Where: SHI Stadium, Piscataway, N.J.
TV/Radio: Big Ten Network /1410
Series history: Ohio State has won all five meetings by an average score of 54-5. The series began when Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014.
Last game : Dwayne Haskins threw four touchdown passes and Nick Bosa had five tackles and a sack as the Buckeyes easily improved to 2-0 on the season with a 52-3 win last season. Tate Martell completed 10 of 10 passes for 121 yards and ran for 95 yards in mop-up duty for the Buckeyes, who outgained the Scarlet Knights 579-134.
Coaches: Ohio State's Ryan Day is 12-0, including a 3-0 mark last season as interim coach of the Buckeyes. He is 7–0 in Big Ten games. Rutgers interim coach Nunzio Campanile is 1-4 since taking over for former Ohio State assistant Chris Ash, who was fired in September.
Ohio State notes: The Buckeyes lead the nation in scoring (51.0 points per game) and scoring defense (8.6)… Justin Fields leads the nation with a 27:1 touchdown-to-interceptions ratio… Despite not playing last week (or this week), Chase Young leads the nation with 13.5 sacks… J.K. Dobbins is 113 yards shy of passing Eddie George for third on the school's all-time rushing list… No team has gained 300 yards against Ohio State yet this season… Ohio State has five players from New Jersey on the roster: quarterback Chris Chugunov (Skillman Montgomery), defensive ends Tyler Friday (Ramsey Don Bosco Prep) and Javontae Jean-Baptiste (Oradell Bergen Catholic) and safeties Jordan Fuller (Old Tappan) and Ronnie Hickman (Wayne DePaul Catholic).
Rutgers notes: The Scarlet Knights are 126th (out of 130) in the nation in total offense and 96th in total defense… RU is eighth in net punting and 62nd in kickoff returns… The Scarlet Knights are in the bottom three in the Big Ten in nearly every statistical category. Notable exceptions are sacks allowed (seventh) and time of possession (sixth)… The 48.8-points-per game average point differential is the most for Ohio State in any series played more than once… Rutgers has two players from Ohio on the roster — running back Kay'Ron Adams (Warren Harding) and defensive lineman Brendan Bordner (Hilliard Bradley).. Rutgers has played more games (1,358) than any other school, but the Scarlet Knights have won 228 fewer games than the Buckeyes, who have played 1,298 games.
Quotable: Campanile on the game: "The biggest thing that I've been trying to push over the last five weeks or so is that we just need to go out and focus on us, focus on getting better, and feel great about the opportunity that you have. I mean, I understand how talented they are, and I think our players understand that. But I feel like over the last three games, we've started to show growth and improvement, and we can't let that slide back just because the quality of the opponent that we're facing. So there's a lot of great valuable reps out there and we've got to go out and get them and we've got to have a great week of practice so we can go out and perform the way we want to on Saturday."
Next game: The Buckeyes return home to play host to Penn State at noon next Saturday. Rutgers will get a visit from Michigan State.
Prediction: Ohio State 63, Rutgers 7
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