Ohio State football: 5 things to know about Maryland game, series

The Terrapins have been outscored 53-10 on the road the past two weeks, including a 30-0 shellacking last week at Penn State.

Here are five things to know about the Buckeyes’ next opponent and their history against the Terrapins:

1. Maryland is slumping, especially on offense.

The Terrapins were 6-2 at the end of October, but they were were outgained 355-189 and outscored 23-10 at Wisconsin then outplayed worse at Penn State last week.

The Nittany Lions outgained the Terrapins 413-134 and sacked Taulia Tagovailoa seven times as he completed 11 of 22 passes for 74 yards.

Neither team did much through the air — 77 yards passing for Wisconsin and 164 for Penn State — but they did not need to.

The Badgers ran for 278 yards and the Nittany Lions piled up 249 on the ground while controlling the game from start to finish.

2. Little stands out about the Terrapins statistically.

Maryland is 70th in the nation in scoring (28.3 points per game) and 53rd in points allowed per game (24.6) while ranking 63rd in total offense (396.3 yards per game) and 72nd in total offense (381).

Despite his recent swoon since suffering a knee injury Oct. 15 against Indiana, Tagovailoa is still third in the Big Ten in completion percentage and completions per game, and he ranks fourth in passing yards 2,152.

Maryland is 44th nationally in passing efficiency and 42nd in passing efficiency defense but middle of the road in rushing and passing yards on both sides of the ball.

The defense has been at its worst on third down (ranking 97th), but the offense is 15th in scoring in the red zone.

On top of all that, the Terps are 120th in penalties and 126th in penalty yards per game.

3. Head coach Mike Locksley is questioning everything.

After his team was dominated by Penn State, Locksley said everything the Terps were doing needed to be examine.

“Personnel, scheme, players who are on the field, who’s not on the field — every aspect of what we’re calling and how we’re calling it,” Locksley said. “It’s always easy to say the quarterback because he has the ball in his hand, but I think it takes the players around him. It takes calling things that we can get executed, so for me to sit here and say where he is. I think he’s just like the rest of us on the offensive side of the ball. We haven’t played very well. We haven’t executed nor gone out and did the things that I’ve seen in practice showing up in games.”

4. Ohio State has never lost to Maryland.

The Buckeyes and Terrapins first played in 2014, a 52-24 Ohio State win in College Park.

Ohio State won 49-28 a year later at Ohio Stadium in a game that ended up being the last for Randy Edsall as head coach.

Only one meeting since then has been decided by less than 48 points (see below), and Maryland has had only one winning season in the last six.

Overall, Ohio State has beaten Maryland by an average score of 59.4-21.6, the most points the Buckeyes average against any opponent they have faced more than once.

5. Last time Ohio State went to Maryland, things got weird.

The Terrapins’ best chance by far to beat the Buckeyes was 2018.

They came within a successful overtime two-point conversion of derailing a Big Ten championship season for Ohio State, but the Buckeyes survived 52-51 and went on to upset Michigan then win the conference title game en route to the Rose Bowl.

Anthony McFarland ran for 298 yards, and Maryland averaged an Ohio State-opponent record 8.6 yards per play, but Dwayne Haskins Jr. threw for 405 yards and ran for 59 more for Ohio State while accounting for six touchdowns to will the Buckeyes to victory.

Ohio State outscored Maryland 139-31 in the two games to follow.

SATURDAY’S GAME

Ohio State at Maryland, 3:30 p.m., ABC, 1410