This is the kind of game that Barrett had repeatedly a season ago, when he was one of the best quarterbacks in the country, leading the Buckeyes to an 11-1 regular-season record and finishing fifth in balloting for the Heisman Trophy.
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“We’re playing at a high level right now”, Meyer said. Here’s everything you need to know. Jones was so impressive last season, but we haven’t seen the same guy this season.
The nation’s top-ranked team might have come into its own Saturday night.
The atmosphere was electric at High Point Solutions Stadium (fourth highest attendance ever), and the press box extended to the outside elements as a season-high 390 media credentials were issued.
Rutgers was embarrassed in every phase of the game last night, so badly that our cannon patriots were mocked by Ohio State fans and Brutus the Buckeye. The Buckeyes are now up 28-0 against the Scarlet Knights in the second half.
“It’s definitely what we’ve been waiting for”, junior running back Ezekiel Elliott said following the win. But over the last three weeks the Buckeyes have solidified themselves as the most prolific scoring machine in the Big Ten, sandwiching 49-point outings around a 38-point performance against a stout Penn State defense thanks in large part to the multipurpose threat Barrett provides.
“Here’s what makes him so hard to defend as a football player: You look at him in the run game, 13 carries for 104 yards, you say, ‘all right, there is a really athletic, running quarterback, ‘ ” Flood said.
“It’s tougher because you’re really not sure what they’re doing on their side, but we just have to prepare like both of them will play”, Rutgers safety Anthony Cioffi said. But after the first drive that ended in a doinked field-goal attempt by the Scarlet Knights, Joey Bosa, Adolphus Washington, Raekwon McMillan, Eli Apple, Gareon Conley and their pals increasingly clamped down. Wide receiver Michael Thomas caught five passes for 103 yards and that 50-yard touchdown. It was pretty good, but also a painful reminder that even though I go to college campuses all the time, I cannot eat like I could when I was in college. And now that the defense played a complete game, we can now see that the results are closer to matching the potential.
In other words, the whole of the conference outside of Oxford will be secretly rooting for Ole Miss to stumble at a few point between now and the end of November, turning the Nov. 7 ‘Bama-LSU game into a de facto play-in game for a spot in the conference title game.
Ohio State was run-heavy much of the first half, keeping it on the ground on 16 of its first 20 plays. If Barrett goes down, the team will have someone they feel comfortable with under center, very comfortable. “They have tremendous playmakers”.
Laviano is second in the Big Ten in passer rating (156.14), leads in completion percentage (69.3) and is coming off a career game. “They have got a good scheme and they have got very talented players in the scheme”.
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Laviano struggled against the Buckeyes’ constant pressure, finishing 10-of-20 for 117 yards.
