Ohio State should have won that game. Full stop. There's no good reason that the Buckeyes should have lost that game. They did everything necessary to win. Unfortunately, the offense sputtered just enough in the first half to make it an L instead of a W on the schedule. It's really, really unfortunate, given how well the defense played.
Let's give credit where it is due. The Buckeye defense held Rutgers to its second-lowest output of the season. In 2021, holding the Scarlet Knights to 10 tallies is an incredible job. Maryland got them down to just 9 a week ago, but has not struggled defensively anywhere near the level Ohio State has. I criticize harshly, but Travis Crane and the defense he coaches deserve a ton of credit for keeping the Buckeyes in this game. A ton of credit.