Game 8: OHIO STATE v RUTGERS

GAME 8       OHIO STATE v RUTGERS

October 24, 2015                    High Point Solutions Stadium              New Brunswick, NJ

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Location: New Brunswick, NJ

Stadium: Highpoint Solutions Stadium (52,454)

Coach: Kyle Flood (4^th year): 26-19 at Rutgers/overall, 4-7 v B1G, 0-1 v OSU

Series: OSU 1, Rutgers 0

Last Meeting: 10/20/2014: OSU 56, Rutgers 17

Coach Meyer (4^th year): 45-3 at OSU/149-26 overall, 31-2 V B1G, 1-0 v Rutgers

2014 Ohio State Buckeyes (14-1)(9-0)                      2014 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-5)(3-5)

34        at Navy (Baltimore)    17                                41        at Washington State               38

21        Virginia Tech               35                                38        Howard                                   25

66        Kent State                      0                                10        Penn State                               13

50        Cincinnati                    28                                31        at Navy                                    24

52        at Maryland                 24                                31        Tulane                                       6

56        Rutgers                        17                                26        Michigan                                 24

31        at Penn State                24 (2OT)                    17        at Ohio State                            56

55        Illinois                         14                                24        at Nebraska                              42

49        at Michigan State       37                                  0        Wisconsin                                 37

31        at Minnesota               24                                45        Indiana                                     23

42        Indiana                        27                                  3        at Michigan State                    45

42        Michigan                     28                                41        at Maryland                             38

59        Wisconsin                      0                                40        North Carolina                        21

            (B1G Championship)                                                   (Quick Lane Bowl)

42        Alabama                      35

            (Sugar Bowl)

42        Oregon                        20

            (National Championship)

2015 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-0)(3-0)                        2015 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-3)(1-2)

42        at Virginia Tech           24                                63        Norfolk State                           13

38        Hawaii                           0                                34        Washington State                    37

20        Northern Illinois          13                                  3        at Penn State                           28

38        Western Michigan        12                                27        Kansas                                     14

31        at Indiana                     24                               

42        Maryland                     28                                 24        Michigan State                        31

38        Penn State                    10                                55        at Indiana                                 52

O24     at Rutgers                                                                   Ohio State

O31                                                                                         at Wisconsin

N7        Minnesota                                                                   at Michigan

N14      at Illinois                                                                     Nebraska

N21      Michigan State                                                            at Army

N28      at Michigan                                                                 Maryland

The Ohio State Buckeyes, riding a 20-game winning streak, travel to New Brunswick on Saturday to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. 

OHIO STATE OFFENSE v RUTGERS DEFENSE: The insertion of J.T. Barrett as a “red zone quarterback” has resulted in the Ohio State offense receiving a jolt, as they have been perfect scoring touchdowns every time inside the opponent’s 20-yard line the past two games.  J.T. Barrett will now get the starting nod for the first time this season. 

The Ohio State offense, which appears to be at its best since the opening win at Virginia Tech, will take on a Rutgers defense that is probably still shell-shocked after giving up 52 points last week to Indiana, even though they still won.  But that doesn’t mean the Knights don’t have some good players on defense.  Up front in the Knights 4-3 alignment is senior DE Djwany Mera, who has had a slow start in 2015, with only five tackles, but has shown the capability of being an effective pass rusher.  Mera is not alone on that defensive line, as right next to him is junior DT Julian Pinnix-Odrick who leads the Rutgers defensive line with 17 tackles and a tackle for loss.  Junior DE Quanxell Lambert and sophomore NT Sebastian Joseph round out the defensive line unit and they have been able to contribute, with 13 and 12 tackles respectively.  Rutgers has a very capable linebacker in junior Steve Longa, who leads the team in tackles with 66.  He also leads the conference with 11 tackles per game, ranks second nationally with 7.5 solo tackles per game and had his career day verses Indiana, making 16 tackles in that game.  Seniors Kaiwan Lewis (MLB) and Quentin Gause add experience, with Gause the second-leading tackler on the team with 41 (% TFLs) and Lewis fourth with 31 (3 TFLs).  The onus of slowing down a revitalized Ohio State offense will fall heavily on these linebackers, as the Rutgers secondary is young with three freshmen.  But junior FS Anthony Cioffi has three interceptions already this season to go along with his 28 tackles.  Cioffi can not only cover the deep routes, he can also come up and play the run very well as he has garnered 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.  Freshmen Isaiah Wharton and Blessuan Austin will man the corner positions and Coach Flood likes their development so far as they have made the most of their opportunity.  Wharton is third on the team in tackles with 31 with an interception and Austin is not far behind with 21 tackles, playing the boundary side and doing a decent job playing contain.  Freshman Kiy Hester will be the SS.  Right behind Cioffi with 24 tackles, Hester also has four pass breakups, covering the short and medium routes.  

