Ohio State vs. Rutgers: 3 keys to the game | Will Buckeyes’ Justin Fields pad his Heisman resume?

Rutgers was sky high emotionally on the heels of its season opener, an upset over Michigan State that had many fans believing Greg Schiano’s massive rebuild was further along than pundits imagined.

But it was a different feeling after the Scarlet Knights fell to Indiana last week.

“As I told the team, we’re running out of firsts,” Schiano said. “We had our first win together and we had our first loss and our first Sunday-after-a-loss together, and those are tough things. They put so much into each and every game that literally you kind of mourn the loss. You have to get over it, you have to fight your way through it, and it’s not easy. There’s a physical pain that they go through, there’s a lack of sleep that can really have an effect on you. But that’s the beauty of football — unless it’s the last game of the year you have to get ready for the next one.”

The next one is Ohio State, and Rutgers is a 37-point underdog for the Big Ten East Division matchup. The No. 3-ranked Buckeyes (2-0) and the Scarlet Knights will square off Saturday (7:30 p.m., BTN) in Columbus, Ohio.

“Obviously you give a lot of credit to them,” Rutgers senior center Nick Krimin said. “They’re a top team right now. We have a great gameplan and we’re excited to get on the field, and get after them. It’s a 7:30 game, away, so there’s going to be a lot of excitement in the air.”

Here are three keys for Rutgers to defeat Ohio State:

Win the turnover battle: Any chance for Rutgers to pull an upset for the ages boils down to getting a lot more takeaways than Ohio State. Seven turnovers gained and none given up could do the trick for the Scarlet Knights, who won the turnover battle 7-3 in their season-opening upset of Michigan State.

So how does that happen? Rutgers has swarmed to the ball defensive through its first two games and its defensive backs have shown a knack for stripping the ball free once the ballcarriers are corralled.

Winning the turnover battle won’t be easy against an Ohio State squad that ranks seventh nationally at plus-2 through two games.

“It’s really important,” Rutgers linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi said. “The ball is everything. The ball is the program. So us getting takeaways really helps the offense and gives us a better chance to win.”

Be tricky: One thing we’ve discovered about Sean Gleeson through Rutgers’ first two games is the Scarlet Knights offensive coordinator isn’t shy about reaching into his bag of tricks.

Gleeson has called end-arounds, he’s called plays for a wide receiver to throw the ball to the quarterback, and he’s devised a series of unique schemes for quarterback/H-back Johnny Langan.

Gleeson will need to be even more creative against Ohio State. Playing it straight up just won’t work.

“Coach Gleeson is a great offensive coordinator,” Rutgers wide receiver Bo Melton said. “He uses his weapons, and he’s going to use us in any type of way that we can win. Our players have unique skills and unique talents, and he uses us to the best of our abilities to win.”

Stop the big play: In its win over Michigan State, Rutgers did a decent job of keeping the Spartans in front of them. Michigan State hit on six big plays (15 yards or longer) but some of its damage came late.

Rutgers struggled to stop the big play in its loss to Indiana, yielding 10 plays of 15 yards or longer in a game that saw the Hoosiers outgain the Scarlet Knights, 352-258, in total yards from scrimmage.

Rutgers ranked 86th nationally in yielding plays of 20 yards or longer last year and 82nd nationally in the statistic in 2018. Through two games, Rutgers ranks 14th nationally in yielding plays of 20 yards or longer.

Ohio State ranks first in the Big Ten in plays spanning 10 yards or longer (36), in plays spanning 20 yards or longer (11) and plays spanning 30-yards or longer (4).

Here are three keys for Ohio State to defeat Rutgers:

Build Justin Fields’ Heisman campaign: The Buckeyes quarterback has been spectacular, completing 87.3 % of his passes (48-for-55) for 594 yards to rank No. 2 nationally in passing efficiency (214.0).

There are so many statistics that show why Fields is one of the frontrunners for college football’s top award, but consider this: Fields has accounted for as many touchdowns (7) as he’s thrown incompletions.

Get it to the play-makers: It’s not hard to figure where Fields will want to go with the ball. He has a pair of stud pass catchers in Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson , who became the first Buckeye receivers to record 100-yard receiving games in consecutive games.

Olave had 104 yards versus Nebraska and 120 against Penn State, while Wilson tallied 129 and 111 in those wins.

Hit the magic number offensively: Ohio State had 529 yards of total offense (318 passing, 208 rushing) in its win over Penn State last Saturday, marking the 29th time in 44 games since the start of the 2017 season that the Buckeyes have topped the 500-yard mark for total offense.

Ohio State has exceeded that plateau in all six routs of Rutgers since 2014, averaging 597.2 yards-per-game during that span.

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Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.

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