Ohio State Dominant, Sloppy in Homecoming Victory
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Maryland joined the Big Ten in 2014. Since then, Ohio State has stacked up 10 wins in 10 tries, including on Saturday. As one of the many college football games suiting up and dealing with the outskirts of Hurricane Isaias, the Buckeyes were sloppy and undisciplined, and it had nothing to do with the weather. The rain came down for most of the game, but the Ohio State offense – at times – looked just as it has.
However, there are concerns moving forward. Ohio State fans expect perfection. Usually, it’s not fair to do so. After this one, when considering the rest of the schedule, Ohio State needs to clean up a lot.
Ohio State Dominant, Sloppy in Homecoming Victory
What, Only Two Touchdowns?
Jeremiah Smith didn’t put up another 200-yard game, but he was as efficient as could be in the win. He was only targeted five times – credit to the Maryland defense for trying to take him away – and finished the game with four receptions. With those four receptions, Smith amassed 93 yards and two ridiculous touchdowns.
It was the most pedestrian performance of Smith’s incredible 2026. Even then, look up those two touchdowns. He took a pair of ho-hum drag routes for 33 yards and 40 yards, untouched, for scores.
He is just adding to his illustrious Ohio State career totals, but when it comes to the Big Ten totals, he’s now 115 receptions, 315 yards, and two touchdowns, from owning the Big Ten triple crown. The receptions mark may be out of reach, barring a ridiculous run, but touchdowns could fall next week, and yards could be attained on Halloween.
If you want to compare his 2026 to DeVonta Smith’s 2020 Heisman campaign:
| Receptions | Yards | TDs | |
| Jeremiah Smith | 48 | 916 | 11 |
| DeVonta Smith | 56 | 759 | 8 |
The Alabama Smith put up 203 yards and four touchdowns in his sixth game, hence why it’s closer…but in reality, it’s still not that close to this point. Of course, he scored seven touchdowns over his next three games, so the pace has been set.
Another Stout Performance
We were incredibly bullish on the defense in our weekly bold predictions. While two of the three predictions came up short (because the defense didn’t force any turnovers and Jaylen McClain was everywhere), it was impressive altogether.
On the season, Maryland’s offense was averaging over 434 yards per game. Against Ohio State? The Terps only managed 146. Of those, 75 came on their lone offensive touchdown drive.
Eddrick Houston had himself a strong game from his defensive tackle position. He led the way with one-and-a-half tackles for loss. The front seven as a whole performed quite well in this one. Despite not bringing down Malik Washington for any sacks, the defensive line and linebackers played incredibly well. Payton Pierce, TJ Alford, and Riley Pettijohn were everywhere, and the defensive line was making Washington’s life difficult.
In total, Washington only threw for 64 yards. On the ground, the Buckeyes limited the Terps to 82 yards for 2.9 yards per carry. Considering how concerning the run defense was against Illinois, back-to-back strong performances do bode well.
Not Great, But Better
The rushing attack was better in this one. It wasn’t great, nor what Carlos Locklyn has been looking for, but it was decent. We predicted more explosive plays, but only Bo Jackson managed to pop off for a 20-yard run. Ja’Kobi Jackson got the start and played pretty well overall. In total, the seventh-year senior amassed 76 yards on 14 carries. Bo Jackson ran the ball 23 times for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Each of the running backs had issues, one way or another. They all seemingly failed to just make the first guy miss. At the same time, the offensive line did them no favors.
We don’t have any immediate “yards before contact” stat, but it is probably going to be very, very low. With two starters on the offensive line out, there was a shuffle. That shuffle struggled. Even the entrenched starters like Luke Montgomery and Carson Hinzman had their fair share of losses.
Julian Sayin was solid on the day (outside of missing wide-open receivers and not being a true threat on the ground), but he sped himself up anticipating the hit. He was sacked twice. Both of those sacks resulted in fumbles. Thankfully, the Buckeyes were able to recover the second. But Sayin also gave up a pick-six because Ja’Kobi Jackson whiffed on his block, and the pocket immediately collapsed, causing an awful throw that landed in the lap of Daniel Wingate.
The offensive line is going to need to be better moving forward; Indiana is significantly better on the defensive line than Maryland.
The Last Word
Penalties.
That’s the last word on this game, if we’re honest. Ohio State was dinged for five accepted penalties for 45 yards. Two penalties – a running into the kicker and a late hit out of bounds – were either declined or offset.
Penalties have been a bit of an issue, mostly on the offensive line. In this one, it was mostly those inexcusable mental lapses. Beau Atkinson was hit with a roughing the passer penalty, which was more than justified; Atkinson smashed Washington into the ground well after the ball was gone. That offset late hit penalty was also Atkinson on punt coverage.
Ohio State travels to Indiana and USC next, with a trip to Nebraska the weekend before Thanksgiving. Ryan Day has plenty to work on with his team. The Buckeyes can be a championship-level team. Whether or not they step up to that expectation down the stretch will be the question.
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