Gerry DiNardo knows that Rutgers football’s game against Ohio State this weekend will be an uphill task. This is Ohio State he’s talking about, after all.
THE. Ohio State. Sorry about that, Buckeyes fans.
Ohio State has certainly backed up the preseason hype that this is a true national championship contender. Ohio State’s offense, always prolific, is humming along as expected. And the defense, under Jim Knowles, has taken the next step and is playing at an elite level.
Consider that Ohio State is balanced and playing complementary football, as the Buckeyes did in their 52-21 win over Wisconsin this past weekend, and the proposition of playing this team is scary.
No. 3 Ohio State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) hosts Rutgers (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) on Saturday afternoon (3:00 P.M. ET, BTN).
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A former LSU and Indiana head coach, DiNardo said that Rutgers has to keep it simple and stick to their DNA if they want to hang in there at Ohio State.
“Well they’re an option team. In theory, the option helps a team with lesser talent. You block one less defender, because you double-team somebody and read another person so you run the option,” DiNardo said on the Big Ten Network.
“You certainly don’t go fast, you go slow. You do some things in the special teams which Greg Schiano is known for a lot. You just try to slow the game down. You’re probably a bit more conservative on defense to stop the big plays. You try to keep it close and then try to win it in the end.”
Wisconsin managed just 11 first downs in their loss at Ohio State.
Rutgers is coming off a tough 27-10 loss to Iowa last week. At a sold-out SHI Stadium, Rutgers allowed Iowa to score two defensive touchdowns in the first half to effectively close out the game.
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DiNardo was surprised by not just how Rutgers lost to Iowa, but the fact that they lost.
“I was surprised at that. I actually thought that Rutgers had a really good chance of winning it going into the game,” DiNardo said.
“If I had looked back, we don’t pick the games but I might have picked Rutgers. I thought it was that tight of a thing. Then again, it’s just like Saturday at noon, this Iowa team, they keep better and better, a little bit at a time.”
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