Ohio State Buckeyes: 5 takeaways from the win over Maryland

Here are five things to know about the game:

1. Ohio State finished on a 27-0 run.

The Buckeyes erased a 10-point first half deficit only to fall behind against 17-10 early in the third quarter. Then they scored on five straight possessions to win comfortably and improve to 5-0.

“We wanted to start fast in this game and we didn’t get that done,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “So we’ve got to look at why that is, but you can start to see the rhythm again in the second half.”

2. Maryland dominated the first quarter.

The Terrapins’ decision to defer after winning the toss paid off almost immediately as Ohio State went went three-and-out then appeared to botch the snap on a punt attempt. That resulted in a 3-yard loss by Cody Simon, who picked up the ball and tried to run it.

Maryland capitalized four plays later when Taulia Tagovailoa hit Kaden Prather for a 15-yard touchdown.

When the first 15 minutes were up, Maryland had outgained Ohio State 111-28, picked up six first downs to two and was 3 for 4 on third downs while the Buckeyes were 1 for 4.

3. Overall, the Ohio State defense got the better of its matchup with the Big Ten’s No. 2 scoring offense.

Maryland brought one of the Big Ten’s best quarterbacks and offenses into Ohio Stadium, but the Terrapins turned the ball over — via interceptions or on downs — more often than they scored.

Ohio State held the Terps to below half their season scoring average (38.6 points) and made Tagovailoa work harder and harder as the game went on.

“It’s exciting,” said safety Josh Proctor, who had one of the Buckeyes’ two interceptions. “We’re a confident group. We’ve been through the ups and downs and we just want to trust each other and know that the other person knows what they’re doing at the end of the day.”

4. Most notably, Maryland had a hard time generating big plays.

A bugaboo last season, preventing explosive plays so far has been a strength for the Ohio State defense.

That continued Saturday as Maryland’s longest gain was 26 yards in continuing a shift in philosophy in the second season under coordinator Jim Knowles.

“I think the defense did some great things this game,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “I thought Jim and the staff did a really good job with the game plan. I thought that they were a step ahead just in terms of the defenses that we were in. He did a great job of getting them in the right calls. There’s still a ton of things that we can improve on and get better at, (but) I think our guys are playing hard, and that’s the thing to me. There are certain things that we can clean up, some things that were close, but our team is playing with passion. They are playing physical and they are playing hard.”

5. The Ohio State running game struggled again.

The Buckeyes were fifth in the Big Ten and 29th nationally in rushing offense (106.5 yards per game), and they figure to drop after managing just 62 against the Terrapins.

Without the big play ability of TreVeyon Henderson, who missed the game with an unidentified injury, Ohio State did not have a run longer than 11 yards.

Chip Trayanum finished with 61 yards on 20 carries while Miyan Williams had 23 yards on six tries, though Day said some of the issues were with Maryland loading the box.

That created some of the opportunities in the passing game the Buckeyes were able to exploit, especially in the second half when Kyle McCord completed 12 of 14 passes for 198 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He finished with 320 yards passing overall.

“I know there are a lot of guys in the box,” Day said. “They’re gonna stop the run, and that opened up the pass game in the second half.”

Day said Henderson should be ready to go next week when Ohio State travels to Purdue.

Stat of the Game

Ohio State was plus 2 in turnovers, and both takeaways led to scores. The Buckeyes have not lost the turnover battle yet this season.

Game Ball

Marvin Harrison Jr. was pretty much Ohio State’s offense in the first half when his 109 receiving yards represented 76% of the Buckeyes total. He finished with 163 yards on 13 catches with a touchdown, and he had a 58-yard catch to get the Buckeyes out from the shadow of their own goal post and a 37-yard catch on a second-and-33.