Ohio State Football: Preview, prediction, live stream vs. Rutgers
Saturday evening’s Ohio State football game against Rutgers has trap written all over it. Here’s everything you need to know.
This year, the Big Ten Conference has seen quite the schedule shakeup. With Friday night games and unbalanced schedules, the Ohio State Buckeyes were one of the first teams in the league to experience the new mix up as they opened the season against Big Ten foe Indiana.
The Buckeyes will join in on majority of the conference’s first league game with their second as they visit New Jersey to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Over the past couple of seasons, seeing this game on the schedule may have been jotted down as an easy Ohio State win, and this year the same could very well happen again.
The two teams have only met three times in their brief history, with all three meetings coming since Rutgers joined the Big Ten and ultimately the same division as the Buckeyes. Ohio State is currently 3-0 versus the Scarlet Knights, winning each matchups the last three seasons. Over that time, the Buckeyes have outscored the Knights by a score of 163-24 in those meetings.
Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s Ohio State football game online:
Date: Saturday, Sept. 30
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Piscataway, N.J.
Venue: High Point Solutions Stadium
TV: Big Ten Network
Live Stream: BTN2Go
Keys to Victory
Based on recent history, one would think the Buckeyes run away with this one — and that may very well be the case. Ohio State still remains a favorite to win the Big Ten, while Rutgers will trying to improve on a winless conference season from a year ago. Up to this point, both teams have played away from their mean- with the Buckeyes struggling off and on and the Scarlet Knights surprising a few people with their play.
If Rutgers wishes to secure the monumental upset, they will need to follow a similar game plan as they did in week one against Washington. The game ended in a 30-14 Washington win, but Rutgers was able to start the game off strong, up 7-3 after one quarter and trailing by just three at the break. The Knights were able to limit the Huskies’ running game and control the time of possession by nearly 17 minutes. The same must be true against the Buckeyes, keeping Heisman hopeful J.T. Barrett off the field and reducing running back J.K. Dobbins’ big plays.
On the flip side, the Buckeyes offense seems to be starting to gel, which is a big thanks to Dobbins and the running game. With the receivers and Barrett seeming out of sync in their week one game against Indiana, the group has begun getting it together and are heading back to the double-headed monster Ohio State football has always seen.
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Prediction
Rutgers enters the game as huge underdogs, and rightfully so. The Knights and their fans should be rocking as any chance to knock off a top 15 team is always exciting.
Ohio State will be facing their second road Big Ten game in a row and if it is anything like the first, Rutgers will hang around for quite awhile. The Knights have the ability to control the game with their methodical offense. Despite that, Barrett and Dobbins pose as too big of a threat on offense and are too much for the Knights’ defense to focus in on.
Overcoming a sluggish start, Dobbins will get the Buckeyes going in the second quarter- opening up the passing game for the rest of the game. Rutgers makes it respectable for a half, but the Buckeyes roll to a 2-0 conference start.
Final Score: Ohio State 45, Rutgers 20