Urban Meyer couldn't think of anything that disappointed him following his team's easy win against lowly Rutgers. It is difficult to do so when your team puts up 58 points, doesn't allow any and your quarterback sets yet another school record.
"I think (I'm) very pleased," Meyer said. "They did what they're supposed to do and come out and play with a chip on their shoulder and they came out and play hard."
Ohio State overcame what you could call a sluggish start with only six first-quarter points and the game's lone turnover—a J.T. Barrett interception—to post 669 total yards of offense and allow just 116. The Scarlet Knights were overwhelmed and overmatched in all phases of the game and it showed when the scoreboard read 58-0 by game's end. Rutgers only completed three passes and gave up four touchdown tosses to Barrett. Four Buckeyes averaged at least 7.5 yards per carry and 12 players caught a pass. Eight different Ohio State players found the end zone, starting with Dontre Wilson in the first quarter and ending with Johnnie Dixon in the fourth.
Ohio State put more youth on display too. Binjimen Victor caught his first pass and Antonio Williams joined him in making their debuts.
"I mean, they're a bunch of new names out there. You saw we played Bin Victor today. He's a guy—he's just too good of a player to sit around. He won't be here for five years. We said go, let that dog eat. And you'll see more and more of him. He's just getting better and better."
Dogs ate all over the field on Saturday. Mike Weber ran it 14 times for 145 yards and a 49-yard touchdown. Demario McCall raced to the end zone on his second touch and finished with 85 rushing yards. Curtis Samuel put up his usual numbers, leading the Buckeyes with 86 receiving yards and running for 68 more. Barrett orchestrated it all. Rinse, repeat, even after an off week.
"As a starter, you’ve got to go out there and play and play well, play hard. Our backups know that when they get the opportunity to go in, there’s no drop-off," quarterbacks coach Tim Beck said. "We evaluate them and have high expectations for them. When Joe Burrow plays, I have the same expect the same thing out of him as I do J.T."
"(We're) pretty talented, in my opinion," offensive coordinator Ed Warinner added. "We still are not a finished product in some areas but we're able to play around those right now."
Rutgers is not going to compete for a Big Ten Championship like the Buckeyes most likely will. Chris Ash has a bunch of work to do before that even becomes a possibility.
But Saturday wasn't even competitive. Even as Meyer kept shuffling young players in and out of the lineup and running the ball, points kept going on the scoreboard. Barrett came out with around 4 minutes left in the third quarter and his team leading 44-0.
"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. That's a credit, first of all, to the player, but our coaches are doing a good job, man. Our nine guys, assistant coaches, just keep getting these guys better. And also Bin Victor four weeks ago didn't know right or left, now all of a sudden we're seeing get him in the game. And I'm seeing it at other positions as well."
That depth gaining experience is only going to help the Buckeyes down the road but as long as they have Barrett they should be fine regardless. His 59 career touchdown passes is a school record, a mark he hit in only 21 starts. Meyer demands his quarterback be a Heisman Trophy candidate every season. With 14 touchdowns against just two interceptions through four games in 2016, Barrett is every bit of that and then some.
"I think he's a Heisman candidate," Meyer said. "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. I was taken aback about—I had no idea but I think on the radio show and someone said he's only a five away, a couple weeks ago. And I was, like, five away from what? Because it doesn't seem like he's been playing that long for us. He's only been a starter for, I think, this is his second year, second—two and a half year starter at Ohio State. And a very good player. Very efficient player. That's what I love about him.
That's kind of the way things are at Ohio State right now. Statistics pop up that continue to surprise and impress, and another 600-plus outing coupled with a shutout adds to that.
"I think any time you can shut people out in major college football it’s a big thing," co-defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said. "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. You enjoy them when they can get them."
Ohio State's schedule will get tougher with road trips to Wisconsin and Penn State looming after another home game next weekend against Indiana. But on this day all that talent that Meyer and his staff recruited to Columbus showed why they brought it here. The first step of Big Ten play looked similar to the initial month of the season.
"We expect whoever goes in there, we expect to make the play," wide receiver Terry McLaurin said. "That’s why we play so many guys and coach Meyer, coach Smith have that much confidence in the guys who go in there to make the play. When we go in there we just want to do the best we can, make the play when our number is called because we never know how many shots we’re going to get. We have confidence enough in our unit and J.T. has confidence to who he’s throwing the ball to.
"We've got a lot of talent and a lot of depth," Weber said. "Antonio Williams, Demario McCall, all of them are really good. I feel like them getting out there and showing what they can do today kind of shows how much talent we have on our team."
Weber's 46-yard scoring scamper came off a pair of great blocks by Billy Price through the hole and James Clark down the field. He continues to grow and get better with each passing week and added 49-yard gain in the first half after a jump cut and quick dart saw him break free into the secondary.
The Rutgers defense ran him down, which didn't happen much last year when Ezekiel Elliott got into the open field. Meyer made sure he let his new tailback know exactly that.
"Got caught once. The guy we had last year wouldn't have got caught. So print that. I'm going to use that tomorrow.
"But, no, he's getting better and better. And Coach Alford. The drills are—they're very unique drills they've been putting together about keeping their feet up. Because obviously it's a long year, but he's improving."
So is Ohio State, and not even an off weekend and slow start could keep Rutgers in the game. Meyer's defense, full of likely NFL talent made sure of that.
"I thought our defense just smothered them. I think we gave up some passing yardage early but we have respect for the team we played and the scheme that they play. And they were hitting a couple of crossing routes on us.
But I feel our defense all over the field. Even when they do get a play, they're not usually solo tackles, usually a few people getting hats on them.""That was when I first started here about Ohio State. I had visited here before and the talent was there and sometimes the biggest gap is between the talent and achieving what that talent is capable of," Schiano added. "We have quite a few (NFL-caliber players) and we’ve had quite a few so I think that cycle will continue if they continue to develop and continue to work."
That is the name of the game for the No. 2 team in college football, which now sits at 4-0 before welcoming Indiana to Ohio Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. kick next Saturday. Not every game will be this easy to win but Ohio State's once inexperienced dogs are no longer that.
"I think our guys adjusted well. We just need to continue to get depth in our program, because we have eight weeks left," Meyer said. "And it's an eight-week—it's going to be a journey. So we need to continue to build depth."
