Beating Maryland might not come quite as easily this year as it did for Ohio State last year.
Ohio State steamrolled Maryland last year, defeating the Terrapins in their own home stadium by a score of 62-3. But even though the Buckeyes will be back in their home stadium for Saturday’s game, which is also this year’s homecoming game at Ohio Stadium, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer says he expects a tougher challenge from the Terps this year.
"They went down to Austin, Texas and beat Texas. A very talented Texas team. And then they went up with the third-string quarterback and beat one of the top defenses in the country at Minnesota," Meyer said of Maryland. "A very talented team. A team that is much improved. A team that I’m glad we’re playing them at home."
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3-1 (1-0 B1G) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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4 P.M. – SATURDAY, OCT. 7 OHIO STADIUM COLUMBUS, OHIO |
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FOX FOX SPORTS GO |
As Meyer mentioned, the Terrapins started their season off with an unexpected win when they defeated Texas, 51-41, in the Longhorns’ home stadium in former Ohio State assistant Tom Herman’s debut as Longhorns coach.
The Terrapins are on their third starting quarterback of the season, Max Bortenschlager, as their first two quarterbacks to start games this year – Tyrrell Pigrome and Kasim Hill – are both out for the season with torn ACLs. But that didn’t stop Maryland from earning a 31-24 win last week against a Minnesota team that is ranked 12th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense and 11th in the nation in scoring defense.
Maryland’s first four games of the year haven’t been entirely impressive; the Terrapins suffered a 38-10 loss to Central Florida in their third game of the season. The Terrapins are 31-point underdogs for Saturday’s game against the Buckeyes. But second-year Maryland coach D.J. Durkin says his team "absolutely" has more confidence than it did when it played the Buckeyes last November.
"Comparing last year to this year, I think there are so many differences, it’s not probably something you can even measure," Durkin said. "Our team is in a much different spot. There’s a lot of different guys playing. And even the guys that were playing, I think are fully different now that we’ve got a full year in our program and continue to build and develop and grow and learn what we’re doing."
Maryland Breakdown
While most of the headlines about Maryland’s offense entering Saturday’s game have focused on the turnover at the quarterback position, the Terrapins’ bread-and-butter is their running game. Outside of their loss to UCF, in which the Terrapins were held to only 42 rushing yards on 37 total carries, Maryland (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) has rushed for at least 260 yards in its other three games.
The star of Maryland’s rushing attack is junior running back Ty Johnson, who has 411 rushing yards on just 46 attempts this season – good for a Big Ten-leading 8.9 yards per carry – and has captured the attention of Ohio State’s defensive players and coaches with his playmaking ability.
"He’s got great acceleration," said Ohio State linebackers coach Billy Davis. "He really can go. And he’s got good vision and patience."
Ohio State defensive end-turned-defensive tackle Jalyn Holmes said Johnson, who Maryland lists at 5-foot-10 and 208 pounds, "plays a lot bigger than he actually is."
"He’s a real good back," Holmes said. "He’s going to come to play Saturday. We got to prepare."
Ty Johnson leads all Big Ten running backs this season with 8.9 yards per carry. Jesse Johnson – USA TODAY Sports
That said, Johnson isn’t the only Maryland running back Ohio State is concerned about; the Buckeyes say Terrapins sophomore Lorenzo Harrison III, who has 201 rushing yards on 46 attempts this season, is a dynamic player, too.
"I think they’ve both got great vision," said Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson. "They can cut on a dime. We’ve got to do a great job of holding our gaps."
Davis says the Terrapins also have a "physical offensive line," which includes three second-year starters in right tackle Damian Prince, right guard Terrance Davis and center Brendan Moore.
The Terrapins’ top playmaker in the passing game is wide receiver D.J. Moore, who leads the Big Ten in all three major receiving categories this season with 30 catches for 403 yards and five touchdowns, and could be the toughest opponent Ohio State’s secondary has faced since its first two games of the season, in which it gave up 806 combined passing yards.
"He’s really good," Ohio State cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs said of Moore. "So we’ve got a huge challenge ahead of us. He’s a great player."
Bortenschlager isn’t as dynamic an athlete as the two quarterbacks who started the season ahead of him on the depth chart, Tyrrell Pigrome and Kasim Hill. Nonetheless, Bortenschlager had a solid showing in his first start of the season last week against Minnesota, completing 18 of 28 passing attempts for 154 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions, while also running four times for 18 yards and a touchdown.
