My Thoughts.....Rutgers

               

                    The Ohio State Buckeyes, as expected, completely dismantled an overmatched Rutgers squad 52-3 in rain-soaked Ohio Stadium.  The win is the 900^th in the history of Ohio State football, putting them behind only Michigan and Notre Dame for all-time wins by FBS schools---and Michigan and Notre Dame have been playing football longer than Ohio State.

There wasn’t much to dislike, particularly on offense, with 579 total yards and both quarterbacks, Dwayne Haskins and Tate Martell, having stellar games.  Taking into account the level of opposition, still, Haskins has been spectacular.  He continued his pin-point passing ability against the Knights, going 20 for 23 for 233 yards and four touchdowns.  His .869 percentage is the third-best single-game effort in OSU history.  Haskins continues to hit receivers in stride, and on third downs in the two games thus far, he has been 11 of 12 for 106 yards for 10 first downs and only one interception.  Rutgers defense appeared to stack the line of scrimmage at times, thus the running lanes for Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins weren’t like they were the week before.  The carries were somewhat limited as Dobbins carried only 12 times (73 yards) and Weber only eight times (31 yards).  In fact, the Ohio State offense didn’t crack the 200-yard barrier until Tate Martell’s 47 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.  On the other hand, Haskins and Martell usually had all day to throw and even Martell, not known as a thrower, was a perfect 10 for 10 and threw his first touchdown pass.  There was no way the depleted Rutgers secondary was going to keep up with Ohio State’s receivers as ten different Buckeyes caught passes, led by Parris Campbell and K.J. Hill with five each.  

Nick Bosa was continually in the Rutgers backfield, posting three tackles, two TFL, and two fumble recoveries, one of those a touchdown.  Rutgers LT Tariq Cole said before the game that Bosa never got a sack against him.  Bosa promptly recorded a sack, going through Cole, on Rutgers’ first possession, giving Cole a case of “open mouth, insert foot”.  Chase Young is starting to blossom at the DE opposite Bosa, as he recorded two sacks of his own.  Redshirt freshman Shaun Wade had an impressive game, posting two stops, breaking up a deep throw that could’ve been a touchdown, and getting his first career interception.  The return of Jordan Fuller helped the secondary greatly improve on their performance compared to the Oregon State game.  Look for Wade to get even more playing time as the season goes on if he keeps up that level of play.  

The level of competition steps up considerably next week, as Ohio State travels to Dallas to take on Texas Christian, a tough team in their own right.  So, it remains to be seen how well Haskins and his passing game, as well as the Ohio State back seven on defense, fare against top 20 competition.