The temperature wasn’t the only thing scorching last Saturday at Ohio stadium as the Buckeye offense finally showed what it could look like against the Rebels of UNLV.
Ohio State (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) dropped to number eleven in the polls despite a thirty-three point victory which featured J.T Barrett throwing five touchdown passes to five different receivers. The Buckeyes threw seven touchdown passes to seven different receivers including one of over 20 yards from Barrett and two of over 20 yards from Dwayne Haskins. A total of 13 players recorded a catch for the Buckeyes. In less than a half of work J.T. Barrett threw for 209 yards which moved him into second place all-time for passing yards at Ohio State.
The Buckeyes return to Big Ten play this weekend as they travel to Rutgers (1-3, 0-1 Big Ten) for prime-time game under the lights.
“We’re just our own worst enemy right now on offense in those situations. In games against some really good opponents, and we can’t do that,” Ash said. “We can’t have those self-inflicted mistakes that we continue to have that doesn’t allow us to sustain drives and create momentum that we want and need as we move forward.”
Ash knows that if Rutgers wants to start to click on offense they’re going to have to clean up their mistakes. That is going to be tough to do with a Buckeye defensive front that is one of the most talented and deepest in the nation.
“They have always had high-level players, players that are going to go on and be high draft picks or go to the NFL, and obviously be great college players,” Ash said. “But it’s the depth that they have at the D-line that makes it such a special defensive unit.”
For the Buckeyes, they can continue to fine tune their passing game against a Rutgers team that lost their top cornerback, Blessuan Austin, to a season ending knee injury last week.
Defensively the Buckeyes will continue to try and clean up their play in the secondary. They haven’t been tested since week two against Oklahoma and the inexperience is showing with three pass interference calls last week against UNLV. They shouldn’t get much of a test from Rutgers either.
The Scarlet Knights are led by Louisville transfer quarterback Kyle Bolin. The Scarlet Knights are only averaging 163 yards passing on the young season and Bolin has thrown double the amount of interceptions to touchdowns, 6-3.
The Buckeyes biggest concern is going to be keeping Janarion Grant bottled up. Grant will most likely be a game time decision after suffering a concussion against Morgan State and didn’t make the trip to Nebraska last week. Grant is a wide receiver/kick returner who displays a good combination of speed and athleticism. When asked if he was concerned about Grant not being able to go against Ohio State Ash said “As of right now, no.”
Ash is going to need Grant and anyone else he can get to suit up as it’s going to be all hands on deck this Saturday night when the Buckeyes come to town.
What: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
When: September 30, 2017 at 7:30 PM ET
Where: High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway, NJ
Watch: Big Ten Network
Spread: OSU -30.5
Over/Under: 54
Money Line: OSU -10000, Rutgers +4000
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