Michael Smith
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Ohio State vs Rutgers, What Will Happen in JT Barrett’s First Start?
Michael Smith via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
This week’s game against Rutgers got more interesting with the announcement that JT Barrett will be making his first start of the season this week. I’m going to be very honest here, its about time. I fully realize these are college kids. I will support Cardale Jones now and in the future. Cardale Jones did something last year that will go down in not only Ohio State history but college football history. What Cardale Jones did for Ohio State and this team and us fans we owe him big. I applaud him, I respect him, and I thank him for all he has and will continue to do for Ohio State.
That being said, its about time Barrett got his starting job back. It has been painfully clear this year that this team is better, scores more, and runs better when JT Barrett is in the game at QB.
Now how will this effect Ohio State? How does this effect the game this Saturday night at Rutgers?
Rutgers offense’ is legit. They got some play makers on that side of the ball. Now, they have scored a lot and gotten a lot of yards vs teams with poor defenses. I have to be honest. They scored 63 on Norfolk State, 34 on Washington State, and 55 last week vs Indiana. Now those defenses aren’t exactly the 85 Bears. The best defense they faced all year could be Penn State’s, which held them to 3 points. They have some guys who will be playing on Sundays soon, there’s no doubt.
Rutgers is more of a passing team. Their QB Chris Laviano has over 1100 yards passing already this year. He can, however, throw the occasional INT though, so Ohio State’s secondary has to be on its toes. Their main weapon is WR Leonte Carroo, who has almost 500 yards receiving this year and 9 TDs. That’s 9 TDs in just 6 games. He is a game changer. However, he hurt his ankle during the win against Indiana last week.
He’s officially listed as questionable and has been seen wearing a boot. He has said he will play this week no matter what. Rutgers uses 2 RBs, Robert Martin and Josh Hicks, who have combined for 900 yards rushing so far this year. Ohio State’s defense has been awful against the run this year, there is just no other way to put it. Rutgers can score and do it in a hurry. They were down 52-27 in the 3rd quarter last week vs Indiana and scored the games final 28 points to come back and win 55-52. They also put up nearly 600 yards of offense in the game. Rutgers also gave Michigan State all they could handle and more.
Ohio State’s offense has seemed to get back on track the last 2 weeks. Scoring 38 vs a very good Penn State defense is nothing to sneeze at. Wait, didn’t someone predict that very score last week for Ohio State? Oh, that’s right it was me. (Smiley Face)
This week we have J.T. Barrett starting at QB.
Watching Barrett the last 2 weeks it seems clearly that the offense ran much better with him in the game. This will add the mobile QB to the game that I feel has been badly missing this year. This might even free Zeke up for big runs. One player that might be secretly loving this move is Michael Thomas. With Barrett has his QB, Thomas has caught 11 TDs between last year and this season. With Jones as the QB, Thomas has caught 2 TDs. Also Barrett is a better passer, he doesn’t have the arm that Jones, but then who does really, but Barrett can make the touch throws. Rutgers defense is….how do I put this, poor.
Look, I know if you can’t say something nice about anyone than don’t say it at all. But it’s true, Rutgers defense is average at best. Rutgers gave up over 600 yards of offense to Indiana last week. In the 5 games Rutgers has played vs Div 1-A teams (I refuse to call it FBS or FCS or whatever they want now) they have given up 32.4 points a game. Ohio State’s offense shouldn’t have a problem moving the ball. I hate being confident about anything cause I feel I could jinx the team some way, but the only Div 1-A team to score less than 30 on Rutgers this year was Kansas and they couldn’t score 30 on some high school teams. With Barrett starting now, I fully expect Ohio State to come out firing on all cylinders.
PREDICTION
With all I’ve said, Rutgers is a much better home team than road team. They gave Michigan State a big time scare and 2 of their 3 wins have come at home this year.
The two big questions in this game are if Rutgers star wide receiver Leonte Carroo can play 100% and how will Ohio State do now that Barrett is the starting QB. I feel Rutgers will put up some points.
The thing is Ohio State will put up more.
