Ohio State Upends Relentless Rutgers
Ohio State led Rutgers at halftime 35-3 and the outcome of the game was never really in doubt. But if you chose to change the channel at halftime, you missed an entertaining and creative second half from a fearless Rutgers team that is clearly changing its culture.
Ohio State was outscored and out-tricked in the second half, but still won by three scores, 49-27.
While the Buckeye offense racked up 512 yards and scored seven times, it's hard to ignore the creativity and risk-taking from Rutgers the entire night.
Is Rutgers better than Michigan? Is Rutgers better than Penn State? Imagine having those thoughts a few weeks ago. Now, you could make the case that it's true.
After starting the second half with a 3-and-out, the Scarlet Knights scored on four consecutive possessions as they pieced together drives of 91, 65 and 64 yards and scored on a punt return lateral that was only slightly less exciting than last week's failed try.
When asked postgame if he'd ever seen a team attempt as many trick plays as Rutgers did tonight, Day laughed and said "No - especially the onside kicks ... it was like a New York sidewalk. They were going back and forth, back and forth and I thought our guys did a really good job of handling it. I thought we did a good job of handling the first throw back. We were in a good spot on the second throw back (play), and we just didn't tackle him ... we knew Greg (Schiano) was going to be aggressive with special teams. We knew he'd have some different things, but didn't think it would be all of those things, but we wanted to be aggressive as well."
Justin Fields was the star for the Buckeyes, as is often the case. Fields finished the night 24-of-28 for 314 yards and five touchdowns. It's the first time in his career that he's thrown five touchdown passes in a game and he eclipsed 300 yards passing for the fifth time.
Ohio State scored four touchdowns in the second quarter and five total times on its first six possessions, but the momentum sputtered a bit in the second half. The combination of Rutgers trick plays, some poor Buckeye tackling and a few mental mistakes made the final score much closer than the game appeared in the first half.
Give Rutgers credit - they are a much different team this season under Greg Schiano. The Scarlet Knights were unafraid and willing to play an unconventional style. Their offense featured a ton of pre-snap motion and lots of personnel changes. It was organized chaos, and it was very effective. They had far more success against the Buckeyes than either Penn State or Nebraska did the last two weeks.
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