COLUMBUS — Ohio State’s 49-10 win over Rutgers on Saturday revealed a few more things that have been learned about the Buckeyes in their five-game winning streak to start the season.
They have shown that they can play their style and beat you. Now they have shown that they can play your style and beat you.
They have proven they can win when quarterback CJ Stroud is on fire. And now they’ve proven they can also win when its heat level is more like a low simmer.
They proved that their starters are very good. And they’ve consistently proven that if one or more starters can’t pitch, their replacements can step in without missing a beat.
On Saturday, it was running back Myan Williams who stepped in, stepped up and even rose a little for a 70-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Williams, who has shared running back duties almost equally with starter TreVayon Henderson in OSU’s first four games, learned during pregame warmups that he would be the starter and Henderson would not be able to play.
The third-year running back had the best game of his career as he rushed for 189 yards on 21 carries and scored five touchdowns. His five touchdowns tied the record for most touchdowns by an Ohio State running back in a game held by Keith Byars and Pete Johnson.
“I had six touchdowns in a game in high school, but I never thought I’d have a game like this,” Williams said.
“I found out right before the game. I looked him in the eye and told TreVeyon, “I got you,” he said.
Ohio State’s passing game was its worst of the season, with Stroud completing 13 of 22 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns.
Rutgers’ game plan was a factor in that limited production. Offensively, the Scarlet Knights huddled together, used up as much game clock as they could on every snap and had nearly twice as many running plays as passing plays.
Defensively, they played deep defense and tried to cut down on the deep passes that OSU torched Toledo and Wisconsin with. OSU had just 59 offensive plays while Rutgers had 56.
“It’s hard to get style points when you play that style of game,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “One thing about our team is they’re good at it. Talk to guys on defense and they love it. The guys in attack, this style is not the best, but they understand that winning is the most important thing.”
No. 3 Ohio State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) led 28-7 at halftime and controlled the game until the end.
Williams’ 70-yard touchdown run in the third quarter just after a Rutgers punt to cut the lead to 28-10 was the most exciting play of the second half.
But perhaps the most interesting moment was when Ohio State’s Jesse Mirko ran instead of punting midway through the fourth quarter and took a hard shot out of bounds in front of the Buckeyes’ bench.
Players from both teams pushed and shoved, and Rutgers coach Greg Schiano and Day had a pretty intense discussion about it. Rutgers’ Aaron Cruickshank was flagged for a personal foul and ejected, while Schiano and Day were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
“They were coming after the punt. He (Mirko) just saw and took it. He then executed this side kick. It’s just that one coach was defending his player and the other was defending his player. No offense at all,” Day said.
“I grabbed him (Mirko) and said, ‘What happened?’ He said, “I rolled to the right and there was no one above me.” I said, “Okay, we’ll talk about it tomorrow.” »
Ohio State led 28-7 at halftime, led by Williams’ 91 yards rushing on 15 carries and three touchdowns and a defense that held Rutgers to 90 yards of total offense in the first two quarters.
For the second straight game, OSU was without leading receiver Jackson Smith-Njigba and starting cornerback Cam Brown, as well as Henderson.
Rutgers took a 7-0 lead, its first lead over Ohio State since entering the Big Ten in 2014, on a fumble by Emeka Egbuki at the Buckeyes’ 18-yard line as he tried to pant.
Three plays after Rutgers quarterback Evan Simon connected with Sean Ryan for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
Rutgers attempted an onside kick after the touchdown, but OSU recovered the ball at the Scarlet Knights’ 48-yard line.
Five plays later, Ohio State tied the game at 7-7 on Williams’ first of three touchdowns on a 2-yard run.
OSU went up 14-7 with 4:10 left in the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Williams at the end of a 9-play, 74-yard drive.
In the final minute of the first quarter, a strip sack by Zach Harrison set up Ohio State again in Rutgers territory at the 49-yard line.
Two plays later, Stroud threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Julian Fleming on the second play of the second quarter to make it 21-7. The Buckeyes added a fourth TD on a 1-yard run by Williams with 48 seconds left in the first half.
OSU’s second-half scoring was capped by two touchdown runs by Williams and a 4-yard touchdown pass from Stroud to Marvin Harrison Jr.
Rutgers fell to 3-2 and 0-2 in the Big Ten with the loss.
After opening the season with five straight home games, Ohio State will play its first road test at Michigan State on Saturday.
Contact Jim Naveau at 567-242-0414.
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