It Up
Yeah, the same ol' debriefing would be pretty boring for a game like this, right?
Even Jim Tressel didn't want to watch this snoozefest, which featured Ohio State dominating the first 14 minutes behind two turnovers, courtesy of Shaun Wade intercepting a whopper-jawed throw and Jeffrey Okudah forcing a fumble, and a few touchdown passes from Justin Fields.
The rest of the game would be more of the same. Ohio State looked dominant when they wanted to and, as Charles Barkley likes to say, "lackadaisical" at other points. The Buckeyes "only" outscored Rutgers 35-14 in the final three quarters.
Fields racked up four scores: two to Binjimen Victor, one to K.J. Hill, and one to Luke Farrell, while Chris Chugunov threw one to Jake Hausmann (the first of his career) and one to Jaelen Gill, who made a few guys miss and then barreled into the end zone for his impressive score.
J.K. Dobbins had the only other scores for the Buckeyes, two rushing touchdowns. This was the second game in a row that Dobbins failed to eclipse 100 yards, as he finished with 89 on 17 carries (5.2 avg).
Ohio State won the football game. It was expected.
K.J. Hill. Glue Guy.
When he came out of the state of Arkansas, I'm not sure many Ohio State fans knew the name K.J. Hill. But man, has he been an incredible pickup.
Since arriving to Columbus, Hill has now recorded a reception in an incredible 44 straight games. He had another four yesterday for 62 yards and a score.
What a career it has been.
Commentary Review
The G.O.A.T. Joe Davis was on the call for Iowa-Minnesota this week, which made that game all the more pleasing to watch. And with Gus and Joel busy in Ann Arbor, it meant that Ohio State-Rutgers was going to have a BTN crew.
Now, as some of you may know, I'm usually pretty harsh on the commentary. Maybe it was just a bit biased considering James Laurinaitis' time in Columbus, but I thought he and Brandon Gaudin did a nice job.
Usually, when you don't notice the commentary, it means it was pretty good. That seemed to be the case yesterday.
Also, if you're wondering where else you've heard Gaudin's voice before, it's Madden. There you go.
Also, here's the winner of the "Bad Commentary of the Week Award," courtesy of Gary Danielson.
Yo. Gary Danielson. For real? Do you not have any sympathy for another human being who is in serious pain and/or seriously injured? What about this poor girls suffering is funny, exactly?
— InAllKindsOfWeather.com (@AllKindsWeather) November 17, 2019
You owe Chamberlain Smith an apology for laughing at her injury. pic.twitter.com/gu3NCb3qeU
The good news is that the photographer in the incident is okay.
Jim Tressel's Least Favorite Moment
Alright, I lied. Of course Jim watched this game.
Youngstown State lost to Indiana State yesterday, and Jim wanted to get the sour taste out of his mouth by grabbing a nice glass of ice water, some saltine crackers with peanut butter, and watching the Buckeyes beat up on Rutgers.
Things were going very well for Ohio State early. The Buckeyes scored 21 straight points and were about to get the ball back when a low line drive punt from Rutgers bounced off the hands of freshman wide receiver Garrett Wilson and right into the arms of a Rutgers player.
Jim let out a deep sigh, remembered the countless mini heart attacks that Ohio State punt returners have given Buckeye fans in recent years and longed for the days of reliable hands back deep to return kicks.
Maybe one day, Tress. Maybe one day.
Chase Young Status: Officially Back.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, that refreshing feeling of knowing that the best college football player in the country will be back next week to take on Cincy-native Sean Clifford and the Nittany Lions next week.
Feels great, unless you're Sean Clifford. Or whichever poor tackle has to try and stop the "Revenge Tour" (forgive me for using that phrase).
What is the O/U on sacks for Chase next week? I think 2.5 is probably a good number. The last time we saw Chase Young against Penn State, he ended the game on one of the worst play calls I have ever seen in a college football game.
This Chase Young tackle for loss was Ohio State's final defensive play in its 27-26 win against Penn State last year. pic.twitter.com/xyyBSVWcBx
— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) November 13, 2019
Penn State next week. I expect to see you all at Fan Takes after the game.
