Ohio State Football has to take Rutgers seriously

In past years, whenever the Ohio State football team would take on Rutgers, it was a foregone conclusion. The Buckeyes have always been the more talented team and haven’t really come close to even having a competitive game with the Scarlet Knights.

The Buckeyes will take on Rutgers this week. They are still the more talented team, but things have changed. Greg Schiano, former Ohio State defensive coordinator, has gotten the Scarlet Knights to play at a high level. His team plays extremely hard for him.

That team just lost their first game by only seven points on the road at Michigan. They are not the same pushovers that the Buckeyes have killed over the last few years. If Ohio State isn’t careful, Rutgers could be frisky and actually pull off an upset in Piscataway.

Do I expect that to happen? Of course not. But we’ve seen how the Buckeyes have played so far this season. They have been very inconsistent with their play so far this year. Last week against Akron was the first game that they were actually able to put together to look solid.

The bottom line is that Ohio State has to take Rutgers seriously. They have to make sure that they don’t overlook the Scarlet Knights. This is the first Big Ten game they’ve played since Week 1. It’s something that Ryan Day knows his team must be ready for.

This is where the schedule gets real. This team already knows their backs are up against the wall. Losing to Oregon has already hampered their College Football Playoff hopes severely. Another loss takes them out of that race completely. They have to win out.

That starts with a win over a better than usual Rutgers squad this week.