Ohio State football: What to expect against Rutgers

Ohio State should get an easy win against Rutgers on Saturday, so what should the Buckeyes hope to achieve?

Ohio State is not going to lose to Rutgers. It would be incredible for the Scarlet Knights to keep up with the Buckeyes for a quarter, but the talent gap is just too big. This is the kind of game that most championship contenders schedule for the first three games of their season in order to work out the kinks. So beyond victory, what are the Buckeyes hoping to accomplish?

A big opportunity for Ohio State in this game is to give their secondary a chance to get more reps. Shaun Wade seemed to struggle corralling Penn State’s Jahan Dotson, and while there are some other reasons for this struggle the fact remains that he and the rest of Buckeye Nation will want to see him improve.

Another area of the secondary that will benefit is getting meaningful reps to find the replacement for Cameron Brown. Brown will be out for the season, and Ohio State needs to build depth at the cornerback position if they want to go deep in the playoffs. Keep an eye on who gets the majority of playing time and how the coaches cycle through the players, even when the game gets out of hand.

The final goal Ohio State should have in this game is to dominate on the ground. While the running back tandem for the Buckeyes seemed to rebound last week against the Nittany Lions, there is still room for improvement.

Ohio State will likely stop throwing the ball as much after halftime, which will allow the running game to get in a lot of reps. This will be important for the offensive line and running backs to start to gain chemistry and understand how to get positive yards every play.