Ohio State Football: 5 Things To Watch Against Rutgers
By Joe Russo
The Ohio State football team plays Rugers at Noon. Keep these five notes in mind as the Buckeyes look to stay undefeated.
Riding high from the prime time win over Oklahoma and well rested from a week off, The Ohio State football team is a 39-point favorite over the Scarlet Knights. Factory of Sadness breaks down what to watch for Ohio State against Rutgers.
1. Janarion Grant‘s Injury Fallout
Grant was Rutger’s version of Curtis Samuel. He led the team in receiving, was second in rushing, and was a game changing return man. Now that he is out for the year, the Scarlet Knights don’t have anyone of that level on the depth chart.
Jawuan Harris is their next biggest threat in the air. He possesses big-play potential. So far, Harris has hauled in eight catches for 161 yards. He already owns a 75-yard score this season. Stopping him will be be priority No. 1 for the Buckeye secondary.
2. Robert Martin is out rushing Mike Weber in 2016
I already covered Mike Weber’s fast start, but the same can be said for Robert Martin. The Rutgers’ back has 58 carries for 358 yards.
Grant may have been the flash that ultimately got in the end zone a team high three times, but Martin got the Scarlet Knight offense marching up and down the field.
With Grant out, look for Martin to be a larger part of the Rutgers attack. Paired with Harris’ big-play ability, Rutgers could really take advantage of Ohio State’s aggressive secondary by utilizing play action after establishing Martin between the tackles. With the way Ohio State is playing on defense right now, Rutgers may be able to move the ball.
3. Rutgers Actually Has a Pass Defense
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Chris Ash is a good defensive coach. The former Buckeye assistant is largely responsible for the drastic improvement in the Buckeye defense early I Urban Meyer’s tenure in Columbus. Now guiding the Scarlet Knights, he’s helped make some improvements on that side of the ball as well.
Rutgers ranks 56th nationally in yards allowed and 61st in points allowed. While those rankings aren’t elite, they are improvements over previous seasons and speak to the impact Ash has had. It’s especially true against the pass, where Rutgers is 27th nationally by giving up only 180.8 yards per game in the air. Ohio State though can take advantage of the fact that Rutgers also gives up about the same on the ground, 181.8 yards per game and 89th nationally.
4. It’s a Big Day for Greg Schiano
Make no mistake, Greg Schiano has been fantastic for Ohio State. The stellar play of the young secondary, in addition to the attack mentality of the defense can be attributed directly to the former head man at Rutgers.
It wasn’t long ago when Schiano used his job at Rutgers to become one of the hottest coaching candidates in the country. Under Schiano, the football program enjoyed its most successful era.
Schiano needs this game. He has off the field problems to work past.
The traffic incident that left a bicyclist in the hospital has reportedly taken an emotional toll on the Buckeye assistant. The traffic violation aside, Schiano has had to focus on the consequences of his actions while preparing to face his former program, keep a team focused on a bye week, and deal with injuries to his unit.
How will Schiano focus himself? The talent on the depth chart will make it easy for Schiano, but there’s a lot to cloud his perspective today.
5. Last Chance for the Back Ups to play
In conference play, you don’t juggle the depth chart just to get players snaps. You don’t mess around with your rotations and experiment with your units. The Rutgers game presents the last opportunity for some of the youth on the depth chart to get the snaps needed to either prove their way up the ranks or get some game time with a big lead.
The blowout win over Bowling Green was the last we really saw the deep parts of the roster. the offense broke a bunch of school records. But Joe Burrows needs at least some higher leverage snaps if he is to step up if anything happened to J.T. Barrett. The same could be said for all of the freshman at linebacker, corner, and especially at wide receiver. Indiana may be next, but after that is Wisconsin and Penn State. By then, it’s almost November with Michigan and Michigan State squarely in sight.
Final Prediction: 39 points as a spread is just wide enough. Urban Meyer would prepare during an off week for a community college team, let alone a program like Rutgers. He has made it a point to keep the peddle down and his players focused on each and every game.
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Down their best player on offense and a key defensive star Quanzell Lambert, Rutgers is already playing from behind. Curtis Samuel’s quest for a 1K/1K season continues and Urban Meyer will remind Chris Ash that he may have a “Columbus East” coaching staff, but he still isn’t THE Ohio State.
Final Score: 55-14, Buckeyes