A grade card on Ohio State’s 37-17 win over Maryland in a match-up of two teams that came into the game undefeated:
OFFENSE: C-
Ohio State’s offense ranged from bad to borderline embarrassing for much of the first half before outscoring Maryland 27-7 in the second half.
OSU went scoreless on its first five possessions and its only touchdown in the first two quarters came on an interception by safety Josh Proctor, which might have turned the tide of the game. Kyle McCord connected with Marvin Harrison Jr. for 58 yards and 19 yards to set up a field goal which allowed the Buckeyes to tie the game at 10-10 late in the first half.
Those two passes to Harrison were a preview of what the second half would look like. In the second half, McCord (19 of 29 for 320 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions) completed 11 of 14 passes for 194 yards and threw touchdown passes to tight end Cade Stover and Harrison. He also threw non-scoring passes of 37 yards to Harrison and Julian Fleming.
OSU’s offensive line, which had given up three sacks in the first half, did not allow any in the second half. No. 1 running back TreVeyon Henderson was held out of the game in a precautionary move and the running game, which produced only 62 yards, clearly missed his explosiveness. OSU was 1 of 7 on third down conversions in the first half.
DEFENSE: A-
Goal No. 1 against Maryland was containing its quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who came into the game as the Big Ten’s leader in passing yards and touchdown passes.
Tagovailoa completed just over 50 percent of his passes (21 of 41) for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for 21 yards and another TD. OSU had two sacks, five tackles for losses and Lathan Ransom added a second-half interception to Proctor’s first-half pick six.
The defense’s ability to stop Maryland’s offense also set up OSU’s offense in great field position three times in the second half, which was a factor in 13 points.
The drive that started after Ransom’s interception began on Maryland’s 38-yard line and ended with a Jayden Fielding field goal which gave Ohio State its first lead of the game at 20-17.
With Ohio State leading 27-17 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Maryland gambled and tried to run for a first down at its own 32-yard line on fourth down and didn’t get it. Four plays later McCord threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Harrison. OSU’s final three points came at the end of a drive which began at the 50-yard line after Maryland went three and out and punted.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B-
It was mostly an uneventful day, good or bad, for OSU’s special teams except for one bizarre situation where the ball slipped out of the long snapper’s hands and landed in the hands of a suprised Cody Simon instead of getting to punter Jesse Mirco.
OVERALL: B-
Ohio State responded well in the second half against probably the best team Maryland has had since it joined the Big Ten in 2014.
