Ohio State Overcomes Halftime Deficit to Defeat Rutgers, 35-16, for 10th Straight Win over Scarlet Knights

By Dan Hope on November 4, 2023 at 3:37 pm
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Ohio State had to battle its way back against Rutgers for the first time ever.

Having never trailed after the first quarter against Rutgers in its first nine meetings with the Scarlet Knights, Ohio State faced more resistance in Piscataway on Saturday, scoring just once in the first half to go into halftime down 9-7. But as has been a theme throughout the season, the Buckeyes battled back despite their slow start offensively and came away with a win to remain unbeaten.

Ohio State outscored Rutgers 28-7 in the second half to defeat the Scarlet Knights by 19 points – the closest margin of victory in any of its 10 games against Rutgers, but enough to keep the Buckeyes’ record unblemished against the Scarlet Knights and for the 2023 season.

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
#1 Ohio State 7 0 14 14 35
RUTGERS 0 9 0 7 16
NOV. 4, 2023 • SHI STADIUM • PISCATAWAY. NJ

After both teams went 3-and-out on their opening possession, Ohio State scored the first seven points of the game on its second drive when Gee Scott Jr., who started the game at tight end in place of Cade Stover, caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Kyle McCord for his first score of the season.

That would be the Buckeyes’ only score of the first half as they left the field without points on each of their other five first-half possessions.

Rutgers wouldn’t score until midway through the second quarter when Jai Patel made a 22-yard field goal to give Rutgers its first three points of the game. That field goal was set up by a creative trick-play run by Kyle Monangai that turned a 4th-and-1 into a 45-yard gain, the longest play allowed by Ohio State’s defense so far this season.

OHIO STATE   METRIC   RUTGERS
328 TOTAL YARDS 361
139 RUSHING YARDS 232
29 RUSHING ATTEMPTS 43
4.8 AVERAGE per RUSH 5.4
1 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0
189 PASSING YARDS 129
19-26 COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS 10-25
9.9 AVERAGE per COMPLETION 12.9
3 PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 1
15 1st DOWNS 22
55 TOTAL PLAYS 68
6.0 YARDS PER PLAY 5.3
6-12 third down conv 4-13
5-57 PENALTIES 3-30
24:23 POSSESSION 35:37

Ohio State tried responding with a trick play of its own on its next possession, which backfired as Jesse Mirco gained only two yards on a 4th-and-5 fake punt run. (Ryan Day said after the game that the run was not a called fake.) That gave the Scarlet Knights the ball back at the 32-yard line, and they turned the advantageous field position into a 21-yard Patel field goal.

Rutgers got the ball back on Ohio State’s side of the field again just 17 seconds later when McCord was picked off by Mohamed Toure. The Scarlet Knights drove to Ohio State’s 2-yard line before settling for a 20-yard Patel field goal to take a two-point lead into halftime.

The Scarlet Knights looked poised to extend their lead on the opening drive of the second half until a Gavin Wimsatt pass from the 20-yard line intended for Monangai over the middle was deflected by Josh Proctor and caught for an interception by Jordan Hancock, who returned it all the way to the opposite end zone for a 93-yard pick-six, the sixth-longest interception return in Ohio State history.

Ohio State took its first two-score lead of the game on its only possession of the third quarter, driving 71 yards in eight plays with TreVeyon Henderson running for a 9-yard touchdown to cap off the drive.

The Scarlet Knights wouldn’t go down without a fight. Rutgers turned it back into a five-point on its next possession; a 35-yard catch-and-run by Christian Dremel set up a 19-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Wimsatt to JaQuae Jackson on the next play.

Henderson came up with a huge play on 3rd-and-10 on Ohio State’s subsequent possession, turning a short pass over the middle into a 65-yard gain before he was tackled at the 9-yard line. Three plays later, Marvin Harrison Jr. made an acrobatic 4-yard touchdown catch to extend Ohio State’s lead back to 12 points.

Rutgers threatened to cut it back down to a one-score game again on its next possession, driving to Ohio State’s 6-yard line. But Ty Hamilton got the Buckeyes off the field without points by sacking Gavin Wimsatt on 4th-and-goal.

Ohio State covered the 18.5-point spread when Harrison caught his second touchdown pass of the game from two yards out with 2:07 left to play.

Now unbeaten through nine games this year and 10-0 all-time against Rutgers – the first time the Buckeyes have ever been 10-0 against any opponent – Ohio State will look to improve to 10-0 for the 2023 season when it returns home to host Michigan State in its only home night game of the year next Saturday. Kickoff at Ohio Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with NBC televising the game.

Game Notes

  • Denzel Burke and Lathan Ransom were unavailable for Saturday’s game due to injuries. Jermaine Mathews Jr. made his first career start in place of Burke while Sonny Styles started in place of Ransom at strong safety.
  • Gee Scott Jr. started at tight end in place of Cade Stover, who was not listed on the team’s pregame injury report but was also held out of action with a knee injury. Scott scored the second touchdown of his Ohio State career on his first-quarter touchdown catch.
  • By completing his first 11 consecutive passes of the game after completing all seven of his second-half pass attempts against Wisconsin, Kyle McCord broke the school record for the most consecutive pass completions ever by an Ohio State quarterback.
  • Rutgers had never held a lead against Ohio State after the first quarter until taking the lead with one second left to play in the first half of Saturday’s game.
  • 53,703 people attended the game.
  • Josh Proctor did not return to the game after taking a shot to the head on the deflection that led to Jordan Hancock’s pick-six. He told reporters after the game that he was held out for precautionary seasons.
  • Tommy Eichenberg briefly went back to the locker room in the fourth quarter. He returned to the sideline without his helmet for the end of the game, and had his arm wrapped in ice when he left the stadium.
  • Marvin Harrison Jr. is now tied with Cris Carter for fourth in Ohio State history with 27 career touchdown catches. He has now caught multiple touchdown passes in eight different games in his Ohio State career, including three this season.
  • Saturday’s game snapped Harrison’s streak of consecutive 100-yard games; had he reached 100 yards against Rutgers, he would have tied the school records for both total (14) and consecutive (five) 100-yard games.

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