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Ohio State releases hype video for Saturday’s night game against Rutgers
Alexis Chassen via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes are ready to hit the road to face their former co-defensive coordinator.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are coming off of a big win over UNLV last week, and are heading back on the road for their second Big Ten test of the season, this time against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The Buckeyes are 3-1 after losing to playoff contender Oklahoma, but the Scarlet Knights are coming off of their third loss of the season, most recently to conference opponent Nebraska.

Now, Urban Meyer and staff are preparing to face former Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash, who has done good work for Rutgers in the short time he’s been at the helm.



Ohio State and Rutgers will play this Saturday in Piscataway, N.J. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

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Buckeyes make strong bid to land DE over Bama, Michigan, others - 247Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Buckeyes make strong bid to land DE over Bama, Michigan, others
247Sports
The Buckeyes might also be the team to beat for Izuchukwu. “They will be in my final schools,” Izuchukwu said. “Ohio State is an awesome place. The stadium is so big. The campus looks good, and the coaches, I like them. The running backs coach, coach ...


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Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights Odds, Football Betting Pick - Bleacher Report
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights Odds, Football Betting Pick
Bleacher Report
The Ohio State Buckeyes are 3-0 both straight up and against the spread in three meetings with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights since the latter joined the Big Ten a few seasons ago. The Buckeyes are heavily favored to beat the Knights again when the teams ...
How Ohio State's 2014 national championship launched a star at ESPN: Buckeye Talk Podcastcleveland.com
Ohio State Football: Inside the numbers for the BuckeyesFactory Of Sadness
BM5: Jordan Fuller a future star? JT Barrett on NFL protests247Sports
UPI.com -Land-Grant Holy Land
all 22 news articles »

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Committed to Purdue. I guess we can move them off of the big board. Thank you.

Penn State reportedly frontrunner to land ex-USC TE Cary Angeline

Cary Angeline could very well be headed home.

In its list of roster updates released Sunday, USC showed Angeline as having quit the team. “I wish him nothing but the best,” head coach Clay Helton said a couple of days later. “He is an awesome kid.”
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A Pennsylvania high school product, it was thought that Angeline would be headed back closer to home to continue his collegiate playing career. Tuesday, the Los Angeles Daily News is reporting that they’re hearing that Penn State is the frontrunner to land the tight end.

Entire article: http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...-frontrunner-to-land-ex-usc-te-cary-angeline/

If championships are won and lost in the trenches, Ohio State is still in good shape
Kyle Sumner McKinnon via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


That defensive line is something else, folks.

There are few areas that Ohio State has lived up to the hype this season.

Kevin Wilson’s offense has underwhelmed. It still isn’t clear if we’ll ever see 2014 J.T. Barrett again. The receivers have been “meh,” and the secondary is even worse (but playing better).

But you know what hasn’t disappointed? The Buckeyes’ defensive line.

And it’s exactly what’ll keep the team in contention for another national title.


It’s been said that championships are won in the trenches.

It rings true year after year in college football, but you don’t have to look any further than the start of the College Football Playoff to see how a dominant defensive line alone can give you a puncher’s chance at winning it all.

Every national championship bout for the past three seasons has been between two teams with stout lines.

The Buckeyes were more than Cardale Jones and Ezekiel Elliott in 2014. A D-line featuring Joey Bosa, Michael Bennett, and Adolphus Washington stymied offenses and powered a title run.



Don’t forget, though, that it was Oregon who trotted out a pair of first-round draftees that year in DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead.

Since then, Alabama and Clemson have gone at it in the national championship game in back-to-back seasons. The talent level on their lines has been so close each year that you honestly could’ve just taken your pick.

I’d be here forever if I listed all of the great defensive ends and tackles – A'Shawn Robinson, Jarran Reed, Jonathan Allen, Dalvin Tomlinson, D.J. Pettway, Shaq Lawson, Kevin Dodd, DJ Reader, and Carlos Watkins.

All are currently in the NFL.

Fast forward to the 2017 campaign and we see similar trends.