                                                           WLB Steve Longa

OHIO STATE DEFENSE v RUTGERS OFFENSE: Ohio State’s defense has gotten more pressure on opposing quarterbacks as of late, but they have shown a surprising vulnerability, at times, against zone running plays.  They face two decent runners in Paul James and Josh Hicks.  James has shown his speed already this year, gashing a good Michigan State defense for a career-long 72 yard run and running for a 40 yard touchdown late in the game last week at Indiana.  Josh Hicks has rushed seven times on third down and converted all seven.  He ran for over 200 yards in Rutgers’ victory in the Quick Lane Bowl last year.  Robert Martin, who will probably get the starting nod, leads the team in rushing with 446 yards and had his career best game against the Hoosiers last week, running for 124 yards and three touchdowns.  Sophomore Chris Laviano is the man under center for the Knights, throwing for almost 1400 yards and 12 touchdowns already in 2015.  He will often look for Leonte Caroo, the most dangerous offensive player the Knights have and an almost certain first-round pick in next year’s NFL draft.  Leading the Knights in receptions with 21, Caroo averages a touchdown for every 3.71 receptions he makes and 16 out of his 21 catches this year have resulted in either a first down or a touchdown.  But if Ohio State gangs up too much on Caroo, Rutgers has a very capable receiver in Andre Patton with 19 receptions this year.  Patton has converted 14 of those catches into first downs.  Nick Arcidiacono figures to start at tight end, but the Knights will also use Charles Scarff and Matt Flanagan, and this trio has combined for 29 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns.  Carroo appeared to have an ankle sprain in last week’s win at Indiana, but if he is limited for this game, junior WR Carlton Agudosi will go.  He made three catches in the fourth quarter of last week’s game, helping the Knights to score 22 points in that quarter in their come-back win.  The best offensive lineman appears to be senior LT Keith Lumpkin who has started there since his freshman year.  Beside him will be newcomer LG sophomore Dorian Miller, while juniors Derrick Nelson at center, Chris Muller at RG, and J.J. Denman at RT round out the Rutgers offensive line, which has done a decent job keeping Laviano upright.

                                            WR Leonte Carroo

SPECIAL TEAMS: Kyle Frederico has been a steady kicker for the Knights, hitting on 5/6 field goal attempts with a long of 48, while Joey Roth has averaged 41 yards per punt with a long of 54.  Janarion Grant will return both kickoffs and punts and he averages 29.5 yards on kickoff returns and ten yards per punt return.

SUMMARY: Coach Flood is rumored to be on the hot seat at Rutgers, but he has an offense that put up 55 points on Indiana; the same Indiana that held Ohio State’s offense to 34 points.  Tommy Schutt is out of the starting lineup due to injury, but Joel Hale is a capable replacement and they should be able to put pressure on Laviano, which will be key so he does not have time to find Caroo on the deep routes.  As long as the defensive line can do that and the linebackers plug up the zone running plays, they should be able to limit this offense.  The Rutgers defense, although with experienced FS Anthony Cioffi and LB Steve Longa, really doesn’t have the depth or enough experienced players to contend with Ohio State’s revitalized offense, so as long as the Buckeyes can avoid turnovers and more than a few penalties, they should have little trouble running away with this one.

                                             OHIO STATE 45, RUTGERS 17