Maryland football’s road trip to No. 5 Ohio State was billed as a wide receiver showdown, with two of the nation’s top pass-catchers taking the field in Columbus.
The Terps’ Chris Durr Jr., second in the country in receptions entering Saturday, faltered in the spotlight. He had two catches for 13 yards in the first half and finished with 15 receiving yards.
The Buckeyes’ Jeremiah Smith, meanwhile, had just three first-half catches — but the nation’s leader in receptions and receiving touchdowns took
his first two grabs into the end zone.
Despite only throwing to the Heisman favorite five times, the Buckeyes rolled to a 45-16 victory. The result dropped the Terps to 0-40 against ranked Big Ten opponents since joining the conference in 2014.
During the week, Locksley identified explosive plays as an issue his team needed to fix. In Columbus, they nullified any chance Maryland had to make a comeback.
It took Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin over six minutes to look Smith’s way for the first time, but the Buckeyes’ leader in career receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns delivered. He caught the ball a yard downfield on a crossing route and turned on the jets, blazing by four Maryland defenders and into the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown.
Two plays after the Terps cut the lead to four, Ohio State’s Nate Roberts sprinted past linebacker CJ Smith and into acres of open space down the middle of Maryland’s defense. Sayin found the tight end in stride, and Roberts raced 68 yards into the end zone untouched.
Smith had another lung-busting score, catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage and beating several defenders to the boundary and winning the race to the end zone, and Chris Henry Jr. had a 48-yard reception that gave the Buckeyes a 24-10 lead.
When Maryland finally put together its sole offensive touchdown drive, it came with help from Ohio State. A roughing the passer penalty on a third-down incompletion moved the chains, and an offsides call pushed Maryland further into Buckeyes territory.
DeJuan Williams was stuffed for a five-yard loss on first and goal, but back-to-back flags for defensive delay of game and offsides got Maryland closer. From there, quarterback Malik Washington read the option and plunged up the middle for a touchdown.
While Washington was effective at times with his legs, he never appeared comfortable passing in front of 100,000 vocal fans.
With the rain pouring down, the quarterback finished with a career-low 64 passing yards on 12-of-25 passing, routinely misplacing throws behind or beyond his receivers and failing to progress through his reads.
Maryland’s only other scores of the game were generated by its defense.
Late in the first quarter, freshman defensive end Zion Elee crunched Sayin on third down, forcing a fumble that the Terps recovered at their opponents’ 32-yard line. Seven plays and 11 yards later, Maryland settled for a field goal.
In the second half, Trey Reddick got to Sayin, forcing a poor throw that Daniel Wingate picked off and returned 52 yards for a touchdown. But on the two-point conversion, Washington’s throw was behind the receiver, giving him no chance to score.
The Buckeyes abandoned the passing game in the second half, soaking up the clock by grinding Maryland’s defense to a pulp on the ground. Two second-half scores from Bo Jackson racked up the score, with Maryland unable to put together a response.
Three things to know
1. Feast or famine for DeJuan Williams. The Terps’ lead back has regained the snap share that he would have expected to have at the beginning of the season. However, he wasn’t able to consistently generate against the Buckeyes’ defense; Williams had two 13-yard runs but averaged 1.6 yards per carry outside of those.
2. Terps clean in possession. Despite the result, Maryland didn’t allow a sack on Washington, who didn’t commit a turnover for the first time in three games. The Terps also committed six penalties to Ohio State’s eight and completed more third downs against the Buckeyes (three) than they had in their previous two games (two).
3. Defense falling apart. Maryland allowed 200 rushing yards for the third consecutive game, with Ohio State also generating more than 18 yards per completion in the air. Maryland has allowed 182 points over its four losses, and even with Rutgers up next, a return to form appears unlikely.
