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| Image courtesy of: BTN.COM |
The memory of my first "blowout" game at Rutgers University still lingers in my head. It was a cold November night in Louisville, KY. It was my freshman year(2005) and I was playing back up duty to Ryan Neil at defensive end. I remember the "infamous" stomping on the Louisville Cardinal(midfield), which was played as the reason for why Louisville "stomped" us 56-5. Although, I recorded my first collegiate tackles that game, it was vastly overshadowed by the final score.
On Saturday night, Rutgers faced off against #10 Ohio State, in which marked the return of Greg Schiano to Rutgers Stadium since leaving for the NFL in 2012, to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a night that included an emotional tribute to Schiano and a potential upset of a team that has embarrassed Rutgers ever since we first entered into the Big Ten. It was a good night for a repeat of "Pandemonium in Piscataway". But all these factors were dismissed as the #10 Buckeyes had already amassed a 35 point lead and over 300 yards of offense in the first half of play.
The Buckeye offense were rolling on all cylinders. J.T. Barrett finished with 275 yards and 3 scores threw the air, all while connecting 14 of 22 passes with more than four different receivers.
I can assure you that on Saturday night, the Scarlet Knights were wishing they had Greg Schiano back on their defensive side of the ball. The ground attack for the Buckeyes gave them a double-edged sword that cut through the 54th ranked Scarlet Knight defense. Demario McCall rushed for 103 yards and one score on 11 carries, an impressive 9.4 y.p.c. If that didn't cut deep enough, J.T Barrett and J.K. Dobbins had a rushing averge of 8.9 and 8.8 yards per carry respectively, adding another 142 yards.
Mike Weber punished Rutgers in the redzone with 3 rushing touchdowns. The Scarlet Knights had no answer that could solve Ohio State's offense even with some decent individual performances.
The Scarlet Knight offense seemed to not have been prepared for the shoot-out as they could not pick up enough momentum to keep up with the Buckeyes. The Buckeye defense, who ranks 35th overall, was not that extraordinary as much as Rutgers' offense was just off. Senior QB Kyle Bolin and Freshman QB Johnathan Lewis only Combined for 77 yards passing on 8 of 24 attempts. The pair had an overall QBR of 4.7 with Lewis throwing 2 interceptions.
The ground game was able to put out 117 yards but only via 6 separate rushers on 41 carries. That averages out to only 2.9 yards per run and with no touchdowns, it gave the Scarlet Knights no justice. The Ohio State defense collectively had 64 total tackles, 1 sack, 9 T.F.L.'s, and 2 INT's. It was pretty solid outing but nothing that can explain the poor performance by Jerry Kill's offense.
The road doesn't get any easier for Rutgers. They have to face three teams currently sitting at 2-2 and potential to increase their win column.(Illinois, Purdue, Indiana). Two pretty talented teams sitting at 3-1(Maryland, Michigan State). And two top ten ranked teams(#7 Michigan, #4 Penn State). The Scarlet Knights need to win at least 5 out of those 7 games to become bowl eligible if they want to have any hope of competing in postseason play. After everything that happened in the off-season the past two years, in regards to multiple players arrested and NCAA sanctions, Rutgers needs to win for more than just bragging rights.
FINAL
RUTGERS 0 OHIO STATE 56
HONORABLE MENTION
OHIO STATE
D. Booker; SR, LB: 4 tackles, 1 sack,
2 tfl,s, 1 INT
D. Webb; SR, LB: 1 tackle, 1INT
B. Victor; SO, WR: 2 rec, 69 yrds, 1 TD
RUTGERS
T. Morris; JR, LB: 10 tackles, 1 tfl
K.J. Gray; SO, DB: 7 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tfl
K. Turay; SR; DL: 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1.5 tfl
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