Buckeyes Punch Their Way Past Maryland … Indiana Is Next

Ohio State hit bit big pass plays, ran the ball well in the second half and set up a showdown against the Hoosiers at noon next Saturday in Bloomington. 

Columbus, OH – Ohio State’s early-round punches Saturday constituted the thundering jabs Maryland could see coming but couldn’t stop.

Fight game 101 stuff.

Hit ’em early and hit ’em hard with explosive pass plays for touchdowns, two to Jeremiah Smith and one to tight end Nate Roberts.

Then, in the rain, they counter punched in the second half with body blows, the repeated running-game strikes that send an opponent to its knees, led by Bo Jackson’s 107-yard day behind an offensive line missing two starters. They showed no mercy with a 9-minute, 59-second touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

An easy decision for the judges: Ohio State 45, Maryland 16.

The undercards in No. 5 Ohio State’s season are finished. Six main events await, the type of gauntlet the SEC forever brags about. And next Saturday at No. 7 Indiana, in the most anticipated regular season game in Memorial Stadium history, everyone will be “ready to rumble.”

“They took something from us we wanted to execute, and we’re going to use that as motivation,” Roberts said in reference to Indiana’s win over the Buckeyes in last year’s Big Ten championship game. “It’s going to be a tough environment, but we’re looking forward to it.”

Indiana (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) survived Nebraska 20-17 on Saturday with a fourth-quarter touchdown. They beat Northwestern three weeks ago 29-23. But at home, against Ohio State (5-1, 3-0), the Hoosiers will come out swinging.

“For us it’s just about how can we keep improving this week and how can we clean up the mistakes that happened in this game,” quarterback Julian Sayin said.

Almost everything Maryland (2-4, 0-3) got came because Ohio State dropped its hands and gave the Terps openings they landed.

Maryland’s first score, a 39-yard field goal by Sean O’Haire, came after a Sayin fumble. The defense did its job to prevent a touchdown.

Maryland’s first touchdown, a five-yard run by quarterback Malik Washington, was aided by three Ohio State penalties, trimming OSU’s lead to 14-10. The final two were back-to-back five-yarders that bailed the Terps out of second-and-goal from the 15.

The third was a 52-yard interception return by linebacker Daniel Wingate in the third quarter, reducing OSU’s lead to 31-16. Running back Isaiah West whiffed trying to block blitzing linebacker Tre Reddick. Sayin compounded the problem by trying to dump off a short pass to West. Instead of taking the sack, the stray toss found Wingate.

Head Buckeye Ryan Day demonstrated more emotion than usual on the sideline after such plays that he knows are the kind that can lead to a loss in the final six games and beyond.

“You can’t accept that as a coach, and if the training is strictly enforced, then there’s going to be discipline,” he said. “We’ve all got to own it. And I got to hold the coaches accountable. It’s my responsibility because when that’s happening, it’s a direct reflection of coaching. And so to just sit there and say it’s OK, it’s not OK.”

Two aspects of Ohio State’s play were OK.

The defense held Maryland to 146 yards and stopped them nine times on 12 third-down attempts. The front four, led by Kenyatta Jackson, harassed Washington into a 12-for-25 day for 64 yards.

What was more than OK on offense was how the Buckeyes’ bloodied the Terrapins with three long touchdown passes to build a 21-10 lead. But they were a bit sneaky about it. Julian Sayin didn’t throw over the top to Jeremiah Smith.

But he did throw to Smith. And Smith accumulated 89 yards after the catch on his four catches for 93 yards. The numbers weren’t crazy like the past two weeks, but the highlights were Heisman-hype worthy.

Smith caught a short pass on a crossing route at the 30, turned up field and ran through contact at the goal line for a 33-yard touchdown. Meanwhile, freshman Brock Boyd ran free in the end zone. We know the answer to that situation.

Jeremiah Smith is always a good decision.

Smith later caught a screen pass, won at turning the corner on the defense and outran the Terps down the sideline when two defenders appeared to have enough angle to knock him out of bounds.

