Barrett and Buckeyes rout Rutgers
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Chris Ash and his Rutgers Scarlet Knights knew what was coming at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes, but that did not mean that they could do much to stop it. J.T. Barrett set the Ohio State all-time passing touchdown mark at 59 as the Buckeyes overcame a slow first quarter to roll Rutgers 58-0.
Curtis Samuel was a favorite target with 86 receiving yards and 68 rushing yards while Mike Weber had a big game with 144 yards on the ground, including a 49-yard score early in the second half.
Barrett broke Bobby Hoying's long-standing record of 57 career TD passes when he hit tight end Marcus Baugh on a 16-yard strike to put the Buckeyes up 23-0 late in the second quarter. What makes Barrett's mark that much more is impressive is that the Wichita Falls (Texas) native only needed 27 games overall, 21 starts, to hit the mark, while Hoying needed 45 games in the early-mid 1990s.
"I'm an Ohio state fan, so I know all the great quarterbacks at Ohio State, all the great players," head coach Urban Meyer said after the game. "To see J.T. Barrett (break the record) in 21 starts, averaging almost three touchdowns per game, that's just (an) incredible feat when you consider the school that he broke it at. Still got a lot of football left."
The Ohio State defense answered as well, holding the Scarlet Knights to less than 100-yards in the first half. Rutgers' offense took a major hit last week against Iowa when it lost Janarion Grant to a season-ending injury.
Ohio State held Rutgers to 116 total yard of offense, 83 on the ground and 33 via the pass. Not a strong day by either Chris Laviano or Tylin Odin who came in in his relief late in the game. The Buckeyes have now allowed a grand total of two offensive touchdowns through 16 quarters of football.
"I feel our defense all over the field," Meyer said. "Even when they do et a play, they're not usually solo tackles, usually a few people getting hats on them... I thought our defense just smothered them."
Ohio State did a good job of spreading the love around on Saturday with 12 players catching passes and nine players registering rushes. If the Oklahoma game was the Noah Brown show, it would be hard to really focus on just one player who had a bigger role than anyone else against Rutgers.
Three Buckeyes had their first career touchdowns in this game with Terry McLaurin, Parris Campbell and Johnnie Dixon all finding the end zone. No Buckeye had more than one score in this game as the offense allowed the Buckeyes to spread it out.
Meyer called the dogs off late in the 3rd quarter, at least by way of taking Barrett, Weber and several starters out. That did not stop the Ohio State backups from playing well however, as Demario McCall scored on a 20-yard touchdown run on his second carry of the day. McCall finished with 85 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
The Buckeyes will now turn their attention to the Indiana Hoosiers, who will visit Ohio Stadium next Saturday before the Buckeyes head on the road for a pivotal Big Ten game against the Wisconsin Badgers.