The Buckeyes hosted the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday in the final tuneup for the 2025 iteration of The Game. Ohio State needed to get through Senior Day cleanly to set up the showdown with That Team Up North with a spot in the Big Ten title game on the line.
Everything went pretty much to plan, although the passing game wasn’t as crisp as usual, owing to two missing starting wide receivers and a key backup. Additionally, the coaching staff curiously didn’t play Bryson Rodgers and Mylan Graham
as many snaps as one might expect in such a situation.
In the end, the Buckeyes won comfortably anyway, 42-9.
Here’s what drove me nuts-gers against Rutgers. (I regret nothing.)
Jackson’s Butt Fumble
Bo Jackson did a great job all the way down the field on the first drive — until he didn’t.
On yet another instance in which Ohio State’s offensive line failed to get push in a short-yardage situation (it’s becoming an annoying tradition at this point), Jackson slammed into the back of the offensive line and appeared to run into the rear end of his own lineman before losing the football.
Rutgers recovered, and it wrecked what was otherwise a great opening drive for both the freshman running back and the offense in general.
Making matters worse, the ball was recovered in the end zone, giving Rutgers the 20-yard line instead of making the Knights take over at their 1-yard line. Helping the other team is always annoying, and declining points instead of scoring them at the goal line is the most annoying thing of all.
B1G Refs Have Entered the Chat
Ohio State’s defense faced a fourth-and-5 situation near midfield early in the second quarter. Jermaine Mathews Jr. jumped the route and stood between the receiver and the quarterback, taking away the quick pass.
Mathews did grab a little bit late, but he never impeded the receiver. The flag flew late, and Rutgers had a free first down instead of the OSU offense taking over on downs.
A few plays later, Ohio State got another stop, but the penalty helped Rutgers kick a field goal, cutting the Buckeye lead to 7-3. Mathews again drew a flag in the fourth quarter on a play that appeared to be merely great coverage.
He and receiver KJ Duff were hand fighting down the field, but Mathews didn’t impede Duff’s progress. Mathews then looked back for the ball, located it, and knocked it away. The flag flew again, setting Rutgers up at the OSU 5.
Two plays later, the Knights scored their only touchdown of the game. Both drives were assisted by penalty on good coverage. Seeing what Ohio State receivers have to deal with, it was frustrating to see those flags fly.
Bad Time for a Three-and-Out
After the Rutgers field goal in the first half capped a seven-minute drive, Ohio State’s offense did the one thing it couldn’t do — go three-and-out.
It started with a terrible delayed run play that lost three yards as Brandon Inniss was asked to block in a mismatch and failed. Rutgers then got creative on defense, blitzing on second and third downs, with the third being a looping delayed blitz that pressured Julian Sayin. I
nniss wasn’t able to get open on second down, leading to Sayin’s first incomplete pass of the game, and then backup receiver David Adolph, a 2022 walk-on, dropped a would-be first down on third-and-13.
Adolph played a surprisingly high number of snaps on Saturday. With Graham and Rodgers available, it was strange to see.
That’s Just Not Smart
It happens to every team in every game, but some of the plays Ohio State made simply weren’t smart.
Eddrick Houston’s hands-to-the-face penalty wiped out a Davison Igbinosun interception after a third-down stop. Sometimes hands get caught in an opponent’s headgear, but in this instance, it simply appeared that Houston went in too high initially and let his hands ride up and under the offensive lineman’s helmet.
Rutgers got a first down instead of Igbinosun getting an interception.
To start the second half, Inniss made a poor decision on the opening kickoff. The Buckeyes wanted to run a trick play in which Inniss threw the ball back across the field. But the kickoff itself was poor, and Inniss had to run up and field it on a bounce at the 21-yard line.
The receiver would have been wise to show discretion and simply get up the field for whatever yardage he could, given the poor kickoff disrupted the play. Instead, Inniss sent a lateral well over James Peoples’ head. Peoples fortunately got to the loose ball first, but the play lost 14 yards and Ohio State began its first drive of the second half from its own 9-yard line instead of well beyond what a fair catch on a normal kickoff would have yielded.
Finally, there was Phillip Daniels’ unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that could have been costly. Donaldson got into the end zone on the play but was called down at the 1. The touchdown was correctly given after video review, but it was still a dumb penalty on Daniels after the play and it was enforced on the kickoff.
Had the call on the field stood, it would have backed Ohio State up to the 16-yard line.
Max Protection
Max Klare wasn’t immune to mistakes despite a big day, fumbling the ball on the first drive of the second quarter. Peoples was there, fortunately, to fall on it, preserving the possession and saving Klare from a costly turnover.
That Weird Kienholz Package
Ryan Day and Brian Hartline used Lincoln Kienholz in all kinds of situations on Saturday, which isn’t bad in and of itself, but it was strange how it was done. Given the missing receivers, it put a lot more pressure on the backup quarterback.
The decision would have cost Ohio State points in the second quarter on an incomplete fourth-and-2 pass to Bennett Christian if Kienholz hadn’t been hit late by Bradley Weaver. Sayin came back in after the penalty and found Inniss for a touchdown.
On the first drive of the second half, Kienholz was surprisingly inserted into the game and threw behind a wide-open Inniss, who took a big hit while trying to reach back to make the catch. That play helped stall the drive, as Sayin threw incomplete to Klare on third down.
Finally, just when you thought Sayin’s day was done in the second half, Kienholz and Sayin started alternating at various times. It was a strange and annoying situation that we haven’t seen all season.
Credit Curry!
Caden Curry made the play of the game with a strip sack and recovery when he hit Athan Kaliakmanis on the first Rutgers drive of the second half. The ball hit in the end zone and the spin brought it back into the field of play, where Curry grabbed it while going over the top of an offensive lineman.
It seemed apparent that the ball broke the plane of the goal line while Curry was in midair, but they called him down at the 1-yard line, depriving the defensive end of his deserved sack, forced fumble, and scoop-and-score trifecta.
It looked like that lack of review was going to cost Ohio State when Donaldson failed to score on the first play and Ohio State got cute and tried to throw on second, with Ethan Onianwa getting caught holding, moving the ball back to the 11-yard line.
Sayin threw incomplete to Donaldson on second down, setting up third-and-long. Thankfully, Rutgers didn’t bother covering Klare on third down, and Sayin found him for the touchdown that should have been Curry’s.
Those are the things that made me shake my fist at the screen on Saturday when the Scarlet & Gray hosted the Scarlet Knights. What bugged you?
As usual, there were plenty of positives. Jackson and Klare had big games. The defense played well again, especially Curry, who was all over the field. Sayin was out there throwing essentially to walk-ons and tight ends and still managed to have a good game.
Next up: It’s finally here — The Game. Can Ryan Day finally return to the win column against That Team Up North?
We’ll find out Saturday when the Buckeyes visit Ann Arbor.