Alabama and Clemson are favorites to again make it back to the natty. The Tigers probably have the best defensive line, if not positional unit, in the FBS, led by surefire first-rounder Christian Wilkins, 2016 ACC Defensive Freshman of the Year Dexter Lawrence, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant.

Ranked second in the FBS in sacks (17), they’ve tossed aside opposing offenses and made Heisman Trophy candidate Lamar Jackson look anything but in a 47-21 rout of Louisville.



The Crimson Tide is banged up in the trenches, but remains steady with Da'Shawn Hand, Isaiah Buggs, and Da'Ron Payne.

Looking at other contenders, Florida State is loaded. Josh Sweat and Brian Burns are emerging stars, and Derrick Nnadi is a force at tackle. And we know what Oklahoma and speedy edge-rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo can do.

In the Big Ten, Penn State is solid across the line and Rashan Gary stands out on a defense ranked first in the FBS in sacks (18).

And that brings us to the Buckeyes.

There’s no question as to if the Scarlet and Gray have an elite defensive line. It’s one of the most disruptive, versatile, and deepest units in the nation. Clemson is the only team that can come close to, or match, OSU’s talent up front.

That line is something serious, folks.

Returning Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year Tyquan Lewis and Sam Hubbard are as good of ends as you’ll find in college football. Tracy Sprinkle has bounced back strong from a torn patellar tendon he suffered in 2016 and is joined in the interior by potential-laden Dre'Mont Jones.



Notably coming off the bench – the bench, mind you – are studs Nick Bosa and Jalyn Holmes. Bosa continues to impress and has shown no signs of slowing down.



As Urban Meyer always puts it, there are no real starters on this defensive line.


The Buckeyes D-line has been everything we thought they’d be in 2017.

They’re stuffing the run game (I refuse to count Army), consistently creating pressure on the passer, and have made big plays when the team has sorely needed them.

Can such a dominant group carry OSU to a conference Championship, let alone a playoff appearance?

No, it can’t. What it can provide, however, is a crutch to lean on.

Case and point, on a night of offensive ineptitude against Oklahoma in Week Two, it was Hubbard, Bosa, and others that kept things close. Baker Mayfield struggled to make plays, and running lanes were nonexistent. It was only in the fourth quarter with the Sooners up 17-13 that the floodgates opened in Columbus.

The Buckeyes still control their own destiny, and are capable of running the table.

But a great D-line has its limits.

We’ve seen those limits firsthand. And until Meyer and Co. can get it figured out on offense, those limits will remain.

Albeit at the expense of the defensive line.

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Big Ten Conference partners with BTN on marketing and corporate partnership opportunities
BTN Communications via Big Ten Network

The Big Ten Network and the Big Ten Conference, in conjunction with Learfield, today announced the creation of a groundbreaking new partnership through which BTN will offer sponsors and advertisers multimedia, marketing and corporate partnership opportunities associated with Big Ten events. The assets will include in-venue signage, official designations, corporate hospitality, digital and social media integration and on-site promotional activation along with print and radio inventory. Additionally, BTN’s own assets, including television spots, and those of the FOX-owned Home Team Sports, will be leveraged to provide a robust corporate partnership platform. Among the first brands to take advantage of the

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Big Ten releases 35 student-athletes to attend 2017 men’s basketball media day
Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor via Big Ten Network

The Big Ten Conference announced on Wednesday the 35 men’s basketball standouts, including 20 seniors, tentatively scheduled to attend Big Ten Men’s Basketball Media Day on Thursday, Oct. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

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Audio: Listen to your Big Ten coach’s Week 5 teleconference
BTN.com staff via Big Ten Network

Listen in to the Big Ten football coaches teleconference here, with audio provided for each of the 14 coaches in the conference ahead of Week 5.

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Podcast: Talking Buckeyes and quarterbacks - The Athletic
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Podcast: Talking Buckeyes and quarterbacks
The Athletic
Ari Wasserman and Zac Jackson of The Athletic look back at J.T. Barrett's nightmare vs. Oklahoma, Dwayne Haskins' present and future and how Urban Meyer views the quarterback position now and going forward at Ohio State. SoundCloud cookie ...


