Greg Schiano sure showed us! Ohio State was hornswoggled by all of the trick plays Rutgers ran and the Scarlet Knights buoyed them into a major upset on the road in Schiano's first season back in Piscataway. It looks like the Scarlet Knights may be in contention for the Big Ten East Championship now. "Keep Chopping" is the new "Row the Boat."
Oh wait, Rutgers lost by three touchdowns? Are you sure? That can't be right. I thought I saw them run:
- two throwbacks on kicks
- a wide receiver reverse pass where the wide receiver was actually the starting quarterback
- a few running back direct snaps
- a touchdown pass to an offensive lineman
- and a couple onside kicks.
There's no way Rutgers lost by three touchdowns. But... the stats say Ohio State won 49-27 after outscoring the Scarlet Knights 35-3 in the first half... At least Rutgers kept chopping. See you next year.
Quick Breakdowns
Offense
Justin Fields is still incredible at football. He had five touchdowns through the air, none of which went to offensive linemen, and one on the ground. He also still has more scores than incompletions, which is pretty solid.
Master Teague added on to a strong week-two performance with 60 yards on 12 carries and a score. Trey Sermon notched 68 yards on 12 carries, while it was good to see true freshman Miyan Williams, who hails from the greatest city on earth (Cincinnati) record his first carry as a Buckeye.
Garrett Wilson went over 100 yards receiving for the third-straight game while Chris Olave scored two touchdowns and Jeremy Ruckert had one. Jameson Williams recorded one catch – a 38-yard bomb on Ohio State's first offensive series of the game – that went for a score.
It was a mixed bag for the offensive line. Nicholas Petit-Frere was mauling people again at right tackle. But Harry Miller, who loves to talk about owning lots of books and sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, was whipped for three holding penalties and a few more pressures.
To be fair, though, it appeared Rutgers No. 50 was lined up offsides literally every play. They called him for it once, but I thought I saw it several other times. Eh, you can't fault him too much. He was just continuing to chop.
Defense
I actually thought that when Ohio State's defense cared, it did rather well. Three points in the first half is pretty close to ideal, and I can't really fault them for getting frustrated at the #JV nonsense that Rutgers ran on about 50% of their plays.
An area of concern is perhaps, once again, the lack of a consistent pass rush, as Ohio State had just one sack all game (Tuf Borland) and five tackles for loss. That area has to be more consistent if Ohio State wants to make a serious run at a national championship.
The cornerbacks were solid in their first game without Cameron Brown, Craig Young came out of nowhere to get four tackles, and Baron Browning had another solid performance. Cincinnati native Justin Hilliard forced a fumble on a screen pass and ended the game with two tackles.
Jim Tressel's Favorite Moments
I'm not sure what Jim was thinking during this one. Every single special teams play was wild thanks to Rutgers' onside attempts and throwbacks, but Ryan Day brought one out of the bag when Steele Chambers took a fake punt 38 yards for a first down.
Also, shoutout to long snapper Bradley Robinson for hustling down there at the end of the play and recovering the potential fumble. Chambers was ruled down, but it is good to see Robinson there just in case. He had an excellent game as well with his snaps. When you don't hear the long snappers name, it's usually for the best.
Tress also had to love the perfect coffin corner punt executed by Drue Chrisman. Probably reminds him of Andy Groom.
Special teams shoutout to true freshman kicker Jake Seibert, another Cincinnatian (I'm sensing a theme here), who made his college debut a successful one by nailing all seven of his extra point attempts.
Jim Tressel's Least Favorite Moment
You know, I'd like to think that the throwbacks wouldn't have worked on a Tress-coached team. I can only imagine that he is planning to call up Ryan Day sometime today and explain how to better defend those.
I'm sure he will give Coach Day props for how those onside kicks were recovered, but the throwbacks were rough. To be fair, the Rutgers players made perfect throws both times. Maybe they should try those guys at quarterback.
Trivia Time
It was a homecoming of sorts for two former Buckeyes, Brendon White and Tre Avery. White, of course, was a mainstay on the 2018 defense, the worst in modern school history, before falling out of favor last year. He was the captain for Rutgers yesterday and ended the game with four tackles.
Avery, formerly known as Kareem Felder, signed with the Buckeyes as part of the 2016 recruiting class but was ruled academically ineligible. He previously played at Toledo before ending up at Rutgers.
I couldn't help but chuckle when I heard the announcer say "that pass by Fields is complete between White and Felder."
#VARSITY wins again. Tagovailoa vs. Fields next week...................... in College Park, Maryland.
