Rutgers had a tough row to hoe to begin with in even attempting to slow down what’s looking like a vastly-improved downfield passing attack at Ohio State. With the developments over the last few days, their jobs have gotten exponentially tougher.
Blessuan Austin sustained an unspecified knee injury in RU’s season-opening win over Texas State. As a result, Austin, the Scarlet Knights’ top defensive back and arguably its best player on that side of the ball regardless of position, has already been ruled out for this Saturday’s game against the Buckeyes in Columbus.
“Just some precautionary stuff that we’re going through,” head coach Chris Ash said by way of the Asbury Park Press. “There’s still some things that we’re looking at to figure out exactly what happened to him, but he will be inactive for this game. It’ll be a week-to-week deal from there until we get some opinions from some doctors looking at his knee.
Austin, who has started 26 games during his time in Piscataway, sustained the injury picking off his first pass of the season. Last year, Austin missed the last two-thirds of the season because of a torn ACL.
In addition to Austin, fifth-year senior strong safety Kiy Hester and redshirt sophomore cornerback Tre Avery will be game-time decisions to play because of their own injuries. Hester sustained a knee injury in the opener, while Avery didn’t dress for the game because of an unspecified injury issue.
The Buckeyes’ 346 yards passing as a team in the 77-31 beating of the Beavers was the most since they threw for 354 yards in the Oct. 14 win over Nebraska last season. Dwayne Haskins’ 313 yards and five passing touchdowns in the opener were the most ever for a first-time starter in OSU history.