Maryland Head Coach Mike Locksley: "Their Front Seven is the Strength of Their Defense"

If a college football game was only 35 minutes long, Maryland would have been thrilled with the result, as the Terrapins held a 17-10 lead nearly midway through the third quarter. However, as we all know, that's not the case, and Ohio State scored 27 unanswered points in the final 25 minutes and won 37-17 to remain undefeated.

It's part of the reason Maryland head coach Mike Locksley is happy with his team's performance but also disappointed because his team played so well for more than half the game and then gave it all up in the final quarter and a half.

With Ohio State's offense totaling just 31 yards on its first four drives,
Taulia Tagovailoa threw a pick-six to Josh Proctor for the Buckeyes' first score of the game. Following that interception, Ohio State punted on the next drive and then scored either a touchdown or field goal on its following six drives. It was the type of momentum-changing play that the Buckeyes needed and Maryland leaned on during its 5-0 start to the season but couldn't find a way to do so Saturday afternoon in Columbus.

"(Ohio State) did a really good job of limiting and creating turnovers, which we talked about with our squad. Our winning formula is being able to generate explosives, take care of the football, and then on defense to limit the explosives and create turnovers, and we didn't do either very well today."– Mike Locksley

Although Maryland seemed to win at the line of scrimmage early on, Ohio State did much better in that area as the game progressed, especially defensively. Maryland ended up with 35 carries for just 106 yards and one touchdown on the afternoon. Locksley praised the Buckeyes front seven following the game.

"Their front seven is the strength of their defense. They play heavy-handed, especially in the interior parts of their defensive structure. But it's more about we do than what they do (in terms of our struggles running the ball)."– Mike Locksley

Marvin Harrison Jr., even with a sprained ankle and Maryland's defense focused on him, was still able to notch eight catches for 163 yards and one touchdown. Part of that was due to defensive breakdowns, but another reason was due to the fact that Harrison is such an elite player that was still able to find holes throughout the secondary in order to get open and connect with Kyle McCord. Locksley hoped his defense would be able to contain the best receiver in the country much better than Maryland did today.

"When they're that wide open, obviously there are some big breakdowns. ... We have to keep the ball in front of us. We know how talented he was, and for a guy like him to still find a way to make plays, that's the piece for me as I evaluate. ... Marvin Harrison Jr. is a really good player, and the way you structure things is to take away the good players, and today, he made a bunch of plays that I would've hoped we'd be better at."– Mike Locksley

With Ohio State beating previously undefeated Maryland Saturday afternoon, the Buckeyes are now 5-0. They will travel to Purdue to take on the Boilermakers for a noon kickoff next Saturday, with the game exclusively on Peacock.