Buckeyes' Get a Fair Warning on Thursday Night College Football
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Week one of college football got going on Thursday in a night that turned out to be incredibly eventful. First, a judge ruled in favor of LSU in allowing players to return to college football, even after spending time in the pros.
There is enough meat on that bone for a full conversation, but the big news of the night was the Rutgers Scarlett Knights catching a major upset at the hands of the University of Massachusetts.
UMASS had the longest losing streak in the country at 16 straight games, and they came out and just pounded Rutgers up and down the field. The final score ended up being 37-21, but honestly, it was not even that close.
If that game is played 10 times, UMASS wins nine of them, and several of them they win easily.
UMass received $1.55 million to play Rutgers on the road and beat them 37-21 🥴💰
The Minutemen were on a 16-game losing streak and hadn't won a game in 677 days 😳 pic.twitter.com/yR7IXk23yC
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 4, 2026
It was a major upset in literally the very first game of week one of the season, and it should be a red flag to everyone playing this weekend.
The Big Ten has one game that is under a double-digit spread, which comes on Sunday night between UCLA and CAL. Your classic BIG vs. ACC matchup.
Other than that, it is a full docket of mismatches and games that the Big Ten should handle well. That includes Ohio State's matchup with the Ball State Cardinals. Now, context is incredibly important here.
If there were ever a BIG team that was to get upset by a MAC school, it would absolutely be the Rutgers Scarlett Knights.
Ohio State is not even close to being on upset alert, but it is, without question, that will be the opening slide of the Buckeyes' meeting tomorrow. It takes one bad night, one bad game, for a season to be over. Rutgers experienced that on Thursday, and Ohio State cannot afford to have a slip-up like this in any week this year.
The Buckeyes' schedule is too tough for them to lose their footing at any point this year. They may not be on upset alert on Saturday against Ball State or in two weeks against Kent State, but the point remains: when they play teams that they should beat, they can't slip up.
College football is too competitive, and Ohio State's schedule is too tough for them to make a major mistake. Thanks to Rutgers, they got their warning, and now they must use it as evidence that, in just a couple of short hours, their season could be over.
Ohio State and Ball State at 12:30 PM on Saturday afternoon.
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