Ohio State Sleepwalks to Beat Rutgers, 42-9

It’s a tale as old as time itself: Ohio State sleepwalking in the game before The Game. The Buckeyes circle the Michigan game every year. This year, trying to avoid five straight losses to The Team Up North, Ryan Day’s defending champions might’ve been caught looking ahead. Regardless, the Buckeyes were able to take care of business at home in the final scheduled home game of the year.

Despite a 42-9 win, it was about as sleepy and frustrating as a win could have been to start. Personnel decisions were confusing, playcalling wasn’t the best, and a Heisman Trophy candidate wasn’t nearly as sharp as you’d expect. Of course, gritting out a win after a slow start against a 5-5 team shows how deep the Big Ten is, right?

Ohio State Sleepwalks to Beat Rutgers

No Tate, No Smith, Yes Problems

Against a defense like Rutgers, running the ball was always going to be the plan. It became even more important when the news hit that, as we expected, Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith were unavailable. On the first drive, it was the Bo Jackson show. He carried the ball seven times for 52 yards on a 10-play, 72-yard drive, capped off by his touchdown. The offense went away from him in the first half, a bit after that.

Overall, the offense was not great. Julian Sayin didn’t look as comfortable without his top two receivers, so he force-fed his tight ends. Max Klare led the way for his first 100-yard day as a member of the Buckeyes. The next leading receiver was David Adolph. Mylan Graham was MIA in favor of Adolph, for some reason. Brandon Inniss had to step up and did secure a touchdown, but was injured on a poorly thrown ball from Lincoln Kienholz. Why was Kienholz throwing the ball? Day and Brian Hartline must be trying to put out some bad film for next week because the quarterback switcheroo strategy was head-scratching.

Of course, the offense woke up in the second half, particularly on the ground. Against the nation’s worst rushing defense by way of yards per carry, Ohio State finished the day with 258 yards and four touchdowns on the ground on just 36 carries. Jackson ripped off a handful of big runs. James Peoples scored on a 49-yard scamper. Kienholz averaged 12 yards per carry.

As sleepy as it was, the Buckeyes finished with 42 points and 430 points. It would’ve been worse if Jackson hadn’t given up the ball on the one-yard line on the first drive.

Have a Senior Day

It was the final home game for 16 Buckeye seniors. Leading the way was a handful of defensive stars, like Caden Curry. This year, Curry has been boom or bust. For example, three of his seven sacks on the season came in the win over Washington. Heading into this week, he only had one tackle for loss and no sacks since he notched one in the win over Wisconsin.

Against Rutgers? Curry shone bright. He ripped around the Scarlet Knights’ offensive line multiple times and ended the day with a pair of sacks, one on each side. His second sack was one of the most impressive defensive efforts on the day. Curry beat the left tackle and hit Athan Kaliakmanis‘ arm, knocking the ball out, scooping it, somersaulting, and very nearly scoring. If the play had been reviewed, it could have been a touchdown.