Football Game Preview: Ohio State vs. Rutgers
Ohio State gets to play its first game under the lights at Ohio Stadium in 2020 as the Buckeyes battle the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
It certainly won't be the same kind of environment as a normal night game at The Shoe, but the Buckeyes are once again heavy-favorites to defeat Rutgers for the seventh consecutive season. This is Ohio State's first night-game in November since beating Nebraska, 62-3 on Nov. 5, 2016. Here is our preview of this weekend's game.
Ohio State Athletics
General Info
Date: November 7, 2020
Where: Ohio Stadium (Columbus, Ohio)
Expected Weather: 60 degrees, clear skies
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Current Betting Numbers
Spread: Ohio State (-38)
O/U Total: 64.5
How to Watch/Listen
Television: Big Ten Network
Streaming: FOX Sports Go
Announcers: Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play), James Laurinaitis (analyst), Rick Pizzo (sideline reporter)
Radio: Ohio State Sports Network from Learfield IMG College
Flagship: WBNS 97.1 The Fan
Announcers: Paul Keels (play-by-play), Jim Lachey (analyst), Matt Andrews (sideline reporter), Skip Mosic (pregame/halftime/postgame host)
Series History
2019: Ohio State - 56, Rutgers - 21
2018: Ohio State - 52, Rutgers - 3
2017: Ohio State - 56, Rutgers - 0
2016: Ohio State - 58, Rutgers - 0
2015: Ohio State - 49, Rutgers - 7
2014: Ohio State - 56, Rutgers - 17
The Buckeyes have won each game in the series by a minimum of 35 points, have never scored fewer than 49 points and have won the six games by an average of 46.5 points per game.
Coaching Matchup
* Ryan Day (Career Record: 18-1, Ohio State Record: Same)
* Greg Schiano (Career Record: 69-68, Rutgers Record: Same)
Ohio State Team Capsule
So far, so good for the Buckeyes in 2020. Considering how high the outside expectations have been set for this program, Ryan Day said several times the last couple weeks that everyone needs to pump the brakes a little bit and give the team a chance to write its own story. So far, it's a pretty impressive script.
Ohio State Athletics
Ohio State throttled Nebraska in the season-opener, 52-17, before going on the road last week and handling Penn State, 38-25. Justin Fields has looked every bit the Heisman-candidate he's expected to be, the passing attack has been unstoppable thus far and the defensive line has out-performed expectations after they were hit especially hard by the NFL Draft last April. As the Buckeyes enter an easier part of the schedule, this should be a couple weeks where the team can showcase some depth and continue to develop less-experienced players.
Rutgers Team Capsule
On the flip side, considering how low the expectations have been for Rutgers over the last few years, this season has already been a success. The Scarlet Knights come to Columbus having already won a conference road game - something they hadn't done since 2017, a streak of 12 consecutive games. In fact, that conference win in general snapped a 21-game losing streak overall in the Big Ten. Rutgers opened the year by forcing seven Michigan State turnovers in a 38-27 win.
The Knights followed it up last week by losing to No. 17 Indiana, 37-21, but they did show some flashes of good play in the game. They also almost pulled off the most insane lateral play you've seen since Cal beat Stanford in the famous "the band is on the field" play in 1982.
Rutgers is led by Nebraska-transfer quarterback Noah Vedral, who is coming off the most productive game of his career last week against Indiana. He finished the game 21-of-34 through the air for 130 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions. Vedral started two games for Nebraska in 2019 after he was a backup QB on UCF's undefeated team in 2017.
Major Storylines
Greg Schiano Makes His Return to Columbus
After leaving the Ohio State coaching staff prior to the beginning of the 2019 season, Greg Schiano was the Buckeyes defensive coordinator for three seasons (2016-2018). He helped guide the Scarlet and Gray to a pair of Big Ten titles before leaving the staff when Ryan Day was hired as the head coach.
Schiano isn't the only former Buckeye coach to return this weekend though. Rutgers special team’s coordinator Adam Scheier (Ohio State quality control in 2017), linebacker’s coach Bob Fraser (quality control at Ohio State 2016-18) and offensive assistant Adam Weber (Ohio State defensive assistant from 2014-16) are all coming back to Ohio Stadium for the first time since they departed.
Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson
Ohio State wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson set an all-time Ohio State record last weekend against Penn State. For the second consecutive game, each of them accumulated 100+ receiving yards. No pair of teammates had ever accomplished that in back-to-back games before in program history.
While Justin Fields gets an awful lot of attention (and deservedly so) on the offensive side of the ball, Wilson and Olave are elite talents that have NFL futures. They could have a monster day on Saturday against a Rutgers secondary that's given up a lot of yards through the air already.
Two Former Buckeyes on the Rutgers Defense
This is also a homecoming of sorts for a pair of Rutgers defenders, as Schiano has brought a number of transfer players onto his roster this year. Former Ohio State safety Brendon White will start at safety for the Scarlet Knights on Saturday. He started the final five games for the Buckeyes in 2018 and was named the Rose Bowl defensive MVP in January 2019 when Ohio State beat Washington. But White's role was significantly dialed back last year with the Buckeyes loaded secondary and he chose to leave the program at the end of the 2019 season.
White has 17 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery during the first two games of the season. Ryan Day said Thursday that White left the Buckeyes on amicable terms and he wishes White the best of success moving forward, believing that he'll be in a great spot with Coach Schiano in Piscataway.
“Greg’s done a good job of putting him in good spots. He’s playing that free safety position. I think what they’re asking him to do fits his skill set really well. He’s going to have a good career there,” Day said. “He’s got a lot of talent.”
Former Ohio State defensive lineman Malik Barrow is also on roster for Rutgers. He's a second string player and hasn't made a significant impact yet.
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