The Sports Xchange
Oct 7, 2017
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 10 Ohio State overcame a bevy of miscues, including two players ejected for targeting, as the Buckeyes defeated Maryland 62-14 on Saturday.
Maryland, down to third-team quarterback Max Bortenschlager because of injuries, generated only
66 total yards -- 50 rushing and 16 passing. Then the Terrapins (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) lost Bortenschlager to an injury late in the third quarter when Ohio State (5-1, 3-0) cornerback Damon Arnette was booted for targeting.
Buckeyes cornerback Denzel Ward was ejected in the first half, one that saw OSU give up a touchdown on a kickoff return, miss an extra point, have a field goal blocked and lose a fumble.
Yet the Buckeyes led 41-7 at halftime.
Senior quarterback J.T. Barrett passed for three touchdowns and ran for another. He completed 20 of 31 for 261 yards and rushed for 59 on eight carries.
True freshman running back J.K. Dobbins ran for 96 yards and a TD on 13 carries, and Mike Weber added 59 yards and a score on 13 carries.
The Buckeyes had 303 of their 584 yards through the air and held a 33-6 advantage in first downs.
Bortenschlager was 3 for 12 passing for 16 yards in his third career start before being replaced by Caleb Henderson.
Barrett had a 1-yard run for a 7-0 lead at 11:32 of the first quarter and linebacker Jerome Baker made it 14-0 when he returned a fumble 20 yards after Bortenschlager was sacked.
Ty Johnson returned the kickoff 100 yards to make it 14-7 but Barrett connected with Binjimen Victor for an 8-yard TD pass with 7:14 to go in the first quarter, and the Buckeyes scored three times in the final 4:49 of the second quarter with Barrett throwing TD passes of 10 yards to Marcus Baugh and 5 yards to Austin Mack. Parris Campbell added a 24-yard run.
NOTES: Maryland coach DJ Durkin was a graduate assistant for Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer when both were at Bowling Green. Meyer, as Florida head coach, hired Durkin as an assistant. Meyer is 10-1 against his former assistants, including a 56-0 win against Chris Ash's Rutgers on Sept. 30. ... Ohio State has won all four meetings vs. the Terrapins with each coming since Maryland joined the Big Ten prior to the 2014 season. That year OSU won 52-24 in College Park followed by 49-28 win in Columbus in 2015. The Buckeyes rolled to a 62-3 win last year at Maryland. ... Ohio State has four Maryland natives on the roster: QB Dwayne Haskins, DE Chase Young, LB Keandre Jones and OL Isaiah Prince. Maryland has no Ohioans.