Takeaways from Maryland football’s 45-16 defeat to No. 5 Ohio State
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Maryland football ran into Ohio Stadium Saturday carrying the burden of an 0-39 record against Big Ten opponents. Its loss proved why that streak is yet to be snapped.
The Terps dropped their fourth straight loss in a disappointing showing against the Buckeyes, 45-16. Maryland’s offense failed to keep it close for long and inconsistencies on defense allowed Ohio State to jump out to a devastating lead early on in the contest.
“Nobody wants to lose, but it’s a learning experience, out of all of it,” linebacker Daniel Wingate said postgame. “And just telling my guys, [there’s] still more of a season left. The season’s not over, so continue to just go about it.”
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game.
Maryland remains subordinate to high-level conference competition
Few expected Maryland to make a dent in an Ohio State team that remains among the top contenders to claim a national title this season, but Saturday’s game met the widespread expectations.
The Buckeyes properly beat the Terps across all three facets of the game. Maryland appeared outplayed and outschemed all 60 minutes – Ohio State more than doubled Maryland’s 2.8 yards per play.
The stark differences in performance between the two teams’ star players illuminated that gap. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Maryland’s Chris Durr Jr. both led the way for their respective squads but produced drastically different statlines. Smith racked up 93 yards on four receptions with two touchdowns, while Durr matched his reception total with no scores and 79 fewer yards.
Head coach Mike Locksley had few positives to highlight following the loss.
“Credit [to] Ohio State, really deserving of their ranking, made the plays they needed to make,” Locksley said. “You got to execute extremely well against teams like Ohio State. We didn’t make enough winning plays.”
Malik Washington’s newfound caution backfired
After tossing six interceptions over his last two outings, quarterback Malik Washington had made adjustments before facing one of the nation’s toughest defenses. While the sophomore wasn’t picked off by any Buckeyes’ defenders, his timid and inaccurate nature in the pocket proved costly in one of the slowest days of his collegiate career.
Washington concluded the contest with just 64 total passing yards and went 12-for-25 — his second game below a 50% completion rate in the last three weeks. He routinely opted for quick checkdowns along the line of scrimmage and had just four passes further than 10 yards.
His progressions remained below par early on as overthrows brought the Terps’ three opening drives to abrupt stops. Washington missed a wide-open Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding on Maryland’s opening drive for a quick three-and-out and missed the receiver again in great field position on third down two drives later while deep in Ohio State territory.
Washington’s biggest contribution came on the following drive, when he pulled a run-pass option play for a five-yard touchdown up the gut. The Terps only got into that position after consecutive defensive penalties.
Ohio State’s offense ripped chunks out of Maryland’s secondary
Saturday’s contest was a tall task for Maryland’s cornerback Dontay Joyner, who started in his first game back with the team following legal issues to face arguably the best receiver corps in the nation. However, the Terps didn’t make it any easier on themselves during the loss.
Maryland allowed 242 yards through the air — its second-highest total of the season — on just 13 completions from Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin. The junior gunslinger averaged 18.6 yards per pass as he dissected through the Terps’ defense with butterknife-like ease.
Ohio State finished with five passing plays upwards of 15 yards, four of which came in the first half. Three of those first-half chunk plays ended in touchdowns due to overcommitment from Maryland’s defensive backs in pass coverage. This is not a new issue for the Terps, who had allowed 22 of those plays prior to Saturday’s matchup.
“When we play man is where we got in trouble today, and we’ve got to be able to get the ball on the ground once it’s caught because they were catching runs and not the deep variety other than the tight end and the blown coverage,” Locksley said.
The Buckeyes’ star wideout Smith racked up two long-range scores by himself with his first two touches of the game – his first was a 33-yard catch-and-run on his first drive and his second on a nearly identical 40-yard house call. The former gave Smith the all-time triple crown among Ohio State wide receivers. He has less than 200 yards and two touchdowns to go to capture the Big Ten’s receiving yards and touchdowns record.
“It was more so of a bust on us rather than what they were doing. It wasn’t really [any] crazy scheme that we [were] going against,” Wingate said. “It was kind of just us not playing up to our standard that we like to.”
The Terps did corral one interception on the day, but their secondary was a non-factor in the play. Trey Reddick applied enough pressure off the edge to cause Sayin to throw a weak pass into the hands of Wingate, which the linebacker returned for a pick-six.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos