1. Ohio State defeated Rutgers 58-0 yesterday, but the actual beat down was much worse than the score would indicate. Coming off a bye week, the Buckeyes were predictably sluggish in the early going and held just a 6-0 lead after the first quarter. The team slowly woke up and the offense scored three touchdowns in the final six minutes of the second quarter to take a 30-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. At that point, the only thing that remained to be seen was whether Rutgers had enough fight in them to make the final score respectable. They didn't.
2. The Buckeyes posted 669 yards of total offense, including 410 yards on the ground. Red shirt freshman Mike Weber led the way with 14 carries for 144 yards (10.3 average) and a 46-yard touchdown, while true freshman Demario McCall added 85 yards on 10 carries (8.5 average) and a 20-yard touchdown. True freshman Antonio Williams saw his first game action and carried the ball 6 times for 28 yards (4.7 average).
3. Junior quarterback J.T. Barrett was his typical un-flashy efficient self yesterday, rushing 5 times for 46 yards (9.2 average) and completing 21 of 29 passes for 238 yards and 4 touchdowns (also an interception). For his career, Barrett now has 59 touchdown passes, a new Ohio State record. Barrett has 84 total touchdowns for his career, which currently places him third at Ohio State behind Braxton Miller (88 TDs) and Art Schlichter (85 TDs).
4. Junior running back Curtis Samuel is bidding to become the first Ohio State football player to amass 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving during his Buckeye career. Samuel entered the 2016 season with 525 yards rushing and 384 yards receiving. After yesterday's contest (68 yards rushing, 86 yards receiving), Samuel now has 328 yards rushing and 345 yards receiving for the season. At his current pace, Samuel will gain 1,000 yards rushing and receiving this season alone, so the career mark is virtually assured.
5. As well as the offense played against Rutgers, the defense was arguably even better. Rutgers gained only 116 yards on 54 plays for an average of just 2.1 yards per play. The Scarlet Knights were simply awful on the ground, with 38 rushes for 83 yards (2.2 ypc), but even worse through the air: 3 for 16 passing (18.8 percent) for 33 yards (1.7 yards per attempt; 36.075 passer efficiency). Those numbers are horrible but they don't even begin to tell the whole story. Rutgers had half of their rushing yards (41 yards) and all of their passing yards (33 yards) in the first quarter. Rutgers's starting quarterback Chris Laviano completed his first two passes for 31 yards, and from that point on the Scarlet Knights' signal callers were 1 for 14 passing (7.1 percent) for 2 yards (on a screen pass, of course) and a passer efficiency rating of just 8.34. When sacks are factored into the mix (3 for 18 yards), the Rutgers passing "attack" was responsible for just 15 yards. Ugh!
6. A team with a really bad offense should at least have a great punter to win the battle of field position. Not the Scarlet Knights. Punter Michael Cintron had 10 punts for 373 yards (37.3 average) with a long of 47 and jut one downed inside the 20-yard line. The Buckeyes had 36 punt return yards, which reduced Rutgers net punting to just 33.7 yards per punt.
7. The Buckeye defense was simply smothering yesterday but they somehow failed to record a turnover after racking up 11 through the first three games of the season. The Buckeye offense committed one turnover, reducing the team's turnover margin to +8 for the year.
8. Sophomore wide receivers Terry McLaurin, Parris Campbell, and Johnnie Dixon each had the first touchdown of their respective Buckeye careers yesterday. McLaurin hauled in a 14-yard TD reception, while Campbell and Dixon each had a 5-yard touchdown run.
9. Freshman wide receivers Austin Mack, Binjimen Victor, and Alex Stump each caught the first pass their respective Buckeye careers yesterday. Stump had one catch for 8 yards, while Mack and Victor each had one catch for 7 yards.
10. Freshman defensive tackle Robert Landers had his first career sack yesterday. Landers had one other tackle on the day, which also went for a loss.
11. The only bad news of the day was that punter Cameron Johnston's All American campaign took a real hit: He had zero punts for zero yards and none downed inside the 20. Sorry, Cam. We rather like seeing you standing on the sidelines all game long than booming punts deep into enemy territory.
