Maryland entered Columbus, Ohio on Saturday evening hoping to deploy the same upset magic used against ranked Texas in the season opener.
Unfortunately for them, it was far from that, as No. 1o Ohio State overmatched the visiting Terp on Saturday evening at Ohio Stadium, 62-14. Third-string quarterback Max Bortenschlager struggled mightily, completing 3 of 12 passes for 16 yards while taking four sacks, and exited the contest late with an undetermined injury. Ty Johnson had a team-high 57 yards on the ground in 12 carries.
Caleb Henderson came on relief for Maryland, and failed to complete his only pass attempt. With Tyrrell Pigrome (ACL), Kasim Hill (ACL) and Bortenschlager (TBA) sidelined with injury, Henderson is now the only healthy scholarship quarterback on the roster. Walk-ons Legend Brumbaugh and Sam Brand are in the program as well.
The Buckeyes (5-1, 3-0 conference), who entered the day as the top-ranked offense nationally, outgained the Terps (3-2, 2-1 conference) in offensive output, 584-66. Ohio State also moved the chains 33 times while Maryland could only muster six first downs.
Ohio State took a 14-0 lead in the first six minutes of regulation before Ty Johnson provided the lone spark of the evening with a 100-yard kick return, which brought Maryland within striking distance, 14-7. Johnson became the first Terp with a kick return for touchdown since Will Likely took one the same distance against Iowa on October 31, 2015.
The Buckeyes poured on 48 unanswered points after Johnson’s