Ohio State Football: Predictions for week 5 game vs. Rutgers

Weekly predictions for Ohio State vs. Rutgers.

It’s week 5 of the season and Ohio State will be on the road to play Rutgers. As usual, Thomas Scurlock and I will make our predictions on the game. Tom got me last week and is now in the lead for the season at 2-1-1.

I almost nailed my prediction last week, but the Buckeyes fumbled inside the one yard line twice. They had not lost a fumble in the first three games, so why did they have to mess up my prediction?

Add 14 points on two touchdowns Ohio State would have scored, minus the 2 points for the safety the Buckeyes got following one fumble, and the final score is 66-21. My prediction was 66-17.

Anyway, I am going to tie things up with Tom this week. See if you agree with either of our predictions.

Thomas Scurlock:

Well I am happy to say it feels good that I took back the weekly title last week. I intend to keep it, though I am sure that my good friend Charlie is determined to recapture the title.

Rutgers is an interesting opponent for Ohio State. At first glance, the Buckeyes are heavy favorites and rightfully so. The Scarlet Knights are 1-3 with their only win coming over FCS Morgan State.

Peeling back the onion reveals a different story. The Rutgers defense has made tremendous strides in year two under Chris Ash. It is highly ranked in almost every important statistic, most notably in scoring as they are allowing just 18 points per game.

Does this mean the Buckeyes will struggle to score? Probably not, but it may take some time to gain separation. Don’t be surprised if this is a 10-14 point game at halftime.

J.T. Barrett will find his rhythm and start to pick apart the secondary, especially since Rutgers lost cornerback Blessuan Austin to a season ending knee injury last week. Barrett has made a career feasting on the Scarlet Knights and there is no reason to think he won’t put up big numbers again.

Defensively the Silver Bullets will keep the scoring low. The Rutgers offense doesn’t run or throw the ball well with any consistency.

Offensive coordinator Jerry Kill will have a few tricks to test the backend of the Ohio State defense, but the Rutgers offense is based on running the ball well. I don’t think that will happen.

I expect Ohio State to be a little sluggish in the first quarter, but then kick it in gear to pull away in the second half. Buckeyes win 38-10.

Charlie Lockhart: Here is my prediction sure to be correct this week…I think.

I have to agree with Tom that Rutgers will have a hard time scoring against the Ohio State defense. I think the Scarlet Knights will get some cheap points against the Buckeye back-ups, but not as many as UNLV scored last week for two reasons.

First, Rutgers doesn’t have as many playmakers on offense. Second, Ohio State can’t dress as many reserves on a road trip as they can at home. The Scarlet Knights will be going up against the Buckeyes’ second stringers which are more talented than the first team offensive players for Rutgers.

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Where Tom is wrong is he is not predicting the Buckeye offensive explosion that is about to happen, but I am.

Remember after Ohio State lost to Virginia Tech the second game of the 2014 season and then the Buckeyes got on a tremendous run offensively the rest of the season? It looks as though history may be repeating itself.

Urban Meyer called off the dogs against Army, but Ohio State still scored 38 points. Last week the Buckeyes scored 54 and it should have been many more.

The Ohio State offense has made strides but hasn’t come close to reaching its potential. Urban knows full well the challenges that lie ahead and wants a complete game from that side of the ball, and he will keep his foot on the pedal all game long.

I want to predict the Buckeyes scoring 62-66 points, but they may fumble close to the goal line again. So I will go with a 59-10 Ohio State win.

Next: Breaking Down the Ohio State Route to Victory vs. Rutgers

There you have it, our Scarlet And Game predictions for week 5. Do you agree with either Tom or me?

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