Ohio State Football: Confidence level against Rutgers
By Eric Boggs
The Ohio State football team will go on the road for a second straight week as they travel to Piscataway, New Jersey to take on the 6-2 Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Ohio State is 9-0 all-time against Rutgers since they joined the conference in 2014 with an average score of 53-11 in those nine contests.
As much as Ohio State has dominated Rutgers, this year’s contest feels a little different. Rutgers is already Bowl eligible, and under the rebuild of second-time head coach and former Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, this Rutgers team seems poised to make this year’s contest a much closer affair.
The Buckeyes rediscovered their running game a week ago in Madison, Wisconsin as TreVeyon Henderson returned to the lineup and finished with 162 yards rushing and a touchdown. Ohio State will get back another offensive starter this week and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is expected to return to the lineup. Having both Henderson and Egbuka back should help alleviate some of the pressure that Marvin Harrison Jr. has felt over the past couple of games.
Despite that pressure, Harrison Jr. has performed exceptionally well, going over 100 yards receiving in four consecutive games. If he is able to do the same again on Saturday, he will put his name in the record books next to some iconic former Buckeyes.
Rutgers is anticipating a sellout crowd at SHI Stadium. Many are calling this the biggest game in the state of New Jersey since 2006 when Schiano and his Scarlet Knights upset the #3 ranked Louisville Cardinals. Could it happen again? Let’s dive into my confidence level scores and see what kind of percentage I give Rutgers in pulling off the upset.