COLUMBUS, Ohio — Yes, it was only against Rutgers, and the Scarlet Knights were as overmatched as expected against Ohio State on Saturday night in a 49-27 victory at Ohio Stadium. For one half, anyway.
But this victory was more about the Ohio State offense's skill and precision than about Rutgers, which kept the margin respectable thanks to successful trick plays in former Buckeye defensive coordinator Greg Schiano's return as Scarlet Knights coach.
The No. 3 Buckeyes (3-0) talked all week about competing against their own standard, and in many ways, they succeeded.
It started, as usual, with Justin Fields, who was close to perfect. The junior quarterback completed 24 of 28 passes for 314 yards and five touchdown passes, showing pinpoint accuracy and the arm strength and touch that makes him a Heisman Trophy favorite. In the first half, Fields was 15 of 17 for 232 yards.
Of the incompletions, one was a drop and the other a pass thrown early because he was pressured. It helped that the offensive line gave Fields plenty of time to pick apart the Scarlet Knights (1-2), a 38-point underdog.
The Buckeyes' defense did its part as well, at least in the first half. Rutgers gained only 83 yards in the first 30 minutes as Ohio State built a 35-3 lead.
Was it perfect? No. The Buckeyes' offensive line was called for four holding calls, three by left guard Harry Miller. The run game was solid, not overpowering. Take away Master Teague III's 25-yard carry on his first run and Trey Sermon's 36 on his last with the game decided, and they combined for 67 yards on 22 carries.
And then there were the Rutgers trick plays. The Scarlet Knights tipped their hand by trying a cross-the-field lateral on the game's opening kickoff and never stopped trying to pull aces out of the deck, often succeeding.
Rutgers' first touchdown was set up by a 66-yard run on a direct snap to running back Isaih Pacheco that the Scarlet Knights feigned to be a bad snap to the quarterback. Its third came when Bo Melton took another long lateral on a punt return and weaved 58 yards for a score to make it 42-21.
But at no point was the outcome in doubt. Ohio State scored touchdowns on five of its first six possessions.
The Buckeyes went 89 yards in seven plays for their first score. After Teague's 25-yard carry to start the drive, Fields ended it with a 38-yard pass to a wide-open Jameson Williams in the Rutgers end zone.
Rutgers used some trick plays to drive to the Ohio State 1 on its ensuing possession, but a holding call wiped out a touchdown and the Scarlet Knights settled for a field goal.
Ohio State made it 14-3 with a 61-yard drive. Fields connected with Garrett Wilson on a 34-yard completion to the Rutgers' 7 and then ran it in for the score.
The Buckeyes used a 38-yard dash by running back Steele Chambers on a fake punt to set up its third score, a beautiful 6-yard touchdown pass from Fields on a rollout to Chris Olave in tight coverage.
Linebacker Justin Hilliard, who missed last week's Penn State game because of a false-positive COVID-19 test, forced and recovered a fumble at the Rutgers' 32, to set up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Fields to Garrett Wilson. The sophomore would finish with six catches for 104 yards.
The Buckeyes' final score of the half came on a 9-yard run by Teague.
Fields' final touchdown pass was a 7-yarder to tight end Jeremy Ruckert in the third quarter to make it 42-9.
Rutgers scored its second touchdown early in the fourth quarter after defensive tackle Taron Vincent was called for a face-mask penalty on a failed fourth-down attempt.
Then came the punt-return touchdown on the lateral. Schiano tried his second onside kick of the game. Ohio State recovered, and Fields threw to Olave for a 33-yard score to make it 49-21.
Rutgers scored on a 1-yard run by Johnny Langan with 7:17 remaining to account for the final margin.
