PISCATAWAY, N.J. – During a season in which Ohio State has dominated its competition week in and week out, Saturday’s 56-21 win over Rutgers can be viewed as mildly underwhelming.
In a game the Buckeyes were favored to win by more than 50 points, they only won by 35 – their lowest margin of victory in six games against Rutgers – and didn’t dominate for four quarters the way they did one week earlier in their 73-14 win over Maryland. After Justin Fields drove Ohio State’s offense down the field for a touchdown on its first possession of the second half to take a 42-7 lead, the Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights were even on the scoreboard – 14-14 – for the rest of the game.