Ohio State has looked like a College Football Playoff team over the past two weeks.
Ohio State redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud has looked like a Heisman contender over the past two weeks.
This is a team that seems to be finding its stride. Yes, there's a clear inequality between Ohio State and Rutgers And Ohio State and Maryland. But this was a team that looked like it could not get back into the upper echelon of college football, especially after it performances against Oregon and Tulsa.
Do we really know who the Buckeyes are yet? No.
Will we know who Ohio State is until the Penn State game? No.
But this continues to be a momentum booster that brings Ohio State back into the conversation of, "Maybe this team can hold its own at the top of the sport."
And it all starts with the quarterback.
For as much as Ohio State head coach Ryan Day preached balance from his offense through the first five weeks of the season, it wasn’t what the Maryland defense was giving the Buckeyes Saturday afternoon.
With each carry TreVeyon Henderson recorded, the Terrapins defensive line swarmed to the ball, keeping the freshman back near the line of scrimmage. So quarterback C.J. Stroud and the rest of the offense adjusted.
And the Maryland defense could not stop it.
Ohio State’s offense recorded 35 points on 36 plays in the first half. And after the first touchdown drive of the day — a 17-play, 88-yard drive taking 6:10 off the clock — ther Buckeyes began to pick up the pace with four touchdowns on 18 plays over the course of 4:27.
That’s as efficient as you can get.
It starts with Stroud, completing 17-of-22 pass attempts for 293 yards and three touchdowns: a 2-yard pass to Garrett Wilsonm, a 36-yard pass to Chris Olave and a 26-yard pass to Henderson.
Oh, and that was only at halftime.
Stroud was the same quarterback he was against Rutgers: confident and comfortable in the pocket, even if there was pressure, hitting receivers in stride and with space to move. Twelve of his 17 completions were for 10 yards or more, including four passes for more than 25 yards.
Stroud’s day was done shortly after the halftime break, finishing with 406 passing yards — his second 400-yard day in five career starts — with a 73% completion percentage and five touchdowns, including a 26-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson on a 4th-and-1 that was just a play of "we're better than you, here's another touchdown."
Of all the things I expect Day to say about his redshirt freshman quarterback, I expect him to use the word “tough” a bunch.
It’s because he was. That’s what Day wants out of the starting quarterback at Ohio State. With Stroud, Day has someone to put his reputation behind.
There was a point where Henderson looked like a struggling, young running back against Maryland.
In the first half, the freshman averaged just 1.9 yards per carrym unable to make any real room against the Maryland defensive front.
But unlike most freshmen backs, he adapted.
He turned back to what worked in the season opener against Minnesota: the passing game. It really doesn’t seem to matter where the space is. If Henderson has it, he’s going to make it work.
The freshman brought in a career-high four catches in the first half for 67 yards and a touchdown: a 26-yard wheel route in which Stroud just quickly passed it off and let Henderson do the work on the boundary, also adding a 4-yard touchdown rush near the end of the first quarter.
But in the second half began, Henderson began to run like the running back people had been accustomed to. In the third quarter, the freshman recorded seven rushes for 85 yards, ending his day with a 14-yard touchdown run.
Henderson has scored 10 touchdowns in six games with his three touchdowns against Maryland, scoring at least one in each of his first six games with the Buckeyes.
He finished the game with 102 rushing yards on 16 carries.
It's not a question whether or not Henderson would make an impact. It's a matter of how, and Henderson has shown more than one way to make opposing defenses plan for him. If one way doesn't initially work, like it did for him in the first half, he'll adapt.
Ohio State linebackers coach Al Washington set the expectation for his defense from the first moment the team stepped into St. John’s Arena for the Skull Session.
“Every week that goes by, we become more and more pissed off, ready to prove ourselves because we know who the hell we are,” Washington said.
Ohio State let the Terrapins know who it was, especially up front. The pressure for quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and the rest of the Maryland offense was more than the Terrapins have seen this season, allowing nine tackles for loss and five sacks: more than any other team Maryland had faced so far this season.
The pressure was evenly distributed, from the linebackers Steele Chambers (a sack) and Teradja Mitchell, to defensive ends Jack Sawyer — who also forced a fumble recovered by the
But the thing was, Tagovailoa didn’t look awful. Actually, compared to the "bad" Tagovailoa starts, it was actually not too shabby.
The quarterback completed 28-of-39 pass attempts for 279 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. This was Tagovailoa's first loss of his career in which he threw less than three interceptions.
The Maryland quarterback's only turnover came late in the game from Ryan Watts, recording his second interception in as many weeks, and Craig Young, who recorded his fourth-straight game with an interception returned for a touchdown.
While Tagovailoa did struggle at points, it was a combination of pressure, an inability to run the ball with Maryland's offensive inequities on full display: averaging 1.6 yards per touch . But it was also the pressure of keeping up with the Ohio State offense, who scored at will and very quickly, not recording one punt and ending its two non-touchdown drives either by halftime or on downs in the fourth quarter.
Some news and notes
Ohio State redshirt senior defensive tackle Haskell Garrett was taken to the medical tent after an apparent leg injury. He returned to the sideline shortly after, but did not return to the game. Cornerback Cameron Brown and offensive guard Thayer Munford each made a trip to the medical tent in the first half, while Munford returned to the game later.
With 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns, Chris Olave has 29 touchdown catches for his Ohio State career — third most in school history — and 10 100-yard games: second-most in Ohio State history.
