Ohio State Football: Studying the Rutgers Scarlet Knights

The Ohio State football team aims to reach double-digit wins Saturday against a Rutgers team that should not put up much of a fight.

Rutgers hosts the Ohio State football team on Saturday and the Scarlet Knights (2-7, 0-6 Big Ten) have experienced a rough season. After an opening win over Massachusetts, Rutgers lost six games in a row by an average margin of 34.5 points.

Head coach Chris Ash – co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State from 2014 to 2015 – was fired during that losing streak on Oct. 5 after losing 48-7 to Maryland, falling to 1-4 on the season.

Rutgers scraped by for a win against Liberty 44-34, but have shown no signs of being competitive against ranked opponents, losing to Iowa 30-0, Michigan 52-0, Indiana 35-0, and Minnesota 42-7, being outscored 159-7 in those games.

Against the Buckeyes, the Scarlet Knights hardly stand a chance. At quarterback, it has been a revolving door between Johnny Langan (498 passing yards, 3 TDs and 6 INTs), Artur Sitkowski (429 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) and McLane Carter (368 yards, 2 TD, 4 INTs).

Carter retired from football after the loss to Iowa, according to ESPN, Sitkowski was redshirted – along with Raheem Blackshear, also according to ESPN – after the loss to Michigan. And Langan has struggled during his time as the starter.

The rushing attack isn’t much better, although Langan can run with the ball with 242 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Starting RB Isaih Pacheco has rushed for 541 yards, which is less than half of J.K. Dobbins‘1200 yards and 150 yards less than Ohio State backup Master Teague.

Against the likes of Baron Browning, Pete Werner and the deep defensive line (even without Chase Young), the Scarlet Knights will find it difficult to get anything going offensively.

At receiver, Bo Melton stands out for Rutgers with 312 receiving yards and a touchdown, but the Buckeyes have three receivers who have more yardage than that. So that being said, the passing game should be greatly limited against the Ohio State secondary.

Defensively, Rutgers is led in tackles by linebacker Tyshon Fogg (75), but the defense collectively has amassed a measly four interceptions, three forced fumbles and 11 sacks so far.

For Ohio State, Jeffrey Okudah and Jordan Fuller have combined for more interceptions (5), and Young has more forced fumbles (5) and sacks (13.5) than the entire Rutgers defense.

Even though he won’t be available Saturday, the Buckeyes still have 27.5 sacks and six forced fumbles, which dwarfs what the Scarlet Knights have been able to do so far this season. Against quarterback Justin Fields and the rest of Ohio State’s explosive offense, the Scarlet Knights would be lucky to hold the Buckeyes under 50 points.

Just how bad is Rutgers? Better than some recent seasons (1-11 last season and 2-10 in 2016). However, with games against Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State to end the season, three wins would be a massive achievement.