Weber finds end zone
Running back Mike Weber scored his first three touchdowns of the season as his hamstring is finally feeling healthy.
“It felt good,” Weber said. “There was a long process of waiting. I went through a lot of things.”
The seriousness of his injury wasn’t disclosed until after Saturday’s game when coach Urban Meyer said it almost required surgery.
“I never really thought about surgery,” Weber said. “It was brought up a few times, but my mind was never set on getting surgery.”
He’s not complementing freshman J.K. Dobbins, who has emerged as a star.
“We’re going to be really scary if we get things going like we want to — the 1-2 punch,” Weber said.
McCall steps up
With the Buckeyes leaping to a huge lead through the first three quarters, thirdstring running back Demario McCall got plenty of time with backup quarterbacks Dwayne Haskins and Joe Burrow. McCall made the most of it — he wound up as the game’s leading rusher, 103 yards on 11 carries.
And he had two of the more spectacular plays. He sneaked out of the backfield to break wide open down the left sideline and haul in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Haskins at 13: 56 of the fourth quarter. Later he broke free on a 48-yard run for his second TD, the last for the Buckeyes.
Missing from action
A team spokesman said before the game that defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones did not make the trip after suffering a cut to his leg during the week, reportedly in the locker room, that required stitches to close. How long he will be out remains to be seen.
Third- string running back Antonio Williams and safety Erick Smith also weren’t on hand. Williams dealt with sickness late in the week, the spokesman said.
There was no reason given for the absence of Smith, who had been competing with Jordan Fuller for the starting job at one of the safety spots.
Defensive tackle Robert “BB” Landers and linebacker Chris Worley were on the trip after missing last week’s game: Landers because of a lower leg ailment, Worley because of a foot sprain.
Still looking
Since joining the Big Ten, in 2014, Rutgers is winless in 12 games against ranked teams, all but two of them against conference teams.
During that stretch, the average margin of defeat in road games is 37.5 points. At home, the margin is 31.5 – heavily skewed by a 78-0 loss to Michigan last season.
The only two one-possession losses — home or away — were against No. 4 Michigan State in 2015, a 31- 24 loss, and last year’s 14- 7 defeat to No. 25 Iowa.