COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 3 Ohio State muzzled opposing Rutgers Saturday night in the opening half, allowing just three points and only 83 yards of total offense.

Coming out of the break, though, the Scarlet Knights started picking up steam.

"We didn't close them out," head coach Ryan Day said. "Pretty dominant first half, guys played well. Then, in the second half, just didn't play very great. We should've really dominated in the first five or six minutes of the second half and then allow some of our other guys to get in the game. That didn't happen."

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Having punted on its first two drives of the third quarter, Ohio State then allowed Rutgers to move the football 91 yards and score on a play where offensive lineman Raiqwon O'Neal caught a four-yard pass on a bit of a trick play.

While the Buckeyes answered on a Jeremy Ruckert scoring play, the Scarlet Knights marched 65 yards downfield for another passing touchdown and then returned a punt for another score, capping three-consecutive scoring chances.

Day said the team will look at film to address the number of missed tackles in the game, adding "there's no excuse for anybody missing tackles." Linebacker and three-time captain Tuf Borland said it comes back to practice habits.

"I think we started out strong. It turned a little bit in the second half," Borland said. "Stuff we do day in and day out shows on the field. Just being more conscious of all the steps to tackle in practice."

Rutgers didn't make it easy on Ohio State throughout the game. Greg Schiano's schemes of trick plays and keeping the Buckeyes on their toes led to extended drives or cashed-in opportunities, such as the aforementioned punt-return with 12:46 in the fourth quarter where Rutgers defensive back Avery Young lateraled the ball to wide receiver Bo Melton, who zig-zagged his way to a 58-yard touchdown.

In light of the creativity on behalf of the Scarlet Knights, Day offered another reason that challenged the Buckeyes and took away some of their momentum.

"Not to make excuses for our guys, but one of the things that's real is you go up 35-3, and it's 8:30, 9 o'clock on a Saturday night. The stadium is empty, there's no juice in the stadium," Day said. "We have to bring our own energy, that's the challenge for us that we've got to do.

"It's something we're really going to address this week and talk about coming out of that second half. We did it in the first game, I thought we did a decent job last week as well. But this week, not very good."

Last week at then-No. 18 Penn State the Buckeyes allowed their first touchdown on the first drive out of halftime as the Nittany Lions gained 250 yards in the second half compared to just 75 in the first half.

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The Buckeyes also entered the break in both games at Penn State and against Rutgers with leads of more than two touchdowns, but haven't managed to maintain a full-throttle mindset.

"Coming out we played with a lot of energy," Borland said. "You're up big at half, you come out, just took the foot off the gas. That starts with me, that can't happen."

Following the Scarlet Knights’ recovery of Steele Chambers’ fumble with 4:38 left in the final quarter, Rutgers converted seven first downs as it marched downfield, getting as close as Ohio State's 10-yard line.

On first and goal with 0:29 left, Ohio State defensive back Tyreke Johnson committed a pass interference penalty and allowed Rutgers another opportunity to score. The Buckeyes defense did recover a fumble by Rutgers quarterback Artur Sitkowski two plays later, but the penalty kept the pressure.

In response to the pressure mounted throughout the second half, Ohio State responded by leaving its starters in the game a bit longer than it anticipated. Quarterback Justin Fields said he didn't expect to play into the fourth quarter.

"What we need to focus on is just playing the second half better, finish," Fields said. "We let up too many points in the second half."

Day echoed a similar sentiment, saying the expectation is once the second-team players enter the game, they should "pick up where the first team left off."

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Rutgers outgained Ohio State 146 yards to just 49 in the third quarter, and then outscored the Buckeyes 18-7 in the game’s final quarter.

Through the first three games, the Buckeyes have allowed at least 325 total yards in each contest, and 66% of the points they've allowed have come in the second half. They haven’t played a ‘complete’ game defensively quite yet, and they’re aware of it.

Captain and sixth-year linebacker Justin Hilliard said the team will watch the game film and implement what they see in practice in order to focus on the next game on the schedule.

"We got to finish, tackling especially," Hilliard said. "That's going to be the focus right now, playing the second half."