Limited film of Bortenschlager makes it more difficult for Ohio State to fully evaluate his abilities and his tendencies, but Meyer says he and his fellow coaches have been impressed with what they’ve seen from Maryland’s newest signal-caller.
"I think he was extremely efficient in the quick passing game, getting the ball out and then obviously had some big runs to beat Minnesota," Meyer said of Bortenschlager’s performance last week. "I thought he did excellent. Our defensive staff’s got a lot of respect for him."
Maryland’s performance has been up-and-down on the defensive side of the ball. The Terrapins held both Towson and Minnesota to just 309 yards of offense each, but allowed Texas to put up 41 points on 473 yards, including 375 passing yards, and UCF to score 38 points on 428 yards, including 250 rushing yards.
The star of Maryland’s defense is senior linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr., who leads the Terrapins with 29 total tackles, four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Shane Cockerille, also a senior linebacker, is second on the team with 26 tackles. Safety Darnell Savage Jr. is Maryland’s third-leading tackler with 22 tackles, while he also returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown against Towson. The Terrapins’ top cornerback is JC Jackson, who has two interceptions this year.
Jermaine Carter Jr. is Maryland's leader in total tackles, tackles for loss and sacks.
Maryland is without its top pass-rusher from last season, Jesse Aniebonam, who fractured his ankle in the Terrapins’ season opener.
As has been the case with most of Ohio State’s opponents in the first half of the season, Maryland runs a multi-front defense that often lines up in a 3-4 scheme, and Meyer says he believes that defense has improved with another year of tutelage from Durkin, who was previously the defensive coordinator at Florida (where he was also an assistant coach to Meyer) and Michigan before becoming the head coach at Maryland.
Ohio State wide receiver Parris Campbell said he sees an "aggressive" defense that often utilizes man-to-man coverage and a single-high safety. Campbell expects the Terrapins to play tight and challenge Ohio State’s skill-position players, but he says that’s a challenge the Buckeyes relish.
"As an offense, that’s what you want," Campbell said. "You want those one-on-one matchups. So honestly, it’s going to come down to man vs. man, we have to exploit those one-on-one matchups."
Overall, Maryland might still be overmatched from a talent standpoint this season, but Durkin believes his team has improved "across the board" from last season.
"Our players’ understanding of our schemes and what we’re trying to do has increased. I think we’ve made improvements and developed our guys we have," Durkin said. "I think we still obviously have a ways to go, but I like where we’re at."
Buckeye Breakdown
Since its loss to Oklahoma in its second game of the year, No. 10-ranked Ohio State (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) has been on a roll, winning each of its last three games by at least 31 points.
The Buckeyes also recognize, though, that their last three games against Army, UNLV and Rutgers – three teams that aren’t nearly on the level of Oklahoma or even the rest of the teams they will play this season, including Maryland.
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| OFFENSE | ||||
| 42.6 | 11th | POINTS FOR | 38.8 | 26th |
| 241.0 | 20th | RUSHING OFFENSE | 233.5 | 24th |
| 323.8 | 13th | PASSING OFFENSE | 173.8 | 106th |
| 564.8 | 5th | TOTAL OFFENSE | 407.3 | 73rd |
| .422 | 47th | 3rd DOWNS | .348 | 96th |
| .852 | 63rd | RED ZONE | .714 | 114th |
| DEFENSE | ||||
| 16.0 | 16th | POINTS ALLOWED | 30.0 | 91st |
| 134.6 | 56th | RUSH DEFENSE | 131.8 | 48th |
| 201.0 | 42nd | PASS DEFENSE | 248.0 | 93rd |
| 117.2 | 43rd | PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE | 123.5 | 55th |
| 335.6 | 35th | TOTAL DEFENSE | 379.8 | 67th |
| .338 | 44th | 3rd DOWNS | .452 | 109th |
| .643 | 10th | RED ZONE | .714 | 20th |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||||
| 2.1 | 116th | PUNT RETURN | 12.4 | 28th |
| 32.9 | 3rd | KICKOFF RETURN | 22.2 | 47th |
| 42.3 | 13th | NET PUNTING | 34.8 | 110th |
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||||
| + 1.2 | 15th | TURNOVER MARGIN | +0.8 | 29th |
| 7.4 | 97th | PENALTIES | 7.0 | 78th |
| 15 | EDGE | 3 | ||
When asked about his team’s improvement this week, Meyer repeatedly used the word “realistic,” specifically in regards to the passing offense and the passing defense – the units that have been most heavily scrutinized this season. While Meyer believes the Buckeyes have made strides in both areas, he believes they need to prove their improvement against better competition, which he believes they will start to face against Maryland on Saturday.