OHIO STATE 49 RUTGERS 24
The post Ohio State vs Rutgers, What Will Happen in JT Barrett’s First Start? appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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Michael Smith via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
This week’s game against Rutgers got more interesting with the announcement that JT Barrett will be making his first start of the season this week. I’m going to be very honest here, its about time. I fully realize these are college kids. I will support Cardale Jones now and in the future. Cardale Jones did something last year that will go down in not only Ohio State history but college football history. What Cardale Jones did for Ohio State and this team and us fans we owe him big. I applaud him, I respect him, and I thank him for all he has and will continue to do for Ohio State.
That being said, its about time Barrett got his starting job back. It has been painfully clear this year that this team is better, scores more, and runs better when JT Barrett is in the game at QB.
Now how will this effect Ohio State? How does this effect the game this Saturday night at Rutgers?
Rutgers offense’ is legit. They got some play makers on that side of the ball. Now, they have scored a lot and gotten a lot of yards vs teams with poor defenses. I have to be honest. They scored 63 on Norfolk State, 34 on Washington State, and 55 last week vs Indiana. Now those defenses aren’t exactly the 85 Bears. The best defense they faced all year could be Penn State’s, which held them to 3 points. They have some guys who will be playing on Sundays soon, there’s no doubt.
Rutgers is more of a passing team. Their QB Chris Laviano has over 1100 yards passing already this year. He can, however, throw the occasional INT though, so Ohio State’s secondary has to be on its toes. Their main weapon is WR Leonte Carroo, who has almost 500 yards receiving this year and 9 TDs. That’s 9 TDs in just 6 games. He is a game changer. However, he hurt his ankle during the win against Indiana last week.
He’s officially listed as questionable and has been seen wearing a boot. He has said he will play this week no matter what. Rutgers uses 2 RBs, Robert Martin and Josh Hicks, who have combined for 900 yards rushing so far this year. Ohio State’s defense has been awful against the run this year, there is just no other way to put it. Rutgers can score and do it in a hurry. They were down 52-27 in the 3rd quarter last week vs Indiana and scored the games final 28 points to come back and win 55-52. They also put up nearly 600 yards of offense in the game. Rutgers also gave Michigan State all they could handle and more.
Ohio State’s offense has seemed to get back on track the last 2 weeks. Scoring 38 vs a very good Penn State defense is nothing to sneeze at. Wait, didn’t someone predict that very score last week for Ohio State? Oh, that’s right it was me. (Smiley Face)
This week we have J.T. Barrett starting at QB.
Watching Barrett the last 2 weeks it seems clearly that the offense ran much better with him in the game. This will add the mobile QB to the game that I feel has been badly missing this year. This might even free Zeke up for big runs. One player that might be secretly loving this move is Michael Thomas. With Barrett has his QB, Thomas has caught 11 TDs between last year and this season. With Jones as the QB, Thomas has caught 2 TDs. Also Barrett is a better passer, he doesn’t have the arm that Jones, but then who does really, but Barrett can make the touch throws. Rutgers defense is….how do I put this, poor.
Look, I know if you can’t say something nice about anyone than don’t say it at all. But it’s true, Rutgers defense is average at best. Rutgers gave up over 600 yards of offense to Indiana last week. In the 5 games Rutgers has played vs Div 1-A teams (I refuse to call it FBS or FCS or whatever they want now) they have given up 32.4 points a game. Ohio State’s offense shouldn’t have a problem moving the ball. I hate being confident about anything cause I feel I could jinx the team some way, but the only Div 1-A team to score less than 30 on Rutgers this year was Kansas and they couldn’t score 30 on some high school teams. With Barrett starting now, I fully expect Ohio State to come out firing on all cylinders.
PREDICTION
With all I’ve said, Rutgers is a much better home team than road team. They gave Michigan State a big time scare and 2 of their 3 wins have come at home this year.
The two big questions in this game are if Rutgers star wide receiver Leonte Carroo can play 100% and how will Ohio State do now that Barrett is the starting QB. I feel Rutgers will put up some points.
The thing is Ohio State will put up more.
OHIO STATE 49 RUTGERS 24
The post Ohio State vs Rutgers, What Will Happen in JT Barrett’s First Start? appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...