The name Urban Meyer kept bringing up only recorded one catch. The fact Ohio State's head coach couldn't stop talking about freshman wide receiver Binjimen Victor is a direct corollary to what kind of team he has at his disposal in Columbus.
“I mean, they're a bunch of new names out there. You saw we played Ben Victor today. He's a guy—he's just too good of a player to sit around,” Meyer said after leading his team in a 58-0 yawner over Rutgers. “He won't be here for five years. We said go, let that dog eat.”
“They did what they're supposed to do and come out and play with a chip on their shoulder and they came out and played hard.”– Urban Meyer
Victor's first career catch in his first career game action wasn't the only first of the day for the Buckeyes. Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Johnnie Dixon scored the first touchdowns of their careers. Alex Stump and Austin Mack joined Victor in making their first career grabs. Eight different players scored a touchdown. Twelve guys caught at least one pass. And Ohio State's defense held Rutgers to a mere three completions, nine first downs and 116 total yards.
It didn't matter who the Buckeyes ran out on the field, the results didn't change. That's rare to see in a conference game when the calendar reads October, even though former co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Chris Ash has an uphill climb in his first year at Rutgers.
“Usually maybe Game 1 or Game 2. But we have 44 kids when we started the season, first time playing at this level. And you can see no longer is that the case,” Meyer said. “Guys just keep getting better and better in practice.”
Practice is where players earn playing time and coaches decide who gets to touch the football on Saturdays or get a shot at halting the opposing offense. Through four games, the Buckeyes continue to put up maddening statistics offensively and allowed and average of 9.3 points.
“You never can make light of it; that’s hard to do. It’s hard to play 60 minutes and one mistake against Division I football players they score a touchdown,” co-defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said. “You enjoy them when they can get them.”
It didn't matter if they played a top-15 team in Oklahoma two weeks ago, a bottom feeder in the Big Ten like Rutgers or teams that don't have the personnel to compete with them like Tulsa or Bowling Green. The Buckeyes keep being dominant.
“Everybody that we have at practice, we know how much talent we have,” said running back Mike Weber, who ran 14 times for 145 yards and a touchdown. “At the beginning of the season we were called young and I feel like today everybody was making plays and showed everybody we are what we say we are.”
Ohio State again showed why it belongs in the top-5, which isn't surprising because Rutgers will struggle yet again to gather any Big Ten victories in 2016. But Meyer's group shook off a bit of a sluggish start where the Scarlet Knights cross the 50-yard line before shooting themselves with an ill-timed double reverse flea-flicker pass on which they fumbled twice and lost 17 yards.
They only crossed the 50 two more times all game. J.T. Barrett threw an interception on what he claimed was a "bad read" on Ohio State's first drive, but rebounded to throw four touchdown passes and become the school's all-time career leader in that category with 59 total. He added 238 yards through the air and 46 more on the ground, one of four players to average at least 7.5 yards per carry.
Rutgers is not very good—quarterback Chris Laviano completed three passes on the first drive of the game. He finished with three completions.
But this is what we've come to expect for Ohio State.
“We have some pretty good depth at the skill positions and we were talking in there like how many games have I coached in Division I where you never punted and you never gave up a point? We didn't give up a point and didn't punt,” offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said. “Those two things, if you do them you probably end up with a smile on your face at the end of the day.”
Barrett smiled at the end of his day, too, primarily when told he did it just 21 career starts. With at least eight more games left in this season and another year of eligibility, Barrett could put together numbers that won't be matched at Ohio State.
“It's kind of a surreal type of thing,” Barrett said. “That's the crazy thing-I was just trying to do my part and do the best I can for the team and with that came a record. Just grateful for it.”
“I’m incredibly humbled to have the opportunity to coach him,” quarterbacks coach Tim Beck added. “He’s just a great person and a tremendous football player as we all know. The things that he does in means to the football team, our university, the coaching staff, it’s even twice as much as what his records are to be honest with you.”
Meyer joked after his team finished with 669 total yards (410 rushing) and averaged 7.5 yards per play that Barrett is the first quarterback he ever took without ever seeing him throw. That's a credit to former quarterbacks coach Tom Herman and ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer, who holds the Elite 11 passing camp. Meyer is grateful he listened, just like Barrett is grateful to put up video game-like numbers like the rest of his teammates.
“I think he's a Heisman (Trophy) candidate. That's no disrespect to other players. I just don't get to see a lot of them, but there's no doubt he's a Heisman candidate,” Meyer said. “Very efficient player. That's what I love about him.”
Meyer is now 54-4 overall as the head coach at Ohio State and a ridiculous 32-1 in Big Ten regular season affairs. The Buckeyes pumped out 12 NFL Draft picks this past spring and look like they have a bunch more and then some still eager to prove their worth as a "young" and "inexperienced" squad. Those words shouldn't be used to describe the Buckeyes any longer.
Such is life at Ohio State under Meyer—it doesn't matter who hits the field, whether it be Victor catching his first career pass or McCall and Williams stepping in for Curtis Samuel, Dontre Wilson and Mike Weber to slash and dash behind a terrific offensive line led by Pat Elflein. With Barrett as conductor, the Buckeyes are going to be tough to beat. That is what fans have come to get used to.
“Our offense, it's play fast, score 50 points and be a balanced offense with 500 yards. That's what we try to do,” Barrett said. “On defense, I'm not sure exactly what their philosophy is or what their values are, but our offense we try to do that. Some days we do that, and other days we don't. At the end of the day, we just try to play hard for one another and when we do we get the results like this because it's not about the other team you're facing the but love of teammate and going that extra mile.”
Added Meyer: “They did what they're supposed to do and come out and play with a chip on their shoulder and they came out and played hard.”