But this is Jeremiah Smith. And the 40-yard touchdown was the 38^th of his career, leaving him one short of the Big Ten record of 39 set by Michigan’s Braylon Edwards. Smith also made a stretched-out one-handed catch in the red zone that photos and videos of are circulating on the internet.

In between Smith’s highlights, Roberts made one of his own. Out of a two-tight end set on the left side, he hit an opening down the seam and Sayin found him for a 68-yard touchdown. Roberts was so open that when he caught the ball at the 50, his sprint to the end zone made him look like the fastest tight end in the world.

“As the play was developing, I saw the safety bail out, and I received the ball,” Roberts said. “I was running as hard as I could, and I was able to peek up at the jumbotron a little bit, but not too much.”

The Buckeyes finished the half with a touchdown drive for the sixth time this season. The first five came with fewer than 15 seconds left. This one came on Sayin’s one-yard pass to tight end Mason Williams with 24 seconds left.

“I don’t know if that’s ever been done before – it’s pretty remarkable,” Day said.

Ohio State’s maturing run game accumulated 207 yards on 48 carries, a stark contrast to the typical run-pass ratio. Sayin completed 13 of 21 passes for 242 yards and four touchdowns.

The Buckeyes ran the ball at their best in the second half with 30 carries for 128 yards. Bo Jackson’s 107 yards came on 23 carries as he used his vision to navigate holes in the defense and finished a lot of runs hitting the defenders hard. Ja’Kobi Jackson carried 14 times for 76 yards, dishing out punishment as usual.

“Those running backs ran hard, and it all started up front,” Sayin said. “It was really cool to see even with the shuffling on the offensive line today.”

The line missed right tackle Phillip Daniels again. Right guard Austin Siereveld, who has been filling in at tackle for Daniels, was ruled out a few hours before the game.

The shuffle moved Gabe Van Sickle from guard to tackle on the right side and inserted Jake Cook at guard. Cook has seen time as the sixth lineman in the bison package in short-yardage situations. They formed a strong right-side duo against Maryland’s physical defensive front.

“You got to give [offensive line coach] Tyler [Bowen] credit and give the other guys up front credit,” Day said. “Jake had to step in too. Really big start for him. That’s a tough ask for Gabe, but he was able to handle it. That’s a good sign for him.”

With Cook starting, that didn’t stop Arthur Smith from calling for the bison package with a new wrinkle. Josh Padilla took Cook’s spot on the line and Cook lined up as an H-back.

The first time in that formation, with a tight end on each end of the line, Cook helped open a hole on the left side for Bo Jackson to run untouched for a 25-yard touchdown, pushing the lead to 38-16. The second time Bo Jackson picked up a first down with extra effort.

The run game flexed again in the fourth quarter on a 16-play, 72-yard drive that killed 9:59 off the clock. The Buckeyes ran 14 times on the drive, capping it with a two-yard Bo Jackson touchdown out of a fullhouse backfield.

“They did a good job up front,” Sayin said. “They were fighting all day. I have a lot of trust and confidence in those guys.”

Everything that happened Saturday happened without six starters. In addition to Daniels and Siereveld, linebacker Christian Alliegro, defensive back Jay Timmons and receivers Brandon Inniss and Devin McCuin spent the afternoon on the sideline.

That created more opportunities for receivers Chris Henry Jr., Brock Boyd and Kyle Parker, an LSU transfer finally healthy enough to make his debut with one catch. Henry Jr. caught a 46-yard pass to set up Connor Hawkins’ 40-yard field goal for a 24-10 lead.

Legend Bey, missing in action since the season opener, returned a kickoff 29 yards and carried the ball four times for 13 yards. And Phillip Bell, another young receiver, returned a punt 31 yards for the Buckeyes’ best special teams play of the season.

“It was an opportunity for some guys to step up, which I thought there was some really good play out there,” Day said. “I thought the energy, I thought the physicality was really there.”

Day said a good portion of the missing starters will return to play against Indiana. Which ones, we don’t know yet. But given a puncher’s chance, Daniels and Siereveld figure to be the most probable.

The Buckeyes will need everyone.