Rutgers Debriefing: Buckeyes Roll in Barrett's First Start of the Season, 49-7

By Michael Citro on October 25, 2015 at 9:15 am
J.T. Barrett led Ohio State to a 49-7 win over Rutgers.
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It was finally time for what many of us thought would happen from the start of the season — J.T. Barrett would lead the Ohio State (8-0, 4-0) offense out onto the field to start the game. Barrett got a lot of help from his teammates, but it was easily the Buckeyes’ most dominating performance of the season.

Rutgers entered the game riding high on the back of a huge road comeback win at Indiana in Kyle Flood’s return from suspension. The Scarlet Knights even had stud wide receiver Leonte Carroo back from an ankle injury (for a while). So they took the field with maximum swag on national television, after Flood proclaimed that it would be the country’s best atmosphere at kickoff.

Would J.T. make the most of his first start of the season? Could Ohio State continue to control third down on defense? Would the Buckeyes avoid the trap heading into the bye week? Could the offensive line get it done two weeks in a row?

Yes, yes, oh God yes, and pretty much. Despite an early fumble, Barrett was brilliant, completing 14 of 18 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, and ran for 101 yards and two scores on 13 carries. Rutgers was just 2/12 on third down before Urban Meyer trotted all the backups out there. There was no trap. The line started slowly but got rolling as the game wore on.

Here are your talking points from last night’s 49-7 win at Rutgers:

WATER COOLER PREP (EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW…IN ONE PARAGRAPH)

Rutgers opened the game with a 10+ play drive that netted 62 yards and it ended with a field goal attempt that hit the left upright. That was their best chance to score until only a few seconds remained and the defense was manned by second and third stringers. Zeke shook off a slow start to run for 142 yards and two scores on 19 carries, including a 55-yard touchdown. The Buckeyes, who finished the game without a penalty, led 21-0 at the break and just got stronger, with a 21-point third quarter.

GIVE THAT MAN A BUCKEYE LEAF (PLAYER OF THE GAME)

Barrett accounted for 324 yards and five touchdowns and was masterful running the offense. He threw touchdown passes to three different receivers. Had it not been for the fumble, after running into Michael Thomas, who was trying to throw a block for him, it would have been just about a perfect game.

DID YOU SEE THAT?! (PLAY OF THE GAME)

Ohio State led 14-0 when Rutgers walked a safety down into the box and Barrett saw it, lofting a pass deep downfield for Braxton Miller. The OSU quarterback-turned-receiver made a crazy catch, with the ball ricocheting off his man parts, then his legs, the defender, and then finally into his hands, securing it just before it could hit the ground. Give it another look:

Huge honorable mention here for Michael Thomas making a catch and using the stiffarm of justice, then outrunning the Rutgers defense to the end zone.

SLOBBER KNOCKER OF THE GAME

On Ohio State’s second possession of the second half, and the Buckeyes faced a 2nd-and-3 from the 50. Barrett found Elliott on the right side. The Buckeye tailback saw Steve Longa ahead of him, but instead of running out of bounds, Zeke lowered his head and absolutely punished the Rutgers defender, who might still be feeling that collision at the end of the season.

TALK IN THE AFTERMATH

Urban Meyer praised J.T. after the game:

As I said, it was a good day for the (first-team) defense:

Sound off, Buckeye fans.

Beanie summed it up nicely.

JIM TRESSEL'S LEAST FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE GAME

Not many know this, but Tressel has the ultimate pog collection. He was collecting pogs before pog collecting was cool. It all started in the early 90s, when Tressel found stress relief by carefully curating his pogs in a special binder. He even had the entire Power Rangers collection given out by McDonald’s in Happy Meals in 1994.

Tressel periodically gets his pogs out and looks at them, and such was the case while watching the game Saturday night in his La-Z-Boy recliner next to a warm fire. The Buckeyes faced a 4th-and-1 situation at the Rutgers 28, with more than nine minutes to play in the third quarter. Tressel’s eyes grew wide, anticipating a Jack Willoughby field goals attempt. This 45-yarder would build Jack’s confidence and pay off in some future tough game, surely. When Meyer decided to go for it, Tressel was so upset he chucked his pog collection into the fireplace.

WHEN YOU SANK INTO YOUR CHAIR (THE MOMENT BUCKEYE FOOTBALL DISGRACED YOUR FAMILY)

Obviously it’s giving up the late score to bust the shutout. The game was basically nothing but positives until then. Ohio State had held Rutgers to 2/12 on third down until that final drive by the backups, which allowed 3/3 conversions on third, including the lone touchdown.

WHAT YOU TEXTED YOUR FRIEND AT THE END OF EACH QUARTER

First: “Far from perfect but we won a first quarter.”

Second: “Looking good. Seems more lopsided than the score.”

Third: “I remember these Buckeyes and love them like my own children.”

Fourth: “Dammit, I wanted the shutout.”

IT WAS OVER WHEN

When Barrett stood tall and delivered a strike to Curtis Samuel in the end zone to make it 28-0 (while Kaiwan Lewis was hitting him in the face with his forearm), the game was effectively out of reach. Rutgers may have come back from 25 down against Indiana a week ago, but there was no way the Scarlet Knights were rallying from four touchdowns down against Joey Bosa and company.


The Buckeyes have an open date next week and will return to action on Nov. 7 at the Horseshoe against Minnesota. The Golden Gophers (4-3, 1-2) were off this weekend and will host Michigan on Halloween. They’ve lost to Northwestern and Nebraska and beat Purdue, which hardly seems like it should count as a win anymore.

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