Rutgers Football defeats Ohio 34-31

Rutgers Football opened up the season with a 34-31 win against Ohio.

[On3 Deal: Get The Knight Report right now for just $1]

[On3 App: Get Rutgers push notifications from The Knight Report]

AN OPENING-NIGHT SCARE

Despite Rutgers taking a 31-14 lead late in the first half, Ohio answered with 17 straight points, including a 13-yard touchdown pass from Parker Navarro to Jake Bruno, to tie the game with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter.

Despite getting the ball all the way down to Ohio’s three-yard line, a false start and an incomplete pass forced Rutgers to settle for a 26-yard field goal from Jai Patel to take a 34-31 lead with 11:11 left in the fourth quarter.

Following a stop defensively with 6:30 remaining, Rutgers was able to run the clock out and ice the game following a 10-yard completion from Athan Kaliakmanis to DT Sheffield on 4th-and-7 with 1:54 left.

Ohio opened up the second half with a nine-play, 75-yard drive to cut it to a 31-24 game following a 17-yard scramble from Parker Navarro.

FIRST HALF FIREPOWER

Rutgers came into the season with a lot of hype surrounding its offense and did not do anything to disprove that in the first half as it scored on its first four possessions, including three touchdowns, following a six-yard touchdown pass from Kaliakmanis to KJ Duff to take a 24-14 lead with 5:20 remaining in the second quarter.

The Scarlet Knights added to their offensive output when Kaj Sanders blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone by Cam Miller to take a 17-point lead with 3:22 remaining in the first half.

Rutgers finished the half with 252 yards of offense, led by Kaliakmanis, who went 10-for-14 for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Antwan Raymond led the Scarlet Knights on the ground with six carries for 66 yards and one touchdown.

Kaliakmanis connected with DT Sheffield for a 54-yard touchdown pass to take a 17-7 lead with 13:52 left in the half.

It was a picturesque opening to the game for Rutgers as it started with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 14-yard touchdown run from Antwan Raymond to take a 7-0 lead with 9:52 left in the first quarter. The Scarlet Knights converted two fourth downs in the drive.

Rutgers took a 10-7 lead with 14:52 remaining in the second quarter following a 23-yard field goal from Patel. It marked his 14th consecutive make to set a new program record.

DEFENSIVE WOES

Despite Rutgers’ strong start offensively, Ohio had an answer for just about every score and went into halftime trailing 31-17 following a 30-yard field goal from David Dellenbach.

Following the 54-yard completion from Kaliakmanis to Sheffield, Ohio responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped off with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Navarro to Bruno to make it 17-14 with 8:34 remaining in the second quarter.

The Bobacats matched Rutgers’ opening drive touchdown with a score of its own after Navarro hit Mason Williams for a four-yard pass to tie the score at seven with 4:58 left in the first quarter. The completion finished off a 10-play, 65-yard drive for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats racked up 246 yards of total offense in the first half, including 135 on the ground. Navarro went 12-for-19 for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

RFOOTBALL PLAY OF THE DAY

UP NEXT

Rutgers will host Miami (OH) next Saturday at 3:30 pm (ET) on Peacock.

Wondering what other Rutgers fans are saying?

Head to The Round Table and jump into the discussion →

TALK ABOUT IT ON THE ROUND TABLE FORUM

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

CHECK US OUT ON YOUTUBE