12. For the season, Ohio State ranks 3rd in FBS in scoring offense (57.0 ppg); 4th in total offense (576.3 ypg); 3rd in rushing offense (332.0 ypg); 1st in scoring defense (9.3 ppg); 3rd in total defense (237.8 ypg); and 2nd in turnover margin (+2.00 per game). Not bad for an inexperienced group that was supposed to be suffering through growing pains this early in the season.
2. The Buckeyes posted 669 yards of total offense, including 410 yards on the ground. Red shirt freshman Mike Weber led the way with 14 carries for 144 yards (10.3 average) and a 46-yard touchdown, while true freshman Demario McCall added 85 yards on 10 carries (8.5 average) and a 20-yard touchdown. True freshman Antonio Williams saw his first game action and carried the ball 6 times for 28 yards (4.7 average).
3. Junior quarterback J.T. Barrett was his typical un-flashy efficient self yesterday, rushing 5 times for 46 yards (9.2 average) and completing 21 of 29 passes for 238 yards and 4 touchdowns (also an interception). For his career, Barrett now has 59 touchdown passes, a new Ohio State record. Barrett has 84 total touchdowns for his career, which currently places him third at Ohio State behind Braxton Miller (88 TDs) and Art Schlichter (85 TDs).
4. Junior running back Curtis Samuel is bidding to become the first Ohio State football player to amass 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving during his Buckeye career. Samuel entered the 2016 season with 525 yards rushing and 384 yards receiving. After yesterday's contest (68 yards rushing, 86 yards receiving), Samuel now has 328 yards rushing and 345 yards receiving for the season. At his current pace, Samuel will gain 1,000 yards rushing and receiving this season alone, so the career mark is virtually assured.
5. As well as the offense played against Rutgers, the defense was arguably even better. Rutgers gained only 116 yards on 54 plays for an average of just 2.1 yards per play. The Scarlet Knights were simply awful on the ground, with 38 rushes for 83 yards (2.2 ypc), but even worse through the air: 3 for 16 passing (18.8 percent) for 33 yards (1.7 yards per attempt; 36.075 passer efficiency). Those numbers are horrible but they don't even begin to tell the whole story. Rutgers had half of their rushing yards (41 yards) and all of their passing yards (33 yards) in the first quarter. Rutgers's starting quarterback Chris Laviano completed his first two passes for 31 yards, and from that point on the Scarlet Knights' signal callers were 1 for 14 passing (7.1 percent) for 2 yards (on a screen pass, of course) and a passer efficiency rating of just 8.34. When sacks are factored into the mix (3 for 18 yards), the Rutgers passing "attack" was responsible for just 15 yards. Ugh!
6. A team with a really bad offense should at least have a great punter to win the battle of field position. Not the Scarlet Knights. Punter Michael Cintron had 10 punts for 373 yards (37.3 average) with a long of 47 and jut one downed inside the 20-yard line. The Buckeyes had 36 punt return yards, which reduced Rutgers net punting to just 33.7 yards per punt.
7. The Buckeye defense was simply smothering yesterday but they somehow failed to record a turnover after racking up 11 through the first three games of the season. The Buckeye offense committed one turnover, reducing the team's turnover margin to +8 for the year.
8. Sophomore wide receivers Terry McLaurin, Parris Campbell, and Johnnie Dixon each had the first touchdown of their respective Buckeye careers yesterday. McLaurin hauled in a 14-yard TD reception, while Campbell and Dixon each had a 5-yard touchdown run.
9. Freshman wide receivers Austin Mack, Binjimen Victor, and Alex Stump each caught the first pass their respective Buckeye careers yesterday. Stump had one catch for 8 yards, while Mack and Victor each had one catch for 7 yards.
10. Freshman defensive tackle Robert Landers had his first career sack yesterday. Landers had one other tackle on the day, which also went for a loss.
11. The only bad news of the day was that punter Cameron Johnston's All American campaign took a real hit: He had zero punts for zero yards and none downed inside the 20. Sorry, Cam. We rather like seeing you standing on the sidelines all game long than booming punts deep into enemy territory.
12. For the season, Ohio State ranks 3rd in FBS in scoring offense (57.0 ppg); 4th in total offense (576.3 ypg); 3rd in rushing offense (332.0 ypg); 1st in scoring defense (9.3 ppg); 3rd in total defense (237.8 ypg); and 2nd in turnover margin (+2.00 per game). Not bad for an inexperienced group that was supposed to be suffering through growing pains this early in the season.
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