On a day that saw the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 teams in the most recent College Football Playoff ranking all fall victim to upsets, Ohio State stepped on Maryland's neck early and never looked back in a 62-3 spanking of the Terps in College Park.
J.T. Barrett amassed 300 yards of offense with four scores and Curtis Samuel kept doing his thing with 112 total yards and three touchdowns on nine touches as the Buckeyes moved the ball at will against an overmatched D.J. Durkin outfit.
The win improved the Buckeyes to 9-1 on the season and likely vaults them to No. 2 in the CFP rankings to be released Tuesday night however with Michigan's loss at Iowa, things got a little murkier in the B1G East.
Ohio State now needs to win out and have Penn State lose to either Rutgers or Michigan State in order to reach the B1G championship game meaning the Buckeyes might have a better shot of making the College Football Playoff than they do of winning a conference title which in and of itself would be a first in the short history of the playoff era.
Time will tell how everything shakes out in the wake of yesterday's shenanigans and the unknown of what else will happen over the next few weeks.
For now, we take a look at Five Things from the latest beatdown issued by Urban Meyer's squad before turning focus to Sparty.
HILL YEAH
It's no coincidence Ohio State's passing game came to life around the same time redshirt freshman K.J. Hill earned increased playing time.
Hill logged just four receptions through Ohio State's first eight games but his fourth, a 34-yard catch and run setting up the game-winning score in a 24-20 win over Northwestern served a springboard for both Hill and the Buckeye aerial attack.
Last weekend against Nebraska, Hill posted a career-high five receptions for 66 yards and he was back at it yesterday with another five grabs on seven targets for 62 yards.
Finally, Barrett has developed confidence in chemistry with a true wideout not named Noah Brown and the result is a passing offense that looks to be gaining momentum.
With those 10 grabs over the last two weeks Hill is now Ohio State's 2nd-most prolific true wide receiver with 14 catches for 230 yards behind Brown's 27 receptions and 345 yards.
With catches of 34, 26 and 28 yards across the last three games Hill is emerging as a big play guy – his 16.4 yards per catch average leads all Buckeyes with at least five receptions.
Props to Hill on his development and seizing his opportunity which could not have come at a better time for the Buckeyes.
D'S NUTS
Ohio State's rejuvenated offense has received most of the press lately but the defense simply overwhelmed Maryland in the opening half paving the way to a 45-3 halftime lead.
In eight 1st half possessions preceding the last one in which the Terps ran out the clock so they could escape to the locker room, the Buckeye defense forced four 3-and-outs, a turnover on downs, a pick and a fumble amid one lone scoring drive ending in a 23-yard field goal.
The D gave up just five 1st downs and seven rushing yards while holding Maryland to zero 3rd down conversions in seven tries.
It was truly a complete effort as the defensive line owned the line of scrimmage led by Tyquan Lewis, linebackers Jerome Baker and Raekwon McMillan each tallied five stops with McMillan in particular blowing up adding two TFL, a sack and a forced fumble, extending his recent streak of exceptional play, and the secondary was boosted by another Marshon Lattimore interception.
Ohio State's defense has now given up a mere 10 touchdowns all year with just three of those coming on the ground, good for the best mark in big boy college football. They've also scored six touchdowns, good for the 2nd-best total in the FBS.
COME TOGETHER.. RIGHT NOW.. OVER M-D
Again focusing only on the 1st half since the rest of the game was a glorified practice, Ohio State's offensive line continued its own recent resurgence with another dominant performance.
Behind the Slobs, Ohio State's offense went for 45 points – the first time it has eclipsed the 40-point barrier in the 1st half since Kent State in 2014 – and the Buckeyes have now gone for 60+ points in back-to-back games for the first time in Urban Meyer's head coaching career.
Save for three not-great penalties from veterans Pat Elflein (personal foul) and Billy Price (false start, holding), the Slobs chewed up Maryland racking up 171 rushing yards on 6.3 yards per carry with four touchdowns while giving Barrett all day to throw.
Barrett took advantage of the time completing 13 of 17 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground Mike Weber logged all 12 of his carries in the opening half tallying 93 yards on 7.8 per carry behind gaping holes, particularly between Jamarco Jones and Michael Jordan ahead of the also-improving downfield blocking from receivers.
For the game, the Buckeye offense registered 581 total yards including 253 on the ground via 5.9 yards per carry with five negative yardage plays in 79 snaps.
STAYING ON SCHEDULE
One of the most important tasks for any offense is to stay on schedule, e.g. gain positive yardage on 1st down to avoid getting in down and distance holes that make it easier for the defense to scheme.
Ohio State has enjoyed great success on 1st down the last few weeks and in yesterday's 1st half the trend continued.
What's most exciting about yesterday's 1st down success during the opening half is the balance achieved via the run and pass. On 25 1st down snaps the Buckeyes ran it 14 times and passed it 11 which is the type of spread that keeps opponents on their heels.
On those 14 rushes Ohio State racked up 93 yards, or 6.6 yards per carry and through the air Barrett completed an outstanding 10 of 11 tosses for 168 yards. In total, those 25 plays on 1st down registered 261 yards on 10.4 yards per play generating 13 1st downs and three touchdowns.
That seems good.
LATTI-DADDY
Gareon Conley and Malik Hooker seem to get the majority of the hype – and they are absolute studs in their own right – but Marshon Lattimore is the best pure cover guy on the squad and he's no slouch in run support with 31 stops, good for 13 more than Conley.
Lattimore also leads the squad with nine pass breakups and trails only Hooker after logging his fourth interception of the season against the Terps.
His latest pick came midway through the 2nd quarter as he flashed nifty footwork and hands along the sideline to reel in an overthrown Caleb Rowe toss. The ensuing OSU possession saw Samuel cruise into the end zone off a slick reverse capping a 54-yard march to put Ohio State in front 35-3.
With Lattimore, Hooker and Conley all doing work in the secondary, it will be fun to watch how they match up with Michigan's talented receiving corps in two weeks.
What scares me a little is Harbaugh, while he won't shy completely away from taking on these three, is wise enough to attack Ohio State's final piece of the secondary puzzle, Damon Webb, early and often because the dropoff in pass coverage ability is so pronounced.
For now though, enjoy Lattimore, Hooker and Conley while you can because they'll all be roaming NFL secondaries next season. The only question is in what order they will go. I'll guess Lattimore goes in the top-15 or so, Hooker is a 1st rounder and Conley isn't too far behind.