Ohio State redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud has looked like a Heisman contender over the past two weeks.
This is a team that seems to be finding its stride. Yes, there's a clear inequality between Ohio State and Rutgers And Ohio State and Maryland. But this was a team that looked like it could not get back into the upper echelon of college football, especially after it performances against Oregon and Tulsa.
Do we really know who the Buckeyes are yet? No.
Will we know who Ohio State is until the Penn State game? No.
But this continues to be a momentum booster that brings Ohio State back into the conversation of, "Maybe this team can hold its own at the top of the sport."
And it all starts with the quarterback.
For as much as Ohio State head coach Ryan Day preached balance from his offense through the first five weeks of the season, it wasn’t what the Maryland defense was giving the Buckeyes Saturday afternoon.
With each carry TreVeyon Henderson recorded, the Terrapins defensive line swarmed to the ball, keeping the freshman back near the line of scrimmage. So quarterback C.J. Stroud and the rest of the offense adjusted.
And the Maryland defense could not stop it.
Ohio State’s offense recorded 35 points on 36 plays in the first half. And after the first touchdown drive of the day — a 17-play, 88-yard drive taking 6:10 off the clock — ther Buckeyes began to pick up the pace with four touchdowns on 18 plays over the course of 4:27.
That’s as efficient as you can get.
It starts with Stroud, completing 17-of-22 pass attempts for 293 yards and three touchdowns: a 2-yard pass to Garrett Wilsonm, a 36-yard pass to Chris Olave and a 26-yard pass to Henderson.
Oh, and that was only at halftime.
Stroud was the same quarterback he was against Rutgers: confident and comfortable in the pocket, even if there was pressure, hitting receivers in stride and with space to move. Twelve of his 17 completions were for 10 yards or more, including four passes for more than 25 yards.
Stroud’s day was done shortly after the halftime break, finishing with 406 passing yards — his second 400-yard day in five career starts — with a 73% completion percentage and five touchdowns, including a 26-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson on a 4th-and-1 that was just a play of "we're better than you, here's another touchdown."
Of all the things I expect Day to say about his redshirt freshman quarterback, I expect him to use the word “tough” a bunch.
It’s because he was. That’s what Day wants out of the starting quarterback at Ohio State. With Stroud, Day has someone to put his reputation behind.
There was a point where Henderson looked like a struggling, young running back against Maryland.
In the first half, the freshman averaged just 1.9 yards per carrym unable to make any real room against the Maryland defensive front.
But unlike most freshmen backs, he adapted.
He turned back to what worked in the season opener against Minnesota: the passing game. It really doesn’t seem to matter where the space is. If Henderson has it, he’s going to make it work.
The freshman brought in a career-high four catches in the first half for 67 yards and a touchdown: a 26-yard wheel route in which Stroud just quickly passed it off and let Henderson do the work on the boundary, also adding a 4-yard touchdown rush near the end of the first quarter.
But in the second half began, Henderson began to run like the running back people had been accustomed to. In the third quarter, the freshman recorded seven rushes for 85 yards, ending his day with a 14-yard touchdown run.
Henderson has scored 10 touchdowns in six games with his three touchdowns against Maryland, scoring at least one in each of his first six games with the Buckeyes.
He finished the game with 102 rushing yards on 16 carries.
It's not a question whether or not Henderson would make an impact. It's a matter of how, and Henderson has shown more than one way to make opposing defenses plan for him. If one way doesn't initially work, like it did for him in the first half, he'll adapt.
Ohio State linebackers coach Al Washington set the expectation for his defense from the first moment the team stepped into St. John’s Arena for the Skull Session.
“Every week that goes by, we become more and more pissed off, ready to prove ourselves because we know who the hell we are,” Washington said.
Ohio State let the Terrapins know who it was, especially up front. The pressure for quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and the rest of the Maryland offense was more than the Terrapins have seen this season, allowing nine tackles for loss and five sacks: more than any other team Maryland had faced so far this season.
The pressure was evenly distributed, from the linebackers Steele Chambers (a sack) and Teradja Mitchell, to defensive ends Jack Sawyer — who also forced a fumble recovered by the
But the thing was, Tagovailoa didn’t look awful. Actually, compared to the "bad" Tagovailoa starts, it was actually not too shabby.
The quarterback completed 28-of-39 pass attempts for 279 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. This was Tagovailoa's first loss of his career in which he threw less than three interceptions.
The Maryland quarterback's only turnover came late in the game from Ryan Watts, recording his second interception in as many weeks, and Craig Young, who recorded his fourth-straight game with an interception returned for a touchdown.
While Tagovailoa did struggle at points, it was a combination of pressure, an inability to run the ball with Maryland's offensive inequities on full display: averaging 1.6 yards per touch . But it was also the pressure of keeping up with the Ohio State offense, who scored at will and very quickly, not recording one punt and ending its two non-touchdown drives either by halftime or on downs in the fourth quarter.
Some news and notes
Ohio State redshirt senior defensive tackle Haskell Garrett was taken to the medical tent after an apparent leg injury. He returned to the sideline shortly after, but did not return to the game. Cornerback Cameron Brown and offensive guard Thayer Munford each made a trip to the medical tent in the first half, while Munford returned to the game later.
With 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns, Chris Olave has 29 touchdown catches for his Ohio State career — third most in school history — and 10 100-yard games: second-most in Ohio State history.