"This will be a better challenge," Meyer said.
Offensively, the Buckeyes are looking to build on a stretch in which they have put up at least 586 total yards of offense, including at least 316 passing yards, in each of their last three games.
Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett, who adamantly defended his improvement in the deep passing game earlier this week, said he expects the Buckeyes to continue taking deep shots on Saturday. Yet the Buckeyes could also choose to lean on their two-headed monster at the running back position – and could potentially even implement a two-back set – with J.K. Dobbins joined by a now-healthy Mike Weber.
Asked specifically about Dobbins, who leads Ohio State with 75 carries for 573 yards and three touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ first two games, Durkin said his performance as a true freshman has been "pretty phenomenal."
"He can run. He’s fast. He can make you miss, run you over. He plays with just great effort and energy, and there’s an excitement when he’s on it," Durkin said. "So yeah, there’s certainly a lot of different weapons they can use offensively, and he’s one of them."
Defensively, the Buckeyes are looking to build on a stretch in which they have held their last three opponents to less than 300 total yards of offense and less than 100 passing yards.
Maryland offensive coordinator Walt Bell said he expects the Ohio State defense to give his unit a "great challenge."
"Everything that you hear about these guys or everything that you think about these guys is probably true," Bell told Maryland reporters this week. "They make the field seem really small. Not only are they big, not only are they long but they also run really well. So as much as we try to turn this into a space game, they do a great job of eating up that space. They’ve got a couple waves of D-linemen that are all really good players, that are really good on the back end. A couple of the best linebackers that we’ll probably play this year."
While Campbell expects the Ohio State offense to attack the aggressiveness of Maryland’s defense and try to take advantage of big-play opportunities, Ohio State’s defensive coaches and players say the key to a successful game on their end will be staying disciplined, particularly against Maryland’s highly-ranked rushing attack.
"From the D-linemen to linebackers to the secondary that has a gap, it has to be where they’re supposed to be, and that’s how they have success," Davis said. "And we got to make our tackles."
“Everything that you hear about these guys or everything that you think about these guys is probably true.” – Walt Bell on Ohio State's defense
As a whole, Durkin says Ohio State is a "very talented" and "very well-coached" team, and what stands out to Durkin about the Buckeyes is their "overall team speed."
"There’s speed at all positions, and it’s going to be played fast," Durkin said. "So that’s the biggest thing to me. When you watch offense, defense and special teams, that pops out first."
How It Plays Out
If Ohio State can perform as well as it has over the last three weeks in both its passing offense and its passing defense, the Buckeyes should be able to roll to another comfortable victory on Saturday.
If slightly better competition makes those units struggle the way they did against Indiana and Oklahoma, however, the Terrapins have a chance to keep the game competitive.
| YEAR | LOCATION | RESULT |
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| 2016 | College Park, Md. | Ohio State 62, Maryland 3 |
| 2015 | Columbus, Ohio | Ohio State 49, Maryland 28 |
| 2014 | College Park, Md. | Ohio State 52, Maryland 24 |
Ohio State would certainly like to establish a big lead over the Terrapins and have the opportunity to give its backups extended playing time once again, while Maryland would love to change the balance of power in the Big Ten East with a shocking win, but neither team is making any bold proclamations about this game.
The Buckeyes have momentum on their side right now, and winning big would be the best way to keep that going, especially from a confidence standpoint. Ohio State must continue to improve in all three phases of the game, and prove that its improved play over the last three weeks was not simply a product of playing lesser competition. The Buckeyes’ main focus heading into this game, however, is just remaining undefeated in conference play.
"We have to find a way to get a win," said Meyer, who will coach his 200th career game as a head coach on Saturday.
If Saturday’s game plays out anything like Maryland’s previous games against Ohio State played out, Saturday could prove to be a reality check for the Terrapins after their strong start on the road. But they say they’re not intimidated by the challenge of playing Ohio State despite last year’s result.
Durkin says Saturday’s game is an "unbelievable opportunity" for the Terrapins. Bell agrees.
"More than anything else, excited for the opportunity to compete," Bell said. "I’m excited to go see our kids play. See how much better we are than we were a year ago."
Ohio State’s overall talent advantage is enough for the Buckeyes to potentially cover the 31-point spread in this game, but the playmaking ability of Johnson, Harrison and Moore could also enable the Terrapins to keep the game close if Bortenschlager plays well and their defense holds its own.
ELEVEN WARRIORS STAFF PREDICTION: Ohio State 48, Maryland 17
