Down 36-30 with 42 seconds left, Maryland’s offense had one last shot to pull off a shocking upset.
On the first play, Taulia Tagovailoa was sacked for a loss of seven. The next one was even worse.
The second play of the drive ended the Terps’ hopes, as Tagovailoa was sacked and lost the ball before going to the ground. Ohio State scooped it up for a touchdown — a crushing blow to Maryland football’’s upset bid.
The defensive touchdown was the nail in the coffin, as No. 2 Ohio State escaped College Park with a narrower than expected 43-30 win.
“Never satisfied with a loss obviously, but what you saw today is us go blow-to-blow, blow-for-blow with a team that I consider to be one of the best in the country,” coach Mike Locksley said.
The Buckeyes entered averaging 46.8 points per game — the second-most among all FBS schools — and they didn’t waste time against the Terps.
Less than two minutes in, Ohio State’s explosive offense found paydirt.
C.J. Stroud connected with Marvin Harrison down the sideline for a 29-yard completion on the first play from scrimmage, putting the Buckeyes into Maryland territory in the blink of an eye. Five plays later, Stroud dumped off to a wide-open TreVeyon Henderson. The sophomore running back slipped past a few Terps on his way to the endzone, putting the Buckeyes up 7-0.
Maryland’s opening drive started out with a 25-yard completion from Tagovailoa to C.J. Dippre. The sophomore tight end hurdled a Buckeye before being sent out of bounds, capping off the Terps’ first play from scrimmage with style.
The Terps reached the red zone, but the drive stalled out as Chad Ryland connected on a 31-yard field goal.
Maryland’s offense moved down the field with ease on drive two, highlighted by a 27-yard completion to redshirt freshman Roman Hemby. However, the drive ended in three once again, as Ryland nailed 21-yarder to trim the Terps’ deficit down to one, 7-6.
Tagovailoa registered 94 yards through Maryland’s first two drives — more than his game total in both the Wisconsin and Penn State losses.
Early in the second quarter, Terps defensive back Deonte Banks nearly came away with an interception on a tipped ball. A replay review overturned the call as the ball hit the ground before the redshirt junior corralled possession.
Ohio State scored three on the same drive to go up 10-6.
On the ensuing drive, Maryland moved down the field methodically — using a 14-play, 75-yard drive to take its first lead since Oct. 22 against Northwestern. Tagovailoa found Dippre open in the back of the end zone on a play-action pass for a one-yard touchdown, igniting the SECU Stadium crowd.
Maryland led 13-10 at halftime, backed by Tagovailoa’s strong first half. The redshirt junior completed 16 of 18 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown — good for a 191.2 passer rating, finding nine different receivers in the process.
“I think we did a better job of executing,” Tagovailoa said. “We picked up our tempo a lot. We played fast, and I think that’s what we’re good at. It fits us best to play fast and get the ball out of my hands quick … it opens up everything for us.”
After securing a first down on its opening drive of the second half, Maryland brought out the punt unit on fourth down at its 39.
Colton Spangler’s punt was blocked by the Buckeyes as Lathan Ransom charged off the edge untouched, setting up Ohio State’s offense at the Maryland 14.
The Buckeyes needed just two plays to take advantage of the blocked punt, as freshman Dallan Hayden scored on the ground from eight yards out. Hayden’s touchdown re-gained the lead for the Buckeyes, 17-13.
Ohio State’s next drive ended in three. The Buckeyes moved the ball to the Maryland 13, but Stroud was flagged for intentional grounding on third down — which pushed the ball back to the 29.
Noah Ruggles connected from 47 yards out to put the Buckeyes back up by seven, 20-13.
Ohio State ended the third quarter with a methodical 11-play, 88-yard drive that extended its lead to 14. Hayden scored his second touchdown of the game on a three-yard rush that gave the Buckeyes their largest lead of the game.
The Terps responded quickly, driving the ball 75 yards down the field in just 83 seconds. On second-and-goal at the five, Tagovailoa scored on the ground from five yards out on a quarterback keeper to bring Maryland within one score.
Maryland elected to go for two, and converted, as junior Jacob Copeland converted on a wideout screen.
With just under 14 minutes left, Maryland trailed 27-21.
It didn’t take long for Ohio State to go back up by two scores, as the Buckeyes needed just four plays to do so.
Hayden secured his third touchdown of the game with a powerful 13-yard touchdown, but the ensuing extra point was blocked and returned for two by the Terps. As a result, Ohio State’s lead sat at 10, 33-23, with 12:36 to go.
On the next Maryland drive, Tagovailoa delivered a beauty of a ball to Rakim Jarrett, hitting the junior in stride for a 49-yard completion that brought the Terps inside the Ohio State 10.
Three plays later, the Terps elected to go for it on fourth-and-one.
Lined up empty in the backfield, Tagovailoa initially found no one open in the end zone and was forced to scramble out of the pocket. Delivering the pass just before stepping out of bounds to his right, Tagovailoa found Jeshaun Jones amidst a plethora of Buckeye defenders in the end zone. The redshirt senior got a foot down before going out of bounds, bringing Maryland within three, 33-30.
Ohio State scored a field goal late in the fourth quarter, going up 36-30 with just 42 seconds left.
Tagovailoa was strip-sacked for a touchdown on the second play of the ensuing drive, as Ohio State held on for the win, 43-30. Tagovailoa did not re-enter after the strip-sack, but he is not believed to have suffered a major injury, Tagovailoa and Locksley said postgame.
“There’s a small margin of error between the great teams and the good teams in this league, and for us to take that next step, we’ve got to be able to … find a way of winning a game like this,” Locksley said. “Not be close, find a way to win.”
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