ANALYSIS: Ohio State needs team effort to top Rutgers for 10th time

Here are five things to know about the game:

1. TreVeyon Henderson was the hero again.

After going over 200 all-purpose yards a week ago at Wisconsin, the junior running back was Ohio State’s most productive offensive player again Saturday at Rutgers.

He ran for 128 yards on 22 carries and had 80 yards receiving on five catches, none bigger than a 65-yard reception that kept alive a scoring drive in the fourth quarter.

“You get him to the second level and he gets dangerous,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “Once he gets out in the open field, it goes from good to great fast.”

2. The Scarlet Knights contained the Ohio State passing game and Marvin Harrison Jr.

After four straight 100-yard receiving games, Harrison had only four catches for 25 yards, but he hauled in a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help the Buckeyes put the game away.

Rutgers entered with the No. 8 pass efficiency defense in the country and showed why.

Coach Greg Schiano’s team did so primarily by playing two deep safeties to take away the deep ball but also contesting many of Kyle McCord’s throws in the red zone.

He ended up completing 19 of 26 passes for a season-low 189 yards and three touchdowns.

For the second week in a row, he threw a late second-quarter interception that prevented Ohio State from building momentum to end the half. This time it also led to a field goal.

Day said McCord made a good read — he was trying to get the ball to Harrison on a deep out — but did not put enough air under the ball to prevent linebacker Mohamed Toure from snagging it.

3. Rutgers dominated the second quarter.

Rutgers’ three scores in the first half were set up by a 45-yard run on a fourth down trick play, a botched Ohio State fake punt and Toure’s interception.

That turned Ohio State’s early 7-0 lead into 9-7 deficit, the first time the Buckeyes trailed at halftime this year.

It could have been much worse if not for the defense stiffening inside the 10 on three consecutive possessions.

“It’s a team game, but the first half just gutsy, tough,” Day said of his defense. “Hanging in there in some bad spots. Those guys are playing hard across the board, and we were down a couple of guys. The front and Tommy (Eichenberg) and Proc, to make that play, he poured it up in there on that one. He didn’t break stride. Rutgers is physical. Coming off their bye they were fresh and ready to go. They played us hard.”

4. The defense got dinged — and dinged up.

Rutgers ran for a 232 yards, the most for an Ohio State opponent this season.

Running back Kyle Monangai had 159 yards, while quarterback Gavin Wimsatt added 49 on the ground.

The Scarlet Knights were able to dictate tempo at times against an Ohio State defense that began the day without starting cornerback Denzel Ward and safety Lathan Ransom then lost its other starting safety, Josh Proctor, early in the third quarter.

Proctor appeared to take an inadvertent hit to the head from Monangai while breaking up a pass that ended up being intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Ohio State’s Jordan Hancock.

That gave Ohio State the lead back for good early in the third quarter.

Malik Hartford, a true freshman from Lakota West High School, filled Proctor’s spot in the fourth quarter and was in the middle of three key incomplete passes as the Buckeyes turned the Knights over on downs on their last two possessions.

Jermaine Mathews Jr., a true freshman from Cincinnati, started in Burke’s place.

5. Ohio State had a season-low in total yards.

The Buckeyes ran only 55 plays in part because of the pick-six robbing them of a possession and the Scarlet Knights’ desire to shorten the game by snapping the ball with the play clock having run low most of the time.

Day’s team improved to 9-0 anyway.

“When you’re playing on the road, you’ve got to find a way to win, and it was good to see us pull away a little bit down the stretch,” Day said.

Stat of the game

Rutgers held Ohio State below 49 points for the first time in the series, which began in 2014, but the Buckeyes improved to 10-0 all-time against the Scarlet Knights. That is the most wins Ohio State has against any opponent without a loss.

Game ball

Henderson’s speed was a difference maker for the running game as Ohio State averaged more than four yards per carry for the second consecutive game.

SATURDAY’S GAME

Michigan State at Ohio State, 7:30 p.m., NBC, 1410