After an uneven 3-1 start to the season, most folks, including oddsmakers, felt Ohio State's matchup with Rutgers would be a moderate test.
Instead, Ryan Day's squad came out with its hair on fire, scoring the game's first 24 points and never looked back in a 52-13 pasting of the Scarlet Knights in SHI Stadium.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud looked fresh, confident and healthy after resting his dinged throwing shoulder and Ohio State's defense looked to again show progress, cementing roles for key players while featuring versatile formations and coverages under interim defensive playcaller Matt Barnes.
The lopsided win for 11th-ranked Ohio State came as No. 3 Oregon, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 10 Florida all lost, meaning the Buckeyes should see a nice jump in the (meaningless) polls.
Next week, Ohio State hosts Maryland in a Big Noon contest on the heels of the Terps getting waxed, 51-14, by Iowa on Friday night. But before preparations start for Mike Locksley's squad, here are Five Things from a thorough dismantling of Rutgers.
C.J. BOUNCES BACK
The week off sure looked to benefit C.J. Stroud as he completed 17 of 23 passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns against zero interceptions spanning seven possessions (excluding the last drive of the first half in which Day was content to run out the clock) before giving way to Kyle McCord.
In the decisive first half, Stroud completed 14 of 18 for 273 yards and two scores. Two of his incompletions came via drops.
He carried himself with an air of confidence we've not really seen, looked solid on the rollout again and even ran it with purpose once.
Among a handful of really nice throws, three in particular stood out to me. The first came as he found Garrett Wilson over the middle for a 32 yard touchdown putting Ohio State in front 24-0. The throw was right on time, allowing Wilson to keep separation with his defender and not break stride to the end zone.
The second saw Stroud experience immediate pocket pressure, slide right, step up and shuffle left before hitting Chris Olave on what was roughly a 15-yard cross. Because he hit Olave in stride, Chris was able to beat his man to the sideline and cut up field for what became a 56-yard touchdown giving the Buckeyes a 45-6 edge shortly before halftime.
The third was an absolute dime to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a go route up the right sideline. JSN was pretty well covered but Stroud dropped a 15-yard throw right into the bucket, allowing Smith-Njigba to keep running for a 28 yard gain, setting up the 56-yarder to Olave a few plays later. Just a picture perfect throw.
Through his four games, Stroud's completing 64.5% of this throws and averaging 323 passing yards per game with 13 touchdowns against three picks. That seems pretty good for an inexperienced quarterback playing two of his first four games on the road and having to play from behind for most of the Oregon game.
DEFENSE SHOWS PROGRESS
The ongoing evolution of an Ohio State defense that early in the season was too basic in its approach and unsure of who its best players were continued on Saturday.
With Matt Barnes calling the plays and the bulk of the defensive staff designing game plans that are more diverse in looks and coverages, the Buckeyes appear to be gaining traction. This reality has been helped by guys like Cameron Martinez, Ronnie Hickman and Cody Simon, among others, asserting themselves in positions that lacked personnel clarity the first few weeks.
With yesterday's game out of hand by halftime, it feels right to only look at the numbers the defense compiled through those first two quarters. And to be sure, Rutgers isn't exactly an elite offensive team but you have to feel positive about the Buckeyes holding the Scarlet Knights to 142 total first half yards - with 75 of those coming on one play as confusion in the back seven led to a long catch-and-run touchdown for Aron Cruickshank.
Quaterback Noah Vedral completed 10-of-19 in the first half for 105 yards and while that 75-yarder counts, if you back it out, the OSU defense allowed 9-of-18 passing for 30 yards with a pick six. Not bad. The Buckeyes also held Rutgers to 3.1 yards per carry on 12 tries in the opening half.
Throw that in a blender and on 31 plays spanning eight possessions, Rutgers managed five first downs, six points, four 3-and-outs, a pick six and two turnovers on downs. Seems like a solid half for the defense.
WILSON, DUKE OF LIZARDS
Garrett Wilson is somewhat quietly putting together another awesome season for Ohio State and personally, I continue to think his NFL ceiling is higher than his teammate, who garners much more attention. And hey, that's no hate on the great Chris Olave, who had a spectacular 5-catch, 119-yard day with two touchdowns, putting him in a tie with Cris Carter for third-most career touchdown grabs in OSU history. I just don't think Wilson always gets the recognition he deserves because Olave has been so good for so long.
