MY THOUGHTS.....MARYLAND

                            The Ohio State Buckeyes survived a fitful offensive performance in the first half to turn it on in the second half in dispatching the Maryland Terrapins 49-28.  Coach Urban Meyer has unveiled a two-headed quarterback: Cardale Jones is still the starter, but J.T. Barrett is now the red zone quarterback.  The system worked, at least for this game, as Ohio State was six for six inside the red zone, scoring touchdowns on all six.  J.T. Barrett scored three touchdowns on the ground, while Cardale Jones looked as sharp as he has all year, going 21 for 28 for 291 yards (a career high) and two touchdowns.  His two scoring throws were things of beauty, a 19-yarder to Miller and a 48-yarder to Jalin Marshall.  There were a couple of overthrows and a throw to Miller that he had to leap to catch, but Jones was throwing significantly better than I have seen the last several games.   Michael Thomas hauled in seven catches for a career-high 107 yards and Ezekiel Elliott gained over 100 yards for the 11^th consecutive game and also contributed three scores.  I noticed the offensive line executing their blocking schemes better in the second half and I was especially impressed with the play of tackle Taylor Decker and guard Billy Price as quite a few of Elliott’s yards were gained to their side.  

Defensively was, unfortunately, hit-and-miss.  For the second consecutive week, a talented running quarterback has gashed the Ohio State defense for a big play that kept his team in the game.  Maryland quarterback Perry Hills was able to gain 170 yards on the ground, including a 75-yard run leading to a Maryland touchdown just before the half.  A breakdown in the secondary, when Vonn Bell bit on a play fake and was torched, resulted in Maryland’s first touchdown.  A roughing penalty against Joey Bosa kept a Maryland drive going on their first drive of the second half which resulted in a tie game.  Maryland had 253 yards on the ground, the most against Ohio State this season.  Despite the lapses, the Ohio State defense managed to come up with two interceptions and five sacks.  Sam Hubbard has been the most impressive newcomer to this defensive unit, and against the Terps, he continued his outstanding play.  Hubbard garnered two sacks on the day and quite a few times he was disrupting plays in the Maryland backfield.  Vonn Bell recovered nicely from getting burned on the first series, managing ten tackles.  Joshua Perry and Raekwon McMillan continued their solid play in the linebacking corps, with ten and nine tackles respectively.  Tyquan Lewis also contributed a sack and seven tackles.  I also had to take note of punter Cameron Johnston, who had his best day of the season, averaging 54.7 yards and blasting one for 65 yards.  I was also impressed with the kick and punt coverage as they kept Maryland’s William Likely, a dangerous return man, in check.

Next week, the Penn State Nittany Lions come to town and for now, the Ohio State defense is probably thankful Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg is strictly a pocket passer and not much of a runner.  But, there are still things to be worked on, particularly reading the inside zone runs that they have had a few issues with.  But for now, the Buckeyes are riding a 19-game winning streak and have not lost a regular-season conference game since 2011.  They have now been ranked at the top spot in the polls more than any other team in history; 102 times ranked at the top.