Ohio State routs Rutgers 52-13

   The Ohio State Buckeyes hoped to have changed their season around after their thumping of hapless Akron last Saturday and even though no one was picking Rutgers to defeat the visiting Buckeyes, many were expected a fairly close game- at least for a while.

Ohio State instead scored the first 24 points of the game and led 52-6 before a late touchdown set the final score at 52-13 for the visiting Buckeyes.

C.J. Stroud threw for five touchdowns and 330 yards in his return to the lineup while Chris Olave grabbed two of those touchdown tosses along with 119 receiving yards.

TreVeyon Henderson ran for 71 yards on eight carries including a forty-four yards score on the Buckeye's first possession before leaving the game with a mild injury.

Ohio State improves to 4-1 overall (2-0 Big Ten) and will host 4-1 Maryland next Saturday.

Olentangy Offerings

1)  Maybe it was the shoulder that hurt C.J.Stroud because he seemed like a different passer in this one.

Now I know that it's easy to say that it's only Rutgers but it was only Tulsa when Stroud was struggling and Stroud wasn't overthrowing his receivers as he often did earlier in the season.

2) Rutgers entered the game allowing under 200 passing yards per outing but were overmatched against the Ohio State passing attack.

The receivers had no problems with the Rutgers secondary and while against Rutgers won't remind anyone of a top 25 team, they did only lose to Michigan last week by seven in Ann Arbor.

I'll be interested in seeing how the Scarlet Knights do next week against undefeated Michigan State in a game also in New Jersey.

3) TreVeyon Henderson's touchdown run immediately made me think that this game would not be a test on this day-No matter the questions about the Buckeyes entering this game, athletically Rutgers was no match and would deliver no answers.

4) Henderson left the game in the second quarter after only eight carries with an undisclosed injury that Ryan Day said he could have returned from if needed.

5) Chris Olave'a two touchdown passes moved him into a tie with Cris Carter for third in touchdown catches for a Buckeye.

David Boston holds the career Ohio State record.

6) One bright spot for the Ohio State defense has been the play of cornerback Denzel Burke and it was Burke that ended Rutgers with a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown that Burke said was his first pick-six at any level of football!

7) The defense still has some questions, but this effort that saw the first team allow only one touchdown does offer some hope.

8) Maryland will offer a different test with some very good skill players such as wideout Rahim Jarrett but Maryland was crushed at home by Iowa and look like a typical Maryland team-Soft.

9) Two Buckeye tight ends scored touchdowns as Jeremy Ruckert and Mitch Rossi each found the end zone.

The Rossi touchdown was his first at Ohio State but he was lined up at fullback when he caught his scoring pass.

10)  The Big Ten East now has four unbeaten teams (in conference) with Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State all without a loss in the league and only Ohio State's non-conference loss to Oregon marring the record at all.

Entering this season, it was easy to assume that Ohio State was going to cruise to a title again.

That could happen but only Penn State has impressed me enough that I would wonder about Ohio State's chances of winning.

Michigan has run the ball well but I'm not sure how well they will throw against Ohio State and on the athletic end, I think OSU is going to just run right by them on defense.

Mel Tucker has a done a remarkable job at Michigan State but they will have to do the same thing to OSU-keep the offense off the field and their defense isn't likely to stop the Buckeyes.

It's going to be an interesting stretch run...