Urban Meyer talked this week with the media about players coming off of the game against Penn State going into Rutgers Saturday night. He reported that freshman running back Mike Weber is almost completely back from injury. He also stated that freshman coming in to help after injuries and penalties to others include KJ Hill at wide receiver and Jerome Baker at linebacker. Can Williams has to sit after a targeting penalty last week.

Injuries continue to plague the team with Parris Campbell out for a couple more weeks, Dontre Wilson is out, and Johnnie Dixon has tendonitis.

The team has had a slow start in a couple of recent games but seems to have found the answer to their offensive trouble with the game against Maryland and continued against Penn State. The switch to using Cardale Jones and JT Barrett has helped move the ball in the red zone or close to the end zone. They hope to get some third down conversions early this weekend to score on the first drive. We might see Barrett on third downs if Jones proves ineffective early in the game.

Rutgers presents some issues with a strong defensive line. Leonte Corroo’s speed is trouble for any team. And they are completing 68% of their passes this season.

The Ohio State punt coverage and punter was a highlight last week and will no doubt help this week on the road. OSU’s punter placed the ball inside the 10 yard line routinely. In addition they have two great coverage guys that can get down the field in hurry. Denzel Ward and Malik Hooker have incredible top end speed getting down to coverage punts. Also doing well on coverage teams include Jeff Green and Warren Ball. The team is currently ranked first in the conference for kick and punt coverage.

Although the run defense was a little soft against Penn State, Ohio State’s pass defense was very impressive. Hopefully the run defensive will get better against Rutgers on the road.