After back-to-back abysmal performances on the road, Maryland football looks to right the ship in its return to College Park this weekend. Although, the task isn’t an easy one against No. 2 Ohio State.
The Terps traveled to State College last Saturday to take on No. 14 Penn State, but they didn’t take their offense with them. Maryland was shutout by Penn State 30-0, its first shutout loss since 2019, also at the hands of the Nittany Lions.
The game got away from the Terps in the first quarter. Already down seven, Maryland allowed a 45-yard touchdown on fourth-and-one to go down 14 with just one minute left in the quarter.
Penn State didn’t take its foot off the gas in the first half, adding 13 points in the second quarter to enter halftime up 27-0. At that point, the game was already over for the Terps.
Redshirt junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa significantly struggled in his second straight game since returning from a knee injury suffered against Indiana on Oct. 15. Against Wisconsin and Penn State, Tagovailoa went a combined 21-25 (46%) for just 151 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“Me personally, just getting the ball out of my hands quicker, making quicker decisions … getting my footwork right, identifying the fronts, the coverages,” Tagovailoa said.
Tagovailoa faces a stingy Buckeye pass defense this week, the third-best in terms of yards in the Big Ten (207.9 per game).
Maryland’s rushing attack hasn’t exactly helped out Tagovailoa. After averaging under 3.7 yards per carry in just one of the Terps’ first eight games, the ground game averaged just 2.2 in the last two.
Leading rusher Roman Hemby has dipped in production, especially following his career-day against Northwestern on Oct. 22. The redshirt freshman tallied 134 yards on 29 carries against the Badgers and Nittany Lions, a respectable 4.6 yards per carry average, but well below his season average prior to Maryland’s two-game skid (6.4).
I think as an offense we’ve gotta go back to the basics and do what we’ve been doing before the bye week,” Tagovailoa said.
Still, Hemby ranks in the top-seven among all Big Ten running backs in average yards per carry (6.1), rushing yards (815) and average yards per game (81.5). Hemby will have his work cut out for him against Ohio State, as the Buckeyes allow an average of just 3.1 yards per carry and have yielded just six touchdowns on the ground this season.
Maryland’s offense wasn’t alone in its struggles the past two weeks, as the defense has taken a step back as well.
The Terps forced just one combined turnover against Penn State and Wisconsin, a botched snap by the Nittany Lions that resulted in a fumble midway through the fourth quarter with the game well out of hand.
Maryland has registered only seven interceptions this season, tied for fourth-fewest in the Big Ten. The Terps will need to force takeaways against the Buckeyes to both limit Ohio State’s offense and provide their own offense with short fields to work with, especially considering the struggles the offense has had moving the football as of late.
That won’t be easy, as the Ohio State passing attack is the best in the Big Ten. Heisman candidate C.J. Stroud enters with 34 touchdown passes, 16 more than second place. Additionally, the junior’s 275 passing yards per game average ranks second in the conference, and Stroud has thrown only four interceptions to go along with a 67.1 completion percentage.
“The biggest thing when you watch Ohio State … it starts with trying to affect the quarterback,” coach Mike Locksley said. “He’s the guy that makes things go and he’s a special player.”
In Ohio State’s last game against Indiana, a 56-14 win to improve to 10-0, Stroud threw for 297 yards and five touchdowns. Running backs Miyan Williams and Dallan Hayden both ran for over 100 yards to complement the pass game, as the Hoosiers had no answers for the explosive Ohio State offense.
Usual starter TreVeyon Henderson missed his second straight game with an injury, and Williams suffered a foot injury before returning to the field with crutches against the Hoosiers. As a result, the Ohio State backfield enters Saturday with questions.
Nevertheless, the Buckeyes ground attack is set up to have a nice day as the Terps have struggled to stop the run this season. Maryland allows the fifth-most rushing yards per game in the BIg Ten (148.9), and allowed over 200 against both Wisconsin and Penn State.
Maryland will need to reset and bounce back in a big way on Saturday to secure its first win this month and provide Ohio State with its first loss of the season.
“They’re really balanced at everything — explosive receivers, explosive backs, big backs, quarterback talent is tremendous,” safety Dante Trader said. “We’ve got to change the picture up on them, get them out of their groove because once they’re in their groove that’s a high powered machine.”
The game will start at 3:30 p.m. and will take place at SECU Stadium in College Park.
