Rutgers Football's bid for an upset came up short as the Scarlet Knights fell to No. 1 Ohio State 35-16 inside of SHI Stadium.
Rutgers was on the doorstep of making it a one-score game with over eight minutes left as it drove down to Ohio State's six-yard line, trailing 28-16. However, it was not able to punch in another touchdown as Gavin Wimsatt was sacked by Ty Hamilton on 4th-and-6 to give the Buckeyes the ball back with 8:14 remaining. Wimsatt also tossed a pass to Ian Strong on the previous play the receiver nearly dragged in, but it was ruled incomplete on the field and after a review.
It was a brutal turn of events for Rutgers as it came out of halftime up 9-7 and appeared to be headed toward more points. However, its seven-play, 55-yard drive was halted by an 80-yard pick-six from Jordan Hancock that gave Ohio State a 14-9 lead with 9:49 left in the third quarter.
Ohio State continued applying pressure as it went eight plays for 71 yards on its next drive, resulting in a nine-yard touchdown run from TreVeyon Henderson to go up 21-9 with 2:39 left in the third quarter. The Scarlet Knights would not go down quietly though as they followed with a six-play, 75-yard drive resulting in JaQuae Jackson's first touchdown with the program, a 19-yard grab, to cut it to a 21-16 game with 14:07 remaining. Gavin Wimsatt also completed a 35-yard throw to Christian Dremel on the previous play to set Rutgers up in Ohio State territory.
The Buckeyes answered with a six-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a four-yard touchdown pass from Kyle McCord to Marvin Harrison Jr. to give Ohio State back a two-score advantage with 12:02 remaining. Harrison added a two-yard touchdown catch to give Ohio State a 35-16 lead with 2:07 left.
After a slow start on offense, Rutgers seemed to get better as the first half wore on as it went into halftime up by six points and finished with 170 total yards with 128 coming on the ground. Kyle Monangai led the way with 12 carries for 93 yards, including (in a play that needs to be seen to be believed) a fumblerooski on 4th-and-1 that he took 45 yards to set the Scarlet Knights up at Ohio State's 12-yard line. The drive resulted in a 22-yard field goal from Jai Patel to cut it to a 7-3 game with 7:49 left in the first half.
It was a mostly rough first half for Gavin Wimsatt as he went 4-for-12 for 42 yards, but completed three big passes on the final drive of the half to set Patel up for a 20-yard field goal. The drive followed an interception from Mohamed Toure that set the Scarlet Knights up at Ohio State's 46-yard line.
Rutgers' defense held its own in the first half, giving up just 128 yards of total offense and holding McCord to 12-for-16 for 80 yards and one touchdown. The Buckeyes' lone score came on a 14-yard touchdown catch from Gee Scott Jr. to make it a 7-0 game with 8:35 left in the first quarter.
Following Rutgers' initial score, the Buckeyes went three-and-out and attempted a fake punt that the Scarlet Knights sniffed out to set themselves up at Ohio State's 32-yard line. The Scarlet Knights were able to capitalize with an eight-play, 29-yard drive capped off by a 21-yard field goal from Patel to make it a 7-6 game with 2:03 left in the half.
RFootball Play of the Day: Rutgers gets tricky as it runs a fumblerooski that Kyle Monangai takes for 45 yards to set the Scarlet Knights up at Ohio State's 12-yard line.
Up next: Rutgers will travel to Kinnick Stadium to take on Iowa next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ET).
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