Ohio State On This Date: J.T. Barrett and the Buckeyes Roll Rutgers and Billy Anders Catches Everything

The first game Ohio State played on Oct. 1 was in 1898. The Buckeyes took on the Student Princes of Heidelberg and won 17-0 on Ohio Field.

Six years later, the Buckeyes hosted Miami (Ohio) on the same field. With the score standing at 80-0 with around seven minutes to play, the Ohio State supporters broke out in a chorus of “Eighty-six, eighty-six.”

The score the enthusiastic crowd craved never came to be. The team from Oxford was so physically battered it had to call it quits with under five minutes remaining in the contest. Two players from Miami were taken to Grant Hospital.

A description of what happened to one of those footballers: “For half an hour he lay unconscious on the field while physicians injected morphine and other stimulants.” The player was transported by ambulance to Grant for injuries that were “mostly about the head.” In the end, neither player from Miami was seriously injured in the 80-0 thrashing.

An 18-game winning streak against Northwestern almost came to an end on this date in 1994. An offense with Bobby Hoying, Eddie George, Joey Galloway, Korey Stringer and a freshman tackle named Orlando Pace trailed 9-0 at halftime in Evanston. But sophomore Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats' defense couldn't keep up the shutout in the second half. The Buckeyes made adjustments leading to three scoring drives and a 17-9 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.

With 5:01 to play, Dave Beazley caught a five-yard touchdown pass and Gary Barnett’s squad was a two-point conversion from tying the game. Dennis Lundy took the ball and ran hard into the heart of Ohio State’s defensive line, but was met by Matt Finkes and was stopped short of the goal line. John Cooper’s Buckeyes escaped Evanston with a 17-15 victory.

Games to remember

J.T. Barrett breaks Bobby Hoying's touchdown record 

Chris Ash, Ohio State's defensive coordinator for the 2014 national championship team, returned to the Shoe for the first time as the head coach of Rutgers on this date in 2016.

The first-year coach of the Scarlet Knights experienced the daunting task of trying to stop a Buckeye offense that had scored 170 points in the first three games of the 2016 season. Ash's offense was tasked with moving the ball against a defense full of future NFL players.

J.T. Barrett and Ohio State's offense stalled on its first drive of the game when Anthony Cioffi of Rutgers intercepted Barrett at his team's own 36-yard line. Following the turnover, the Buckeyes scored on nine consecutive possessions including four touchdown passes by Barrett, who broke a school record in the process.

Following Dontre Wilson's 18-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, the stage was set for Barrett to tie Bobby Hoying’s program record of 57 touchdown passes. An impressive catch by Terry McLaurin in the corner of the end zone scored the touchdown that tied Barrett with Hoying.  

With just over two minutes remaining in the half, Barrett connected with Marcus Baugh for 16 yards and the Ohio State career record in touchdown passes.

The Buckeyes piled up 58 points on 669 yards of total offense. Mike Weber accounted for 114 of those yards on 14 carries. Barrett and Joe Burrow completed passes to 12 different scarlet and gray receivers.

Ohio State's defense was as dominant as the offense. The Silver Bullets held Rutgers' offense to 116 total yards and only allowed three completions for 33 yards. The Scarlet Knights only had three plays past mid-field during the 60 minutes of play, in which they did not score.

Billy Anders sets a record in loss to Washington

In front of 80,241 faithful in Ohio Stadium, the Buckeyes found themselves in a 21-0 hole to the Washington Huskies after 25 minutes of play on Oct. 1, 1966. The typically ground-oriented Woody Hayes turned to the skies to catch up to the Huskies on the scoreboard.

Ohio State quarterback Bill Long completed 21 passes with end Billy Anders hauling in 12 of Long's completions for 162 of the quarterback's 228 yards. Anders’ 12 catches tied fellow Buckeye Bob Grimes (Pitt, 1952) for the program record. Anders’ 162 receiving yards were the second-most in program history to that point.

The Buckeyes finished the day with only 40 rushing yards, the fourth-fewest ever for Hayes and the least against an out-of-conference opponent.  

Anders' record-setting day wasn't enough to overcome the 221 yards Washington's Don Moore racked up against a porous Ohio State defense. When the final whistle blew, the Huskies left Columbus with a 38-22 victory.  

The 38 points put up by Washington were the second-most points surrendered by an Ohio State team coached by Woody Hayes to that point. Illinois scored 41 points in a win over the Buckeyes in 1953.

Stat Superlatives

Five Fun Facts

1. The Buckeyes rushed for negative-22 yards in a 32-7 loss at Michigan State in Oct. 16, 1965.
2. Ohio State has never faced a ranked opponent on Oct. 1.
3. Rutgers joins Indiana as the second team to play Ohio State on consecutive games played on this date.
4. Eight different Buckeyes scored a touchdown against Rutgers in 2016.
5. The Buckeyes won their first five games played on Oct. 1 by a combined score of 218-0.