PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Cameron Martinez knew something wacky was coming from Rutgers at some point.

The redshirt freshman has seen what the Scarlet Knights did against Ohio State in 2020, whether it was a lateral on a kickoff and punt return or a backwards pass to an eligible offensive lineman. He just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

After Rutgers’ first offensive drive stalled out at its own 48-yard line, the Scarlet Knights’ punt team came on the field, lining up in proper formation. But the long-snapper snapped the ball right, directly into the hands of tight end Matt Alaimo, who had time for a pass attempt.

Martinez woke up, getting in coverage. The safety stepped up, watching the ball go in the direction of running back Aaron Young, and got his hands on it, batting down a potential momentum shifter in front of the home faithful.

Two plays later, just under three minutes into the game, Ohio State scored its first touchdown: a 44-yard touchdown run by running back TreVeyon Henderson.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said the shift didn't start with Henderson’s score. It started with Martinez. The safety took the crowd of the game with that near interception. It was a play a month ago, the head coach wouldn’t have expected players like Martinez to make.

It was growth. It was an indication of what’s to come for Ohio State.

“When we played against Minnesota, we were a much different team than we were this week,” Day said. “But we hadn’t shown it yet.

“I felt like we saw some glimpses of that tonight.”

Five games into the 2021 season, with a roster filled with freshmen and first-time starters, Ohio State can no longer use the excuse of youth. Day knows his team isn’t inexperienced anymore. He now knows what to expect from his roster, seeing which players fit in best in certain spots.

A month ago, Day saw a defense that was just trying to get lined up, experiencing the bright lights for the first time.

Now, that same group is one filled with veterans, players that are expecting to make plays, recording three turnovers — a Denzel Burke interception returned for a touchdown and two interceptions by Tommy Eichenberg and Ryan Watts — and forcing the Rutgers offense to become one-dimensional.

This is the defense Burke said he sees every day during practice

“We were just out there having fun, playing football, playing the game we love,” the freshman corner said, “We trust the coaches to put us in the position to make plays. We’re starting to get on a roll.”

On offense, Chris Olave saw a group that was “finally” getting back to playing Ohio State football.

The senior wide receiver saw experience in the pocket, watching redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud “sling it,” splitting 18 catches between seven different receivers for 330 passing yards and five touchdowns. Olave saw experience in the backfield, watching Henderson zoom through blocks by tight end Jeremy Ruckert and offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere for a 44-yard score.

Olave saw chemistry being fortified in real time.

“I feel like we needed this game to build our confidence back up,” he said. “We've been practicing hard, just how. We just needed to show up and put it on the field on game day. I feel like we put in a full game… I felt like we looked like a team today.”

This was a team performance Day was waiting for.

Throughout the first four weeks of the season, Day was told he needed patience, hearing messages from multiple people, including Athletic Director Gene Smith, of getting through the growing pains, building this program up from the ground up.

“We’re doing things the right way and we know that,” Day said. “We’re a first-class operation, always do things the right way. There;’s times where you have to grow through some growing pains along the way and we’re not going to panic. We certainly have to act when appropriate, but we’re not going to overreact. And we’re just going to continue to get better.”

But a standard remains.

It’s a message Martinez remembers hearing from senior wide receiver Garrett Wilson after the Tulsa game.

“‘We know what the standard is and what we have to do,’” Martinez recalls hearing. “‘We’re just trying to get towards that.’”

The goal heading into this week was knowing what that standard is, knowing how high it is, but continuing to build anyway.

That’s Day’s plan. And that’s a plan that seemed to pay off Saturday afternoon against Rutgers.

“When you are doing that, you know you can put your head on your pillow at night knowing you’re doing the right thing,” Day said.