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Polls: It’s time to pick your Week 5 Big Ten football winners
Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor via Big Ten Network

Who wins Week 5 Big Ten football games? See BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart's selections, plus cast your Big Ten winners, inside.

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Chris Holtmann rebuilding Buckeyes basketball from inside Ohio then out - The Athletic
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Chris Holtmann rebuilding Buckeyes basketball from inside Ohio then out
The Athletic
Somewhere along the way, while Ohio State was losing in the Sweet 16 in 2010 with national player of the year Evan Turner, and again in 2011 with the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, then-coach Thad Matta concluded that if he ever was going to win the ...


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Two Buckeyes named to PFF's weekly Big Ten team - 247Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Two Buckeyes named to PFF's weekly Big Ten team
247Sports
11 Ohio State Buckeyes placed two players on Pro Football Focus' Big Ten Team of the Week following the team's 54-21 win over UNLV on Saturday. Headlining the list on the defensive side of the ball was sophomore defensive end Nick Bosa, while junior ...
Big Ten Weekly Football ReleaseBig Ten Conference
College football betting odds: Big Ten Week 5 gamesLandof10.com

all 22 news articles »

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How Ohio State's 2014 national championship launched a star at ESPN: Buckeye Talk Podcast - cleveland.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


How Ohio State's 2014 national championship launched a star at ESPN: Buckeye Talk Podcast
cleveland.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Our Buckeye Talk Podcast hit a milestone this week with its 100th official episode, so we brought in a heavy hitter to celebrate. As usual, Tim, Bill and Doug talk Ohio State football, focusing on the pass game, the pass defense and ...
Will Ohio State basketball get another 2018 commitment? They'll find out at 6 pm ETLand-Grant Holy Land
Ohio State's offensive X-factor, Mike Weber's impact, Thad Matta's clean recruiting pays offLandof10.com
Rutgers football Week 5 opponent: Ohio State at a glanceNJ.com

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Will Ohio State basketball get another 2018 commitment? They’ll find out at 6 p.m. ET
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Chris Holtmann has been on a roll lately. Is Morris Udeze the fifth commit in the past 10 days for the basketball Buckeyes?

As we hit Wednesday, we get one day closer to another edition of Ohio State football, as well as another day closer to seeing what Chris Holtmann’s Buckeye basketball squad will do on the hardwood.

But before all that, we turn, once again, to the recruiting trail.

The Decision


In yesterday’s recruiting roundup, our own Dan Hessler wrote about the impending decision that three-star 2018 prospect Morris Udeze (Montverde, FL/Montverde Academy) will make in regards to what school he will attend for college.

Well, that decision is coming at 6 p.m. this evening. At that time, we’ll find out whether or not Holtmann can keep the hot streak going on the recruiting trail. Since Sept. 19, the new man in charge of the Buckeyes has secured four recruits in the 2018 recruiting class.

The three schools that are in the running for the Montverde native are Ohio State, Butler, and Wichita State. While Udeze let the world know who was in his final three, he hasn’t given any hints at who he’s going with.

On Tuesday evening, Udeze retweeted his own tweet from Sept. 24, the one that announced when he will be committing, and added an emoji and #ProveThemWrong.


From the recruiting trail, the 247sports Crystal Ball received no new predictions for Udeze on Tuesday. However, there were a handful of predictions that came on Monday—and all of them pointed to the Shockers of Wichita State as being the chosen school.

Will Udeze, a center, pick Ohio State? The odds don’t look too good based off the predictions. However, the Buckeyes secured two guards and two forwards within the past 10 days—and who saw all that happening so fast? We will all find out at 6 p.m. ET what the verdict will be.

If he does commit, we’ll have the breakdown for you.

And a hopeful transmission


As David Schwimmer’s character Ross Gellar once said, while attempting to move a sofa up the stairwell on the hit television show Friends, “PIVOT!”

We now pivot to the football program at OSU, who got some good feedback from a recruit, courtesy of the recruiting guru Bill Kurelic.

Kurelic caught up with four-star offensive tackle Jackson Lampley, who visited Columbus for the Army game. The Nashville native told Kurelic that the “atmosphere impressed me more than anything.” However, in the same article, it was revealed that the Montgomery Bell Academy didn’t receive an offer from the Buckeyes.

