Senior strong side linebacker Quentin Gause attempts to corral running back Ezekiel Elliott in Rutgers’ 49-7 loss to No. 1 Ohio State Saturday night at High Point Solutions Stadium. Gause set a career-high with 15 tackles in defeat. Any team that faces No. 1 Ohio State is forced to determine what aspect of the Buckeyes’ offense it will attempt to contain. But it is difficult to pick your poison when the options are all equally potent. The Rutgers football team learned that lesson the hard way Saturday night after OSU ran roughshod over the Scarlet Knights in a decisive 49-7 win. Rutgers (3-4, 1-3) began the game by crowding the box in an attempt to bottle up the Buckeyes’ explosive rushing attack of sophomore quarterback J.T. Barrett and the Big Ten leading rusher Ezekiel Elliott. The Knights were successful in stopping Elliott for the first half, limiting him to just 15 yards on nine carries. But the passing game eventually opened up late in the second quarter. “We went into the game knowing that they have a lot of playmakers and a lot of stops, so you’re trying to keep them off balance,” said head coach Kyle Flood. “But when you pressure, you’re going to put stress on the corners.” Leading 7-0, the Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0) had a 1st-and-10 at midfield with just over seven minutes remaining in the second quarter. Barrett scanned the field to find junior wide receiver Michael Thomas one-on-one with redshirt-freshman cornerback Isaiah Wharton and the quarterback hit Thomas right in the chest. Thomas stiff-armed Wharton to the turf and then raced through the middle of the field for a 50-yard score. “They were doing a good job,” said Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer. “They were loading the box. …
Continue Reading: No. 1 Ohio State runs roughshod over Rutgers with multiple weapons
