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Maryland Terrapins at Ohio State Buckeyes

Oct 10, 20263:15 PM CTBTNColumbus, OH
By JR·2 min read
Maryland(2-3)
#5 Ohio State(4-1)
3:15 PM

TLDR: Maryland gave up 34 straight points at Nebraska, and its next stop is Columbus against an Ohio State team that just went into Kinnick and handled a ranked Iowa. Michael Locksley needs a reason for hope on Saturday, October 10, and Ohio Stadium hasn't handed out many of those.

Week 6 · 10/10, 3:15 PM CTBTN
Maryland
(2-3)
LLLWW
#5 Ohio State
(4-1)
WWWLW
Kickoff74°10 mph

No. 5 Ohio State, 4-1 with its only loss by a point at Texas, hosts a 2-3 Maryland team that has lost 3 straight and gave up 34 unanswered points at Nebraska. Jeremiah Smith and a deep Buckeyes backfield face a Terps defense missing LB Z. Mathis. Maryland's best hope is a passing game that can move the ball for a half, going at an Ohio State secondary that just lost CB Jay Timmons. No odds have posted yet.

Maryland Terrapins
  • Put up 300 first-half yards at Nebraska
  • Washington's passing game can move it in stretches
  • Ohio State down CB Jay Timmons, freshman stepping in
  • Gave up 34 straight points after leading at Nebraska
  • 8 penalties, 2 Washington interceptions last week
  • LB Mathis out for the season, DL Johnson out
Ohio State Buckeyes
  • Jeremiah Smith: 11 catches, 206 yards vs Iowa
  • Backfield ran for 163 without RB Rogers
  • Has allowed 19 or fewer in 3 straight games
  • CB Jay Timmons out, freshman Jordan Thomas exposed
  • RB T. Rogers still dealing with an undisclosed injury

Everything on the field starts with Jeremiah Smith. Against Iowa he caught 11 balls for 206 yards and 2 touchdowns, and in the process became Ohio State's all-time leader in receptions and receiving touchdowns (36), passing Emeka Egbuka and Chris Olave. Julian Sayin barely had to work for it. He was 9-of-12 for 139 yards and a score in the first half alone. Maryland will counter with Malik Washington, who ran a balanced offense for a half in Lincoln and then threw 2 interceptions as it all came apart.

Ohio State has some injuries to sort out this week. Running back T. Rogers sat out the Iowa game with an undisclosed injury, and the backfield didn't miss him: Bo Jackson, Ja'Kobi Jackson and Isaiah West combined for 163 yards on 37 carries. The bigger worry is at corner, where Jay Timmons was ruled out and freshman Jordan Thomas was expected to take on a big role. That's the one spot where a Maryland passing game that put up 177 yards in a half at Nebraska could find room. No board has posted for this one yet, so for now the matchup stands on its own.

The scary part for Maryland isn't that it lost to Nebraska. It's how. The Terps led by 9 in the second quarter, outgained the Huskers with 300 first-half yards, and still went into halftime down 28-23. Eight penalties for 70 yards didn't help, including 3 on Nebraska's last drive of the half. After the break they didn't score again, and Nebraska ran off 34 points in a row. That's the third straight loss, and it has Locksley's job security back in the headlines.

Maryland Terrapins
(2-3)
10/03L@Nebraska23-48
09/26Lvs#21 UCLA3-54
09/19LvsVirginia Tech26-35
09/12W@UConn38-14
09/06WvsHampton62-0
#5 Ohio State Buckeyes
(4-1)
10/03W@#20 Iowa31-14
09/26WvsIllinois42-19
09/19WvsKent State59-3
09/12L@#1 Texas23-24
09/05WvsBall State56-3

The season splits cleanly in half. Maryland opened by beating Hampton 62-0 and UConn 38-14, then went 0-2 in Big Ten play, and its two home losses before that, to Virginia Tech and a 54-3 beating by UCLA, came before the trip to Lincoln. Ohio State's only loss was a 1-point game at Texas. Since then the Buckeyes have won 3 straight, giving up 3 points to Kent State, 19 to Illinois and 14 to a Hawkeyes team that came in unbeaten.

Maryland's defense is short-handed too. Linebacker Z. Mathis is out for the season with a leg injury, and lineman L. Johnson has been out since before the UCLA game. That's not a front you want to bring to Columbus, where Ohio State just showed it can run the ball for 4 quarters and still let Smith win outside. The early forecast for Saturday is 79 degrees and cloudy with almost no wind, so the weather won't slow anybody down. The question for Maryland is simple: can it play a clean 60 minutes for the first time in a month? Against this receiver room, 30 good minutes won't be enough.