Wilson is a super-smooth route runner yet his best attributes are ridiculous hands and an impressive ability to create yards after the catch.
Yesterday, Wilson had just three targets but caught all three for 71 yards and a touchdown. He added a 13-yard run on a speed sweep.
With OSU already leading 14-0, Wilson snagged a slant and went 22 yards on the first play of the offense's second possession and a few snaps later, on 3rd-and-5, hauled in another slant for 17 yards leading to a field goal and a 17-0 lead. Both looked like ho-hum plays for him, because they were, but I just caught myself watching him glide and man, Ohio State fans are going to miss him when he's gone, even with all that young talent in the wide receiver room.
On Ohio State's next possession, Wilson went back to work, turning a short crossing route into a 32-yard touchdown in what again looked like an effortless snag over the middle before turning on the jets and cruising into the end zone for a 24-0 lead.
Through five games, Wilson leads Ohio State in receptions (26) and receiving yards (462) with four touchdowns.
THREE AMIGOS
Class of 2019 product Ronnie Hickman, class of 2020 recruit Cameron Martinez and true freshman Denzel Burke came into the season as relative unknowns - talented guys for sure but with most fans unsure of exactly if/what they might contribute in 2021. The trio came into this season with a combined 46 defensive snaps in 2020 with Hickman logging all 46.
Obviously Burke was still in high school last year and Martinez didn't even play on special teams until the national title game.
Turns out however, what the trio is contributing is teaming up to solidify a secondary that lost Josh Proctor for the season and saw more experienced guys like Sevyn Banks, Cameron Brown, Marcus Williamson and others contribute to varying degrees but not in a way that anyone would describe as elite.
Yesterday, Burke continued his extraordinary season with a pick six giving Ohio State an early 14-0 lead. Hickman led the team in tackles again, this time with 12, and Martinez slotted just behind him with seven stops and 0.5 tackles for loss.
Martinez also blew up Rutgers' fake punt try in the first quarter, nearly intercepting the pass but still leading to a turnover on downs.
With Burke's pick six yesterday, all three have already turned the trick on the young season with Hickman doing it last week versus Akron and Martinez the week before that to Tulsa.
Burke leads the team in PBU with six, Hickman is averaging nine tackles a game and Martinez is coming on like a freight train.
Sure, the OSU defense remains a work in progress but the fact guys like these three are seizing roles is critical. And for what it's worth, while the pass defense still ranks 98th in the country giving up 251 yards per game, it's up to 43rd in yards allowed per attempt (6.7) and the team's seven interceptions rank No. 10 in the country.
THIS IS THE END
While the secondary is realizing traction, the lack of production from the defensive ends has been an ongoing concern that saw a bit of a boost yesterday even though the Buckeyes managed only one sack, coming from true freshman defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, who continues to be My Guy on the defensive line.
Coming into yesterday, the Buckeyes had 14 total sacks with 10 coming from the tackles, one from a linebacker and just three from the ends: Zach Harrison had two and Jack Sawyer had one.
Rutgers obviously tried to neutralize the pass rush by seemingly throwing like 80% of its passes quickly backwards, sideways, or barely beyond the line of scrimmage. Ohio State was also again without the services of starting defensive end Tyreke Smith.
Searching for a silver lining after just one sack following last week's sack bonanza against overmatched Akron, I guess the defensive ends did combine for two pass breakups and 1.5 tackles for loss versus the Scarlet Knights.
Restoring a fully healthy rotation is crucial for Larry Johnson's group of ends and beyond that, achieving some level of consistency would be a major boost for the defense. If I'm being honest, hoping Harrison becomes an elite producer feels like a pipe dream at this point. He's a solid player, make no mistake, but Ohio State's had the luxury of featuring an elite defensive end over the last many years and that's just not the reality this season.
As such, Johnson needs Smith healthy and for the rotation to wear down opposing tackles while the interior continues to anchor the defensive front. Seems weird to expect that as a the ceiling but I guess guys like Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa, Chase Young, heck even Tyquan Lewis don't grow on trees.
