Ohio State Football vs. Rutgers: Three keys to victory

The Ohio State football team takes on Rutgers this Saturday in New Jersey. It’s the second straight road game for the Buckeyes. In the last game, they rode their defense to a 24-10 victory. This week, they play a Rutgers team that is better than Rutgers teams of the past.

Rutgers is 6-2 so far this season, having lost to only Michigan and Wisconsin. Michigan could have been stealing their signs still for all we know though. The Scarlet Knights are looking to play the role of spoiler and will lean on their running game to do so.

For the Buckeyes, there are three keys to winning this game in my mind. Rutgers doesn’t have the talent that Ohio State does but they do have a lot of fight. Greg Schiano has done a great job of reinstilling the culture he had when he was the coach there in his first go-round.

Ohio State will play two straight games at home after this one, so they are looking to get one more nice road win. The number one team in the country is looking to show that they deserve that ranking. To beat Rutgers, they first have to stop the run.

1. Ohio State football must stop the run

The Buckeyes have one of the best defenses in the country. They have been elite all year and rank second in points per game and fourth in yards per game. It’s tough to move the ball against them and even tougher to score points against them, and they have played some pretty good teams.

Rutgers wants to establish the run early and often. That is what they do best. Both their running back and their quarterback will take off with the ball. Stopping both Kyle Monangai and Gavin Wimsatt on the ground is going to be key for the Ohio State Buckeyes to win this game.

If they can force Rutgers to throw it instead of run it, then this should be a relatively easy win. Wimsatt is not a great thrower and has the tendency to throw the ball into trouble. Turnovers can be a problem for him when he is under pressure as well.

While Ohio State stops the pass better than they stop the run, they still shouldn’t have too many issues stopping the run in this game. Both Notre Dame and Wisconsin had better rushing attacks than the Scarlet Knights and Ohio State didn’t have any issues shutting either of those teams down.

The next key for Ohio State to win is to establish their own running game.