Game 7: Ohio State

Rutgers heads out west to Columbus to take on Ohio State in their first conference road game as a member of the Big 10. The 105,00 people expected to attend today's game will be the biggest crowd Rutgers has ever played in front of. Noise obviously will be a factor for the offense's communication today. Ohio State has a very young team that got off to a slow start this season, and they are missing star quarterback Braxton Miller, but Urban Meyer's crew has been improving every week and they are starting to play like the best team in the Big 10 and a playoff contender like they were expected to be. This is going to be the most difficult game for Rutgers to win in quite a long time.

Rutgers on Offense
I don't think Rutgers is going to be able to run the ball today. Betim Bujari will play after looking questionable all week, but the line as a whole has not been playing well in Big 10 play and neither Desmon Peoples or Justin Goodwin have been able to get going since Paul James went down.

Once again, Gary Nova is going to have to step up and win this game. He did it last time out against Michigan, and Ohio State does have a secondary that can be beat. He is going to need time to throw though, and Ohio State defensie end Joey Bosa is one of the best pass rushers in the Big 10. Seems like they are going to have to attack with the short passing game today, I'd expect Tyler Kroft and John Tsimis to be heaily inolved. Hopefully Andrew Turzilli's performance against Michigan will lead to Leonte Carroo getting double teamed less and he can win some one on one match ups over the middle and also deep.

Rutgers on Defense
Virginia Tech shut down Ohio State's offense by playing a bunch of Bear fronts and cover 0. I remember Hokie defensie coordinator Bud Foster saying they were treating Ohio State like a triple option team and were daring JT Barrett to beat them. They also blitzed the crap out of him and forced a bunch of turnovers.

Barrett has taken huge leaps forward since that game, so that game plan probably won't work today. Still, I would expect Rutgers to stay in their 4-3 under fronts with a safety down in the box to stop the run. Despite Barrett being in the top 5 nationally in pass efficiency, they should sellout to stop the run (not as much as VT, keep a safety over the top) and dare him to beat them. Blitz the crap out of him and force mistakes too.

Rutgers 24 Ohio State 38