The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have not been able to get on track since Chris Ash took over the head coaching job at the start of 2016. Ash stepped into a terrible situation as Kyle Flood and the administration left the program in poor shape. He is slowly making this team better, but has yet to win a game in Big Ten play, posting an 0-10 record in conference. That won’t change when the Ohio State Buckeyes come to town this week, but it will be a chance for Rutgers to show how far it has really come.
This contest in Week 5 of the regular season will go down Saturday, September 30, 2017, at 7:30
p.m. ET at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. This game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Ohio State -29
Rutgers +29
Over/Under 51
Odds Analysis
The Scarlet Knights are 3-1 ATS this season and have covered both the games in which they were an underdog. Against Nebraska last week, Rutgers barely hung on for the cover, earning it by a meager half-point. However, versus Washington in their season opener, the Scarlet Knights easily covered 28 points and actually stuck with the Huskies for a considerable amount of time.
Ohio State has not been a great ATS team this season. While the Buckeyes covered their first game of the year against Indiana, they have lost each of the last three. Ohio State was clearly the better team against both Army and UNLV, but only did what they needed to against Army and turned off the tempo in the second half against UNLV after racing out to a 37-0 win.
Last Meeting
When these two teams met in Columbus last year, it was never even close. Ohio State jumped on Rutgers early and wouldn’t let up, holding the Scarlet Knights to just 116 total yards of offense in a 58-0 win. The Buckeyes were able to have their way with the Scarlet Knights all night long and Rutgers couldn’t even stop the simplest of plays. When it was all said and done, the Buckeyes had totaled 669 total yards of offense.
Amazingly, this wasn’t Rutgers worst performance last season. The Scarlet Knights were hammered 78-0 at home by Michigan in a game that was very similar to this one.
Coaching Angle
Chris Ash was a fast riser on the coaching circuit, turning a graduate assistant job at Iowa State into a job as a defensive backs coach and working up the ranks from there. Ash saw his star really take off after Urban Meyer brought him on as the team’s co-defensive coordinator back in 2014. He won a national title with the Buckeyes and was able to help get this job afterwards thanks to Meyer.
Interestingly enough, there is another tie between these two schools. Ohio State decided to hire long-time Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano to replace Ash as the Buckeyes defensive coordinator. This will be Schiano’s first time back in Piscataway since he left to take the Tampa Bay job and there should be plenty of fans letting him know about it.
Free ATS Pick
Give Ash credit for starting to turn this team around. Rutgers was abysmal last season, but the team has really made some strides so far in 2017. The Scarlet Knights are going to get a win against a conference foe at some point this season and it won’t be a big upset.
Unfortunately, it won’t be this one. Ohio State is going to be able to name the score on Rutgers. Although the Buckeyes haven’t covered big spreads lately, they will in this one now that they go back to playing conference foes. Look for a big Buckeyes win in New Jersey.
College Football Odds: Buckeyes 48, Scarlet Knights 7
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