The No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-0, 7-0) will host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-5, 2-5) for the final regular-season home game of the year.
Here are five things you need to know about Rutgers to get
you ready for the game.
They have a solid passing game
Athan Kaliakmanis, AKA the “Greek Rifle”, has had a four-year career where he has put up respectable numbers between Rutgers and Minnesota.
This season, he has thrown for 2,705 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has a trio of talented receivers he can throw to, led by KJ Duff, who has 53 catches for 923 yards and six touchdowns.
Antwan Raymond is coming off a career day
Raymond has had a great season, but he took a major step forward last week against Maryland. Raymond rushed for 240 yards on 41 carries with a touchdown and was named the Doak Walter Running Back of the Week.
Raymond also had a strong performance against Purdue the week before, where he rushed 29 times for 116 yards and a touchdown.
Against Maryland, he set a program record for most yards in a Big Ten game. According to Rutgers, the 240 yards were the third-highest single-game total in the country and the most in a single game by a Big Ten player so far this season.
They have the worst rushing defense in the conference
There are a lot of things Rutgers does well, but stopping the run is not one of them.
Rutgers is dead last in the conference, allowing 196.5 yards on the ground per game. For context, Ohio State’s opponent last week, UCLA, is second-to-last in the conference in rushing yards allowed at 191.1 yards per game, and Ohio State ran for 222 yards and four touchdowns.
You can expect a heavy dose of rushing in this one against, especially with the status of Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith in question.
They have a non-conference common opponent
Outside of the Big Ten teams they have both played, Rutgers and Ohio State have also both played Ohio University.
Rutgers defeated Ohio in the first game of the season, 34-31, and Ohio State defeated Ohio in the third game of the season, 37-9.
The first American football game was played at Rutgers
On Nov. 6, 1869, Rutgers and New Jersey (now Princeton) faced off in what is considered to be the first American football game.
The game took place in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with an audience of about 100 on hand, according to Rutgers, where they won 6-4.
Also, according to Rutgers, the game looked very different. The teams were made up of 25 players, and the goal of the game was to kick the ball into the opponent’s goal. Players were allowed to bat the ball with their hands, feet, heads, and sides. Carrying or throwing the ball was not permitted.
