Byrd Stadium in College Park will be the site of a surprisingly important Big Ten East showdown on Saturday, as the Maryland Terrapins host the Ohio State Buckeyes in their maiden home game as a Big Ten program. After an early hiccup against Virginia Tech, the Buckeyes appear to have righted the ship and are coming in hot. Maryland, meanwhile, has looked better than most expected, and can assert themselves into the Big Ten title race with a win.
How to watch Ohio State vs. Maryland: Game guide, TV schedule, streaming, odds
The Buckeyes and Terrapins get together in an important Big Ten East clash on Saturday.
Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
The big question for the Terps is the status of quarterback C.J. Brown, who hurt his left wrist against Indiana. The staff is saying that Brown's looked fine in practice this week, but we are likely to see both Brown and Caleb Rowe taking snaps. Whoever is playing quarterback will need to get the ball out to Stefon Diggs and Deon Long early and often, as Ohio State's secondary is clearly the weak point.
Ohio State, meanwhile, looks like they've found a script that works: Run the ball and don't stop. The Buckeyes ran the ball on two-thirds of their 101(!) plays against Cincinnati, and did so to great effect. A healthy running game keeps defenses honest, which greatly helps J.T. Barrett's chances as a passer. They'll try to repeat this recipe this week, I'd imagine. Unless the Maryland offense sets the Buckeye secondary on fire, it could be difficult for the Terps to keep up.
How to watch, listen, and stream
Game time: Noon ET
TV: ABC (Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Todd McShay)
Radio: Ohio State; Maryland
Online streaming: abc.go.com/watch-live
Our sites on these teams
The numbers
Rankings and records: Ohio State enters this game with a 3-1 record, and is ranked 18th in the USA Today Coaches Poll and 20th in the AP Top 25. Maryland is 4-1 and unranked.
Vegas: Ohio State opened as a 8.5-point favorite, but the line has dropped down to -7 at several books. The over/under is 59.5.
Weather forecast: Partly cloudy with a high of 66.
Two things at stake
Ohio State goes on the road for the first time since its season opening win against Navy, and the Buckeyes face a tougher opponent in the Old Line State. J.T. Barrett has settled nicely into the starting quarterback job, and OSU is coming off an impressive offensive performance last week against Cincinnati. Maryland has looked good so far, and a win by the Buckeyes here would show that they have their collective legs back underneath them.
Maryland, meanwhile, has a chance to show the nation that they are for real. A win over Ohio State would be a statement that the new kids in the conference are not to be underestimated, and would likely vault them into the top 25.
One big matchup
Ohio State running game vs. Maryland’s front seven
The Buckeyes kicked the running game into high gear against Cincinnati last weekend, going for 380 yards on 5.8 yards per carry as a team. Ezekiel Elliot personally accounted for 182 of those yards, but Barrett will be a factor as well. Maryland, meanwhile, is allowing 200 yards per game on the ground on defense, but they stack up as a respectable 33rd in the Football Outsiders Defensive S&P+ metric.
Consecutive games against Syracuse (370 yards) and Indiana (206 yards) obviously skew their yards per game average, but those are also the Terps’ previous two games. The defense will need to put the squeeze on Ohio State’s run game, otherwise it could be a long day.
Further reading
For more on the Buckeyes, check out Land-Grant Holy Land. For everything Maryland, head over to Testudo Times. Get more Big Ten coverage at Off Tackle Empire.
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