November 16, 2019 Week 12 · Regular Season Belt defended

Ohio State defends the belt, 56–21, on the road at Rutgers.

Home · Challenger

Rutgers 21

Away · Defending Holder

Ohio StateAP No. 2 56

AP poll, week 12: Ohio State No. 2 at Rutgers unranked · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Ohio State came in 371 days into reign #306, which began with a win over Michigan State, with 13 defenses already behind it; this was its 14th defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 3 more times before Clemson took it on December 28, 2019, 413 days after the reign began.

For Rutgers this was its 21st shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.

This is the only time Ohio State and Rutgers have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Ohio State's high-powered offense was simply too much for Rutgers to handle in this lopsided affair, as the Buckeyes dominated from the opening kickoff to secure the belt. Justin Fields orchestrated a clinic in the first quarter alone, connecting with Chris Olave for a 23-yard gain to set up J.K. Dobbins' first touchdown, then immediately finding Binjimen Victor for an 11-yard score, and capping the quarter with a 58-yard bomb to Olave that led to another Dobbins TD to build a 21-7 lead. Ohio State never relented, with Fields adding two more touchdown passes to Victor and one to K.J. Hill in the first half before the Buckeyes cruised through the second half with backups mopping up. Rutgers managed only a pair of touchdown runs from Isaih Pacheco and Johnny Langan plus a 45-yard passing score to Bo Melton, but three turnovers and 231 total yards of offense couldn't come close to matching Ohio State's offensive firepower.

J.K. Dobbins' 18-yard TD run in Q1 at 12:59 capped Ohio State's opening drive and set the tone for domination
Justin Fields' 58-yard completion to Chris Olave in Q1 at 6:41 led to another TD and put the game completely out of reach early
Rutgers' three turnovers, including two interceptions by Johnny Langan and a Gunnar Hoak fumble, prevented any momentum shifts
Ohio State's 28-point lead after three quarters illustrated the gulf in talent and execution between the teams

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

RutgersOhio State

Total yards231594

Rushing yards110217

Passing yards121377

First downs1031

3rd down conv.6/188/13

Turnovers32

Penalties–yards5–556–54

Time of possession31:2628:34

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 14:22	Rutgers	+0 yd	Johnny Langan pass intercepted Shaun Wade return for no gain to the OhSt 40
Q1 13:25	Ohio State	+23 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Chris Olave for 23 yds to the Rutgr 24 for a 1ST down
Q1 12:59	Ohio State	+18 yd	J.K. Dobbins run for 18 yds for a TD (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q1 11:24	Ohio State	+11 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Binjimen Victor for 11 yds for a TD (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q1 10:15	Rutgers	+21 yd	Johnny Langan run for 21 yds to the Rutgr 47 for a 1ST down
Q1 6:41	Ohio State	+58 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Chris Olave for 58 yds to the Rutgr 8 for a 1ST down
Q1 6:00	Ohio State	+8 yd	J.K. Dobbins run for 8 yds for a TD (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q1 1:18	Rutgers	+26 yd	Isaih Pacheco run for 26 yds for a TD (Justin Davidovicz KICK)
Q2 14:54	Ohio State	+35 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to K.J. Hill for 35 yds for a TD (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q2 14:49	Ohio State	+23 yd	Blake Haubeil kickoff for 56 yds , Aaron Young return for 23 yds to the RUTGERS 42 OHIO ST Penalty, Illegal Formation (-5 Yards) to the Rutgr 37
Q2 1:06	Ohio State	+22 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Luke Farrell for 22 yds to the Rutgr 24 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:03	Ohio State	+24 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Binjimen Victor for 24 yds for a TD (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q3 13:39	Ohio State	+42 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Chris Olave for 42 yds to the Rutgr 14 for a 1ST down
Q3 13:33	Ohio State	+14 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Luke Farrell for 14 yds for a TD (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q3 14:19	Ohio State	+23 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Binjimen Victor for 8 yds to the OhSt 29 for a 1ST down RUTGERS Penalty, Roughing Passer (15 Yards) to the OhSt 44 for a 1ST down
Q3 10:42	Rutgers	-3 yd	Johnny Langan pass intercepted K'Vaughan Pope return for 3 yds to the Rutgr 25
Q3 8:33	Ohio State	+4 yd	Chris Chugunov pass complete to Jake Hausmann for 4 yds for a TD (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q3 1:00	Rutgers	+45 yd	Johnny Langan pass complete to Bo Melton for 45 yds for a TD (Justin Davidovicz KICK)
Q3 1:00	Rutgers	+46 yd	Guy Fava kickoff for 51 yds fair catch by Demario McCall at the RUTGERS 14 RUTGERS Penalty, Illegal Participation (-5 Yards) to the OhSt 30
Q4 8:19	Ohio State	+32 yd	Chris Chugunov pass complete to Jaelen Gill for 32 yds for a TD (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q4 7:28	Rutgers	+41 yd	Johnny Langan pass complete to Kay'Ron Adams for 41 yds to the OhSt 38 for a 1ST down
Q4 3:29	Ohio State	+21 yd	Gunnar Hoak sacked by Tim Barrow for a loss of 4 yards to the OhSt 20 Gunnar Hoak fumbled, recovered by Rutgr , return for 21 yds to the OhSt 20
Q4 1:09	Rutgers	+1 yd	Johnny Langan run for 1 yd for a TD (Justin Davidovicz KICK)

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Rutgers

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Johnny Langan	12/26	121	4.7	1	2

Ohio State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
Justin Fields	15/19	305	16.1	4
Chris Chugunov	5/14	61	4.4	2
Gunnar Hoak	1/1	11	11.0	0

Rushing

Rutgers

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Isaih Pacheco	17	56	3.3	1	26
Johnny Langan	9	36	4.0	1	21
Kay'Ron Adams	8	17	2.1	0	9
Aaron Young	5	3	0.6	0	4
Bo Melton	1	-2	-2.0	0	0

Ohio State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
J.K. Dobbins	17	89	5.2	2	18
Steele Chambers	9	56	6.2	0	11
Master Teague	10	45	4.5	0	11
Justin Fields	3	30	10.0	0	13
Gunnar Hoak	3	1	0.3	0	3
Team	2	-4	-2.0	0	0

Receiving

Rutgers

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Bo Melton	3	57	19.0	1	45
Kay'Ron Adams	1	41	41.0	0	41
Shameen Jones	1	7	7.0	0	7
Isaih Pacheco	1	6	6.0	0	6
Isaiah Washington	1	6	6.0	0	6
Mohamed Jabbie	1	3	3.0	0	3
Aaron Young	3	2	0.7	0	2
Paul Woods	1	-1	-1.0	0	0

Ohio State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Chris Olave	4	139	34.8	0	58
Binjimen Victor	5	68	13.6	2	24
K.J. Hill	4	62	15.5	1	35
Jaelen Gill	2	38	19.0	1	32
Luke Farrell	2	36	18.0	1	22
Garrett Wilson	1	13	13.0	0	13
Sam Wiglusz	1	11	11.0	0	11
Demario McCall	1	6	6.0	0	6
Jake Hausmann	1	4	4.0	1	4

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Rutgers

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Christian Izien	12	6	0	0	0	0
Tyshon Fogg	11	2	0	1	0	0
Tyreek Maddox-Williams	8	2	0	0.5	1	0
Tim Barrow	7	3	0	0	1	0
Rashawn Battle	6	2	0	0	0	0
Olakunle Fatukasi	6	2	0	1	1	0
Brendan Bordner	5	4	0	1	0	0
Malik Dixon	4	1	0	0	1	0
CJ Onyechi	4	1	0	0	0	1
Tre Avery	3	2	1	1	0	0
Julius Turner	2	1	0	0	0	1
Robin Jutwreten	2	1	0	0	0	0
Elorm Lumor	2	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Tverdov	2	0	0	0.5	0	0
Willington Previlon	1	1	0	0	0	0
Nick Krimin	1	1	0	0	0	0
Austin Rosa	1	0	0	0	0	0
Elijah Barnwell	1	0	0	0	0	0
Rani Abdulaziz	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jarrett Paul	1	0	0	0	0	0
Omari Copper	1	0	0	0	0	0

Ohio State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Malik Harrison	6	5	0	2	1	0
K'Vaughan Pope	6	4	0	0	0	0
Tuf Borland	6	2	0	0	0	0
Dallas Gant	5	2	0	1	0	0
Teradja Mitchell	4	3	0	1	0	0
Pete Werner	4	2	0	0	0	0
Antwuan Jackson	4	1	0	0	0	0
Shaun Wade	3	2	0	0	0	0
Jahsen Wint	3	1	0	0	0	0
Alex Williams	3	1	0	0	0	0
Zach Harrison	3	1	0	0	0	1
Justin Hilliard	2	2	0	1	0	0
Sevyn Banks	2	2	0	1	1	0
Brendon White	2	1	0	0	0	0
Tyreke Johnson	2	1	0	0	0	0
Jashon Cornell	2	0	0	0	0	0
Jordan Fuller	2	0	0	0	0	0
Tommy Togiai	2	0	0	0	0	0
Davon Hamilton	1	1	1	1	0	0
Jonathon Cooper	1	1	0	0	0	0
Mitch Rossi	1	1	0	0	0	0
Tyreke Smith	1	1	0	1	0	0
Josh Proctor	1	1	0	0	1	0
Jeffrey Okudah	1	0	0	0	0	0
Haskell Garrett	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jerron Cage	1	0	0	0	0	0
Cameron Brown	1	0	0	0	0	0
Marcus Hooker	1	0	0	0	0	0
Sam Wiglusz	1	0	0	0	0	0
Bryson Shaw	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Rutgers

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Lawrence Stevens	0	0	1
Isaiah Washington	1	1	0

Ohio State

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Gunnar Hoak	1	1	0
Garrett Wilson	1	1	0

Interceptions

Rutgers

No recorded stats in this category.

Ohio State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
K'Vaughan Pope	1	3	0
Shaun Wade	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Rutgers

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Aaron Young	5	76	15.2	23	0

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Xavier Johnson	1	19	19.0	19	0
Demario McCall	1	14	14.0	14	0

Kicking

Rutgers

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Justin Davidovicz	0/0	0.0	0	3/3	3

Ohio State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Blake Haubeil	0/0	0.0	0	8/8	8

Punt Returns

Rutgers

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Aaron Young	1	7	7.0	7	0

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Demario McCall	1	14	14.0	14	0
Garrett Wilson	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Rutgers

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Adam Korsak	10	403	40.3	0	4	51

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Drue Chrisman	4	140	35.0	0	1	44

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401112255) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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