Staff Picks: Buckeyes face another road test at Rutgers

For the second consecutive weekend Ohio State will hit the road to face a quality opponent. Rutgers, already bowl eligible, boasts one of the better defenses in the Big Ten and head coach Greg Schiano knows the Ohio State program well.

The Buckeyes survived a road trap game last weekend against Wisconsin, will they pass another test on Saturday afternoon?

Ross Fulton

Rutgers is a solid team (50th in F+ combining FEI and SP+), with a good defense (32nd) and bad offense (80th). Look for Ryan Day to make a concerted effort to get Kyle McCord going early and have a consistent first half that matches his second half performances. Day will likely give McCord more quick game opportunities and outlets on shots downfield. Ohio State will likely also look to continue an improved run game behind a diversified scheme while protecting TreVeyon Henderson. 

Defensively, Rutgers will test Ohio State with a heavy dose of designed quarterback runs and read plays. But it is unlikely the Scarlet Knights can sustain much offense beyond trick plays.

Ohio State 31 Rutgers 11

Tony Gerdeman

I don’t see Rutgers’ offense doing much in this game, but even Jim Knowles acknowledged that every opponent has put at least one drive on his defense this year. Quarterback Gavin Wimsatt can be difficult to handle on the move, but if he is contained and forced to throw the ball, the Buckeyes should be okay. I’m setting the over/under on Rutgers trick plays at 3.5. The Buckeyes will need to be disciplined on defense and special teams. The defense hasn’t been a problem, but the special teams may be something to watch. 

Hopefully for Kyle McCord, Emeka Egbuka will be back. If he is, that opens things up a bit more for everybody, including Cade Stover, who was shut out last week. I won’t be surprised when Stover is a target on the first drive of the game. As much as they want to get everybody involved, getting Stover involved early will improve opportunities for everybody else. I’m interested to see if TreVeyon Henderson can continue his consistency from last week. I’m expecting a pair of scores for Marvin Harrison, Jr. as the Heisman campaign gets ramped up.

Ohio State 34 Rutgers 10

Marc Givler

In some ways, this is a more difficult challenge than last week’s game against Wisconsin. It’s a sleepy noon kickoff versus the electric night atmosphere in Madison and the Buckeyes had the luxury of facing a backup quarterback in an offense that was pretty straightforward to stop.

Now Rutgers’ offense isn’t anything to write home about, but Gavin Wimsatt is capable of making plays with his legs and Greg Schiano always throws the kitchen sink at this game with trick plays, fake punts, etc.

Ohio State will need to be locked in and ready for anything in this one. The good news is, it’s hard to see where the points will come from for Rutgers without some serious defensive and special teams breakdowns or the Buckeye offense gifting them great field position.

This looks like another low-scoring affair with Ohio State having too much firepower for the opponent to make a serious run. Just be alert for trick plays, misdirection, and don’t turn the ball over, and everything should be fine for the Buckeyes on Saturday afternoon.

Ohio State 31 Rutgers 10

Kevin Noon

I am trying not to look at either the name on the front of the jersey (Rutgers) or the record associated with them (6-2) when making my pick.

Let’s be honest, Rutgers has played a schedule only slightly better than Michigan (and that is by way of having to actually play Michigan) this season.

But on the other hand, this is not the same type of Rutgers team that generally gets beat by Ohio State 50-something to something less than 10.

I have my concerns with Kyle McCord’s health coming into this game, on top of my concerns that he is still not always executing at the levels expected of an Ohio State starting quarterback, at least here in the modern era.

I have my concerns about Emeka Egbuka and when he will be right, my concerns with Lathan Ransom and what his status may be.

What I don’t have concerns with is that Ohio State is every bit of the team that could cover the line (18-something?) in the first half if things are licking. I am not concerned with a Tre Henderson that appears to have regained freshman form and I am not concerned with a defense that is putting teams into chokeholds and putting opponents into forced sleep.

Rutgers can’t throw and won’t be able to run on this defense. Ohio State’s offense won’t be great, but it will be enough, and then some. 

Ohio State 38 Rutgers 7

Tom Orr

Greg Schiano has done an admirable job turning what had been a smoking
crater of a program under Chris Ash into an almost-decent Big Ten team
in the span of less than four full years. The Scarlet Knights are
officially bowl-eligible for the first time in nearly a decade (they
snuck in under the velvet rope at 5-7 due to a COVID situation in
2021) and have a pretty solid defense. Advanced metrics predict the
Ohio State offense will have a slight advantage when running the ball
against the Scarlet Knights, and a bigger, but not enormous one while
passing it.

The problem for Rutgers will come when they’re on offense. This year’s
Ohio State defense has locked down far better offenses than anything
Schiano’s guys can manage, and figure to do the same this weekend. You
definitely don’t need to fear Rutgers, but after what figures to be a
deeply annoying three hours or so, the Scarlet Knights may have at
least earned a little bit of grudging respect.

Ohio State 27, Rutgers 6