Currently, Lampley is the 10th best player in the state of Tennessee, according to the 247sports composite, and holds 15 offers. The Tennessee Volunteers are one of the schools, and are the early favorite, according to the 247sports Crystal Ball. Of the seven predictions, all seven point to Butch Jones’ program in Knoxville.

If you want to read the entirety of Kurelic’s article, you can find it here. (There, Lampley talks a little bit more about the Buckeyes.)

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Men's Soccer: Ohio State's record shutout streak ends as Buckeyes tie Detroit Mercy 2-2 - OSU - The Lantern
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Men's Soccer: Ohio State's record shutout streak ends as Buckeyes tie Detroit Mercy 2-2
OSU - The Lantern
The tie ends the Buckeyes' win streak at six games and their consecutive shutout streak, which now is the all-time school record at six games. Bluem said he wasn't overly concerned about the shutout streak coming to an end. “Maybe we were a little too ...


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Buckeyes talk about NFL protests during national anthem - Dayton Daily News
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Buckeyes talk about NFL protests during national anthem
Dayton Daily News
If you were wondering what some of the Ohio State Buckeyes think about the protests that occurred during the national anthem at multiple NFL games over the weekend, two seniors weighed in Tuesday night. Quarterback J.T. Barrett said he believes the ...
Barrett on Trump, NFL protests: 'That's why we're the USA'247Sports

all 5 news articles »

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A healthy Mike Weber will make Ohio State's offense even more dynamic - Landof10.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


A healthy Mike Weber will make Ohio State's offense even more dynamic
Landof10.com
His absence hasn't been as detrimental for the Buckeyes as it could have been, thanks to the emergence of freshman phenom J.K. Dobbins. The newcomer carried the ball 29 times in the season opener against Indiana with Weber out, and he has shown ...
Pass-interference penalties plague BuckeyesMyDaytonDailyNews
Buckeyes drop to No. 11The News Center
2 Ohio State players high-fived during a passing route, but there's an actual football reason whySB Nation
cleveland.com -OSU - The Lantern -247Sports
all 110 news articles »

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Buckeye NFL Rookie Report: Week 3 - 247Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Buckeye NFL Rookie Report: Week 3
247Sports
That did not change with this year's draft class as eight former Buckeyes are currently on NFL rosters. **Follow Patrick Murphy on Twitter for up-to-the-second Ohio State news and analysis!**. We know that not everyone follows the NFL as closely as ...


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Bovada: Ohio State holding at 7-to-1 odds to win CFP National Championship
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


On the Heisman odds list, J.T. Barrett stays at 33-to-1 odds of taking home the trophy.

After a week that saw a couple of upsets in the college football landscape, a new batch of Vegas odds were released. Bovada, one of the more popular online sportsbook, released their odds. Unlike weeks past, the fluidity of the odds stayed the same through Monday afternoon to Tuesday evening.

Ohio State holds the third best odds at the moment, sitting at 7-to-1 odds of winning the title inside Mercedes Benz Stadium. In front of the Buckeyes are the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers, who have the best and second best odds, respectively. The Tide sit at 19-to-10 odds; the Tigers at 9/2.

(To simplify the odds better, if you only bet a dollar on the Tide, the winning yield would be $1.90, and for the Tigers, a one dollar bet would bring home $4.50 if they won it all.)

Teams that saw a drop since the games on Saturday: the USC Trojans and Oklahoma State Cowboys. California had USC on the ropes for three quarters, before quarterback Sam Darnold helped pull his team away in the fourth. The Cowboys were wrangled by the TCU Horned Frogs at home.

Below is a table of the top 10 teams that have the best odds of winning the whole enchilada:


On the race for the Heisman Trophy, Saquon Barkley is now the favorite. However, since Monday, his odds have taken a small dip. Bovada has Barkley at 5-to-4 odds as of Tuesday afternoon; on Monday, those odds were 7-to-4.

Behind the Penn State running back is a quartet of QBs in Baker Mayfield, Mason Rudolph, Lamar Jackson and Darnold. The only quarterback who didn’t see their odds slip since Saturday was, surprisingly, Okie State’s Rudolph.

Mayfield currently has 3-to-1 odds, as Jackson and Darnold both hold 8-to-1 odds.

J.T. Barrett is behind Jackson and Darnold, but sits back at a distant 33-to-1 odds. Fellow Buckeye and running back J.K. Dobbins is completely off the board after having 25-to-1 odds entering the UNLV contest.

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Ohio State stays busy in Tennessee, rumor season, and the basketball recruiting bomb - Landof10.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State stays busy in Tennessee, rumor season, and the basketball recruiting bomb
Landof10.com
That was the approach that was used in 2015 when a quarterback Ohio State was going hard after believed Torrance Gibson's inevitable commitment to the Buckeyes would mean too many quarterbacks would be in play, even though other voices were ...
Four-Star Cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart Includes Ohio State Among Top Schools While Top-Rated Offensive Guard ...Eleven Warriors
Ohio State Weekly Recruiting Retweets: September 19-25247Sports

all 3 news articles »

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Urban Meyer is looking for more out of Ohio State's secondary
Ian Cuevas via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


If the Buckeyes want to compete, the secondary has to be better.

“So they have to develop and grow. And I thought we'd be a little further ahead in pass defense. I thought our corner development would be a little bit further ahead, but they are making strides.”

- Urban Meyer via Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland.com


The Ohio State secondary has left something to be desired over the past four weeks. Struggling against Indiana’s passing attack and then being picked apart by Oklahoma certainly didn’t help, but it’s not just against the good teams that the Buckeyes defensive backs have been weak against. Even against UNLV, there were plays that made you raise your eyebrows, especially when it came to pass interference (sometimes out of necessity). Kendall Sheffield, Damon Arnette and Denzel Ward have all been rotating this season, but coach Meyer is a little disappointed in where his secondary is at right now.

Any time you have NFL talent leave your roster, it’s tough to find replacements that are going to perform at the same level, even for a program like Ohio State. Marshon Lattimore and Gareon Conley were two of the best cornerbacks in the country last season and throw in a hyper-athletic safety that had a nose for the ball in Malik Hooker, Ohio State’s secondary was a luxury that most everyone is missing right about now.

Still, the good news is that there’s still time to improve and coach Meyer has said that the defensive backs are making strides. They’ll just have to be ready when Trace McSorley and Penn State roll into town in a couple of weeks.

“[Best college quarterbacks - Week 4] 2. Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett”

- Jeremy Mills, ESPN


For as much criticism that quarterback J.T. Barrett receives in both wins and losses, there wasn’t much to complain about last Saturday when the Buckeyes smashed UNLV, 54-21. Barrett only played in the first half of the game, where he went 12-of-17 passing for 209 yards and five touchdowns. If you take a look at a couple of charts in the link above, you’ll see where he did most of his damage, and although none of the touchdown passes were down the field it was clear Barrett had a great day. Perhaps that’s what Ohio State needs to get used to, the horizontal passing game. It’s been proven that something goes wrong when the Buckeyes try to go vertical on teams, between dropped passes from receivers or misfires on Barrett’s fault.

This passing attack might not be as flashy, but it most definitely results in yardage and most often moving the chains, which is most important for an offense. If the passing game can be a consistent threat, that will open things up for J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber when running the ball. Even though it came against UNLV, it’s still important that Barrett and his receivers did well, if only for confidence building.

“But he showed on Saturday in Ohio State's 54-21 win vs. UNLV that while he doesn't have that five-star pedigree that some of the other members of his class does, he can be just as impactful at the college level.”

- Tim Bielik, Cleveland.com


Though there was plenty to be excited about when watching the backups and freshmen play against UNLV on Saturday, one standout that deserved attention was safety Isaiah Pryor. With all of the former five-stars on the team, it’s easy to get lost in the pack but Pryor, a former four-star, made a case as to why he could potentially be a key cog in the defensive secondary in the near future. Pryor had four tackles against the Rebels and a big-time sack as well.

