Game Day Skull Session: Get Dumped Then, Rutgers

By Chase Brown on October 1, 2022 at 5:00 am
TreVeyon Henderson
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The Buckeyes have demolished many opponents in the 100 years of Ohio Stadium, and it's time for them to add another to the list.

Ohio State plays Rutgers today, and we all know how this story ends. The Buckeyes are a perfect 8-0 against the Scarlet Knights, outscoring them 428-88 in those games while scoring more than 50 points six times.

Ryan Day has made it clear that Rutgers is improving under Greg Schiano, which is true according to my estimations. However, his program hasn't improved enough to hang with the Buckeyes, but – to be fair – there aren't many programs that can.

This season, Ohio State's offense has reached some sort of fifth gear despite missing Jaxon Smith-Njigba for most of the first four games. C.J. Stroud is the Heisman frontrunner, and Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming have shined in Smith-Njigba's absence. TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams have also carried a tremendous load out of the backfield. Oh, and Cade Stover is a legitimate weapon.

On the other side of the ball, Jim Knowles has the unit much improved from last season, as the Buckeyes rank 18th in the country in total defense and 21st in scoring defense. Tommy Eichenberg is a man possessed, Steele Chambers flies around at 100 mph and Mike Hall Jr. is still that dude.

Things are going well for Ohio State right now. So, sorry not sorry, Rutgers – that means you're getting dumped.

The Buckeyes win this one, 59-14.

Let's have a good Saturday, shall we?

 TODAY'S MENU. Several matchups this weekend have College Football Playoff implications, making for an entertaining slate of games. I have bolded the ones that interest me, but feel free to peruse around the list and see which ones catch your eye.

Matchup Time (ET) TV/Mobile
Navy at Air Force 12:00pm CBS
Georgia State at Army 12:00pm CBSSN
4 Michigan at Iowa 12:00pm FOX
7 Kentucky at 14 Ole Miss 12:00pm ESPN
18 Oklahoma at TCU 12:00pm ABC
Texas Tech at 25 Kansas State 12:00pm ESPN+
Illinois at Wisconsin 12:00pm BTN
Purdue at 21 Minnesota 12:00pm ESPN2
Louisville at Boston College 12:00pm ACCN
Temple at Memphis 12:00pm ESPNU
Texas State at James Madison 1:30pm ESPN+
Oregon State at 12 Utah 2:00pm P12N
NIU at Ball State 2:00pm ESPN+
UMass at Eastern Michigan 2:00pm ESPN+
East Carolina at USF 2:30pm ESPN+
The Citadel at Appalachian State 3:30pm ESPN+
Gardner-Webb at Marshall 3:30pm ESPN+
Ohio at Kent State 3:30pm ESPN+
Miami (Ohio) at Buffalo 3:30pm ESPNU
Central Michigan at Toledo 3:30pm NFLN
22 Wake Forest at 23 Florida State 3:30pm ABC
Virginia Tech at North Carolina 3:30pm ACCN
Bowling Green at Akron 3:30pm ESPN+
Northwestern at 11 Penn State 3:30pm ESPN
Rutgers at 3 Ohio State 3:30pm BTN
9 Oklahoma State at 16 Baylor 3:30pm FOX
Iowa State at Kansas 3:30pm ESPN2
2 Alabama at 20 Arkansas 3:30pm CBS
Fresno State at UConn 3:30pm CBSSN
Michigan State at Maryland 3:30pm FS1
17 Texas A&M at Mississippi State 4:00pm SECN
Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina 4:00pm ESPN+
Florida Atlantic at North Texas 4:00pm ESPN+
Wagner at Syracuse 5:00pm ACCNX/ESPN+
South Alabama at Louisiana 5:00pm ESPN+
California at Washington State 5:30pm P12N
Liberty at Old Dominion 6:00pm ESPN+
UTEP at Charlotte 6:00pm ESPN3
New Hampshire at Western Michigan 6:00pm ESPN3
LSU at Auburn 7:00pm ESPN
Cincinnati at Tulsa 7:00pm ESPNU
ULM at Arkansas State 7:00pm ESPN+
Troy at WKU 7:00pm ESPN+
Virginia at Duke 7:30pm RSN/ESPN3
Indiana at Nebraska 7:30pm BTN
UAB at Rice 7:30pm ESPN+
San Jose State at Wyoming 7:30pm CBSSN
West Virginia at Texas 7:30pm FS1
10 NC State at 5 Clemson 7:30pm ABC
1 Georgia at Missouri 7:30pm SECN
FIU at New Mexico State 8:00pm FloSports
Georgia Tech at 24 Pitt 8:00pm ACCN
Colorado at Arizona 9:30pm P12N
Arizona State at 6 USC 10:30pm ESPN
Stanford at 13 Oregon 11:00pm FS1

 BACK TO THE BUCKEYES. When Rutgers last visited Columbus, there weren't any fans in Ohio Stadium because of COVID-19. Justin Fields, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson led the Buckeyes to a 49-27 victory over the Scarlet Knights, who pulled out every trick play imaginable and even returned a punt for a touchdown to keep the game close.

Let's revisit some highlights from that game two years ago:

On Saturday, more than 100,000 people will pack into Ohio Stadium for the game, which will celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Horseshoe, so Rutgers can expect the environment to be different than what they experienced in 2020. The Scarlet Knights can also expect the final score to look different this afternoon, as the Buckeyes should be a little more on their toes toward theatrics and special teams wonders Schiano creates.

Oh, and as a side note...

The second-to-last time Rutgers played in Columbus, Tate Martell had a magical performance, completing 10 of 10 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown.

Incredible stuff.

Imagine you went into a coma immediately after this game and didn't wake up until the start of the 2019 season. You probably would have thought Martell would have been Ohio State's starter, right? 

Oh, how the turn tables.

 MY PICKS.  A Game Day Skull Session wouldn't be complete without some college football picks. I've been hovering around .500 for most of the first four weeks, but I have a feeling I can turn the tide today with my picks. Go ahead and bet the house on these. 2022 RECORD: 5-7

  • Purdue at No. 21 Minnesota (-12). I'm starting to love the idea of Ohio State playing Minnesota in the Big Ten Championship. I think the Gophers are the most complete team from the west, and they gave the Buckeyes a good fight in Minneapolis last season. The Gophers will continue their hot start with a big win over Purdue.
  • No. 7 Kentucky (+7) at No. 14 Ole Miss. Ole Miss is a bit of a mystery due to its cakewalk schedule so far. Jaxson Dart has been decent, but Lane Kiffin has thus far relied heavily on his running backs. Dart will need to hit on some big plays downfield to keep pace with Will Levis and Kentucky, which I don't see happening. I'll take the Wildcats in a prove-it game.
  • No. 10 NC State (+6.5) at No. 5 Clemson. Clemson hasn't really impressed me to this point in the season, and D.J. Uiagalelei has been too inconsistent for my liking. With a primetime top 10 test on tap for the Tigers this weekend, I'll take the Wolfpack to cover the spread here and maybe even win the whole dang thing.

 THE SCARLET KNIGHT DOSSIER. We had a full week of coverage at Eleven Warriors leading up to the Rutgers game. Here is everything you need to know before the late-afternoon kickoff:

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi.

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