Ohio State continues their march towards the Michigan game and the College Football Playoff this week when they wrap up their home regular season schedule against Rutgers. The Buckeyes are coming off another dominant win, routing UCLA last Saturday night 48-10.
The victory extended Ohio State’s winning streak to 14 games, the longest active streak in the country. The Buckeyes also recorded their 1,000th win in program history, joining Michigan as the only teams in college football to reach 1,000 wins.
Even the injury bug couldn’t slow down Ohio State against UCLA. After missing the Purdue game, wide receiver Carnell Tate was held out of last week’s game to give his injured calf more time to heal. Running back C.J. Donaldson Jr. joined Tate on the sidelines for the entirety of the game.
Even though he started the game, Jeremiah Smith didn’t play in the second half, while quarterback Julian Sayin only took a few snaps after halftime due to a tweaked ankle.
Ohio State wasn’t the only team dealing with injuries last week. Late Friday night, UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava was ruled out of the game due to a concussion, leaving Luke Duncan to make his first career start. The defense of the Buckeyes took full advantage of Duncan’s inexperience, giving up just two first downs to the Bruins in the first half, and not allowing UCLA to cross midfield until late in the third quarter.
While the Bruins struggled to get anything going on offense, Ohio State scored on all five of their possessions in the first half to head into halftime with a 27-0 lead.
History against Rutgers
Along with heading into this week’s game against Rutgers as more than a 30-point favorite, Ohio State will try and keep their perfect record against the Scarlet Knights intact. The Buckeyes are 10-0 all-time against Rutgers, with their most recent meeting coming in 2023.
While Ohio State isn’t on upset alert this weekend, the last time the two teams met, Rutgers only lost by 19 points, marking the smallest margin of victory by the Buckeyes in the series. In the five previous meetings in Columbus, Ohio State has scored at least 49 points in each contest.
The Buckeye offense is nicked up but still cookin’
In just over a half of action last week, quarterback Julian Sayin completed 23 of 31 passes for 184 yards, finding the end zone once through the air. Even though Sayin’s streak of three straight games with at least 300 yards passing was snapped, the redshirt freshman was able to toss his 25th touchdown pass of the season, which currently ranks third in the country.
Sayin currently has the best completion percentage in the country, connecting on 80.1 percent of his passes. Unless something goes terribly wrong, Sayin should be able to break Bo Nix’s NCAA record set in 2023 with Oregon when he completed 77.45 percent of his passes. The 186.23 quarterback rating that Sayin has posted through 10 starts this season is also currently the top mark in the FBS.
With Carnell Tate being sidelined and Jeremiah Smith limited last week, it gave the rushing attack of the Buckeyes a chance to show out. The group didn’t disappoint, rolling up 222 yards and four touchdowns against UCLA. Bo Jackson led the way with a career-high 112 yards and a touchdown, securing his fourth 100-yard output of his freshman season.
Jackson is working his way to a 1,000-yard season, entering this week with 725 yards rushing. If he is able to reach 1,000 yards rushing, Jackson would be the fifth Ohio State freshman running back to do so.
Isaiah West and James Peoples were able to see more work last week with C.J. Donaldson Jr. sidelined because of injury. A week after rushing for a season-high 60 yards against Purdue, the freshman running back had 61 yards and a touchdown against the Bruins.
West has now ran for at least 55 yards in three of Ohio State’s last four games. Peoples doubled his career touchdown total, rushing for two scores last week, including one on a highlight reel hurdle on a 19-yard run. The sophomore from San Antonio finished with 42 yards on six carries.
Heading into Saturday’s game against UCLA, Jeremiah Smith was listed as questionable on the availability report. Smith did suit up, catching four passes for 40 yards before sitting out the second half of the blowout victory over the Bruins.
A number of other receivers were able to get some work with Tate sidelined and Smith limited. Bryson Rodgers hauled in his first career touchdown when Julian Sayin found him in the second quarter to extend Ohio State’s lead to 17-0.
Brandon Inniss and Max Klare were the primary targets last week. Inniss caught a team-high six passes, finishing with 30 yards. Klare had five catches, pushing his season total to 31 receptions, which ranks third on the team. Mylan Graham had 40 yards against UCLA, the best single-game total of his young career.
Overall, nine different Buckeyes finished the game with a catch last week.
Another masterful performance
The Ohio State defense continued to dominate, holding UCLA to just 10 points and 222 yards. The Buckeyes enter this week first in the country in points per game allowed and yards per game allowed, giving up just 7.5 points per game and 212.6 yards per game.
The combination of the work done by both the offense and defense has allowed the Buckeyes to outscore their opponents by 300 points through the first 10 games of the season, 375 to 75.
Since giving up 166 yards rushing to Texas in the season opener, Ohio State has not allowed any other opponent this year to crack 100 yards on the ground, resulting in 81.4 rush yards per game allowed, which ranks second in the FBS. The pass defense of the Buckeyes also ranks second in the country, giving up just 131.2 yards per game through the air.
About the only negative for the Ohio State defense last week was they failed to record a sack for the second straight week. A lot of the lack of sacks against the Bruins can be attributed to UCLA trying to get the ball out of Luke Duncan’s hands quickly since the sophomore was making his first career start after Nico Iamaleava was ruled out of the game due to a concussion.
Caden Curry leads the team with seven sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. Fellow defensive linemen Kayden McDonald and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. have been productive this season, combining to record 16 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks.
Linebacker Sonny Styles was the team’s leading tackler in the win over UCLA, finishing with seven tackles. Styles has closed the gap on teammate Arvell Reese, who leads the team with 58 tackles, trailing his fellow linebacker by just a tackle heading into this week’s game.
Following a strong start to the season, Reese has been quiet over the last two games, recording just four total tackles. Despite the drop statistically, there shouldn’t be much concern in Reese’s play of late since he is likely just throttling back for a couple games before the important close to the season with Michigan, a possible Big Ten Championship Game, and the College Football Playoff.
One of the stars of last week’s game for Ohio State was defensive back Lorenzo Styles Jr., but it was more for his special teams play. After UCLA scored their first points of the game late in the third quarter, the Buckeyes immediately responded when Styles took the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.
Not only did Styles become the first Ohio State player to return a kickoff for a touchdown since Jordan Hall accomplished the feat against Michigan in 2010, Styles was also the first Buckeye to return a kickoff 100 yards since Ted Ginn Jr. did so against Minnesota in 2005.
Along with Styles, the rest of the secondary has been incredibly steady throughout the year. Jaylen McClain has quietly gone about his work next to Caleb Downs at safety, recording 35 tackles. Davison Igbinosun has seven pass breakups, and fellow cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. has two interceptions and forced a fumble.
Aside from Styles missing a couple games due to injury, the rest of the secondary has remained healthy throughout the season with Downs, McClain, Mathews, and Igbinosun starting all 10 games for the Buckeyes.
Where Rutgers stands
Rutgers enters this week’s game with a 5-5 record. The last time the Scarlet Knights took the the field was two weeks ago when they beat Maryland 35-20. With the win, Greg Schiano pushed his record at Rutgers to 99-106.
Schiano has some familiarity with Ohio State and Ryan Day after serving as the defensive coordinator in Columbus from 2016 to 2018. With one more win this year, Schiano will lead Rutgers to bowl eligibility for the 10th time in his 17 seasons as head coach at the school.
The Scarlet Knights have some pieces on offense
In the win over Maryland, quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis had one of the best games of his career, tying a career-high with four touchdown passes. The former Minnesota quarterback is in his second season at Rutgers. After tossing 18 touchdowns last season, Kaliakmanis has thrown 17 touchdowns this year, along with rushing for three more scores.
The senior has already passed for 2,705 yards this season, which is the best mark of his career. Kaliakmanis enters this week with a 62.3 completion percentage. Even though that percentage pales in comparison to what Julian Sayin has posted, it is the most accurate season of Kaliakmanis’ career. The previous best season for Kaliakmanis saw him complete 54.1 percent of his 111 attempts with Minnesota in 2022.
Complimenting Kaliakmanis in the Rutgers backfield is running back Antwan Raymond, who sits at exactly 1,000 yards this season. If Kaliakmanis is able to throw for 295 yards in the next two games, Rutgers will have a quarterback throw for at least 3,000 yards and a running back rush for at least 1,000 yards for the first time since 2007.
Raymond enters this week’s game coming off a monster performance against Maryland, where he ran for 240 yards on 41 carries, with 105 yards coming in the fourth quarter. The sophomore running back has found the end zone 11 times on the ground in his first year as starter after Kyle Monangai moved on to the NFL. Along with Ryamond, Ja’Shon Benjamin has added 307 yards rushing and two scores.
Kaliakmanis has three targets he has built a strong chemistry with. K.J. Duff enters this week with 53 catches for 923 yards, which ranks second in the Big Ten. Along with leading Rutgers receivers in yardage and receptions, Duff’s six receiving touchdowns are also the high mark on the team.
Duff’s breakout game came against Purdue when he racked up 241 yards on just six catches. The yardage against the Boilermakers was the second-most by a receiver in school history, only bested by the 248 yards Tiquan Underwood had against Buffalo in 2007.
Joining Duff at wide receiver are Ian Strong and D.T. Sheffield. Strong has 48 catches this season for 716 yards. For his career, Strong has 12 receiving touchdowns after finding the end zone three times against Maryland. With his next receiving touchdown, Strong will move into the top-10 in Rutgers school history.
Sheffield has 40 catches for 532 yards and four scores this year after spending last year at North Texas. No other Rutgers receiver has reached 20 catches this season.
A defense that is searching for impact plays
The defense of the Scarlet Knights has been inconsistent throughout the season. The only two games Rutgers didn’t allow an opponent to score at least 20 points in came against Miami (OH) and Norfolk State. Even though they forced three turnovers in the loss to Oregon, marking the first time since 2023 against Michigan State that they forced three turnovers in a conference game, they still gave up 56 points to the Ducks. The group settled down in the second half against Maryland, allowing just 93 yards to the Terrapins.
Defensive lineman Eric O’Neill is coming off the best game of his time with the Scarlet Knights, recording a career-high 10 tackles in the win over the Terrapins. After playing at James Madison in 2024, the defensive end is leading Rutgers with 7.5 tackles for loss in 2025. Starting on the defensive line for the Scarlet Knights along with O’Neill last time out was Bradley Weaver at the other defensive end spot, along with Keshon Griffin and Jordan Thompson at defensive tackle.
Leading the linebackers for Rutgers is Dariel Djabome, who is coming off a 2024 season where he was voted Third Team All-Big Ten. Djabome has 55 tackles this year to push his career total to 176 stops. The team captain has also forced two fumbles this year.
Since the Scarlet Knights generally use five defensive backs, the other starter at linebacker in the 4-2-5 defense is usually Abram Wright, who has 50 tackles this season. The group took a hit when Moses Walker was ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury. Walker started off the season with 13 tackles in the win over Ohio.
One of the most experienced players on the Rutgers defense is safety Jett Elad. Saturday will mark the 50th college football game for the Ohio and UNLV transfer. Elad picked off his second pass of the season in the win over Maryland, and leads the team with 62 tackles, five ahead of fellow starting safety Kaj Sanders.
Starting at the three cornerback spots are Bo Mascoe, Jacobie Henderson, and Cam Miller. Miller played in 40 games at Penn State before transferring during the offseason, while Henderson is a Marshall transfer.
Prediction
Saturday’s game should look a lot like the previous two games for the Buckeyes have looked. There’s a reason the point spreads for this contest is so similar to the Purdue and UCLA games. The Scarlet Knights could keep things just a hair closer though since there are a couple factors working in their favor. Ohio State could be looking ahead to Michigan, even though Ryan Day and company will tell people otherwise.
There are also injury concerns heading into this week. Carnell Tate has missed the last two games with a calf injury. Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin were removed from last week’s game earlier than normal as a precaution. C.J. Donaldson Jr. didn’t play either.
Sayin will likely play, although it remains to be seen how quick Day is with the hook. Even if Tate and Smith suit up on Saturday, they’ll likely be on a pitch count. The receiving duo will likely get just enough work to shake off an rust ahead of next Saturday in Ann Arbor.
As long as Ohio State acts accordingly in the first half, we might see the fastest second half in college football history. The Buckeyes are already playing at a slow pace, so if Ohio State is up big then Ryan Day might ask for a running clock. Rutgers might be able to put a few points up on the scoreboard, but it’s hard to see the Scarlet Knights truly threatening to upset Ohio State on “senior day”.