There were quite a few players that had some nice plays and we even saw some Demario McCall action for the first time this season. Chase Young, the defensive end, also had four tackles and looked to be a man among boys for a lot of the plays that he was out there for. And after a lot of hype in fall camp, freshman wide receiver Jaylen Harris made his debut hauling in two passes for 27 yards.

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Which J.T. Barrett will we see against Rutgers?
Chuck McKeever via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The senior QB has been streaky, but he's coming off back-to-back star performances.

Have you ever dislocated something? The body's reaction to that particular injury is a bizarre (if anatomically unsurprising) one. It hurts, a lot, but when the offending part is finally reset, the pain vanishes almost instantaneously. The mind doesn't really believe it—how can that much pain just disappear that quickly?—but it's gone. Since it's so hard to believe, you spend the next few minutes waiting for the other shoe to drop; surely the pain must be coming back any second. But it never does.

This is how it's felt to watch J.T. Barrett these last two games. His hot hand and newfound accuracy almost boggle belief, given what his first two games looked like, and you'd be forgiven for still waiting for that proverbial pain to come.

Here's the thing: it might not come back at all! And it almost certainly won't come back this weekend against Rutgers.

The stats


Name: J.T. Barrett

Number: 16

Position: QB

Year: Senior

Height/Weight: 6'2, 220 lbs.

Line: 76/120 passing, 966 pass yards, 10 pass TDs, 1 INT, 43 rush attempts, 174 rush yards, 2 rush TDs

After an up-and-down day against a newly-feisty Indiana defense and an absolute collapse against playoff hopeful Oklahoma, Barrett has looked like a new man. In the Buckeyes' last two games against teams from outside the Power 5, he's bumped his completion percentage from 55.7 to 63.3, thrown 7 TDs and no picks (compared to 3 TDs and 1 pick), and played so well that Dwayne Haskins and even Joe Burrow got playing time at QB in blowout wins.

Opposition research


Rutgers is hardly the kind of high-caliber defense that should make Ohio State fans fret—quite the opposite, really, and it'll be a huge upset if Dwayne Haskins isn't in for at least full quarter. But the Scarlet Knights are better than both UNLV and Army were, 79th in team S&P+ compared to 102nd for the Black Knights and 112th for the Rebels.

That difference gets even more stark if you only look at defensive S&P+, where Rutgers, despite a 1-3 record, ranks an astonishing 23rd in the country. (Army comes in at No. 89 here, while UNLV sits alllll the way back at No. 128.) Rutgers isn't a good football team, but they do have Chris Ash at the helm, and there are signs of life stirring for his program in Ash's second year on the job. The co-architect of Ohio State's championship defense has a thankless job with a limited talent pool; it's showed in Rutgers' lackluster offense. But just like he did in Columbus, Ash seems to have some real mojo when it comes to the defensive side of the ball.

The Scarlet Knights don't have the horses to hang with the Buckeye offense for more than a quarter or two, but they have a few talented defenders to throw at Barrett and co. Linebacker Trevor Morris brought down Nebraska players three times behind the line of scrimmage last weekend en route to racking up 13 total tackles. Defensive end Darnell Davis is absolutely a threat to get past Ohio State's occasionally head-scratching (but improving!) offensive line. And DB Kiy Hester has recorded INTs in back-to-back games, including a 33-yard pick-six last weekend.

What to watch for


One of the biggest knocks on J.T. Barrett has been his tendency to float easy throws past wide open receivers, especially more than ten yards down the field. But whatever he, Ryan Day, and Kevin Wilson have been doing in practice, it's starting to pay off. The senior QB was throwing absolute darts to his targets against UNLV last weekend, hitting guys on the numbers with throws that had more oomph than he's typically shown in his career. It paid off, too, to the tune of five TDs in less than a half.

The question, then, is if he can keep that trajectory going against the third straight opponent that the Buckeyes should stomp. He's got an arsenal of 4- and 5-star talent at his disposal, including many receivers who are finally coming into their own after much-hyped arrivals a year or two ago. There are also the out-of-nowhere talents like C.J. Saunders and Rashod Berry, who for all we know might be good for 150 yards and a pair of TDs between them this week. (Or maybe we'll at least get another look at Saunders slapping hands with a teammate mid-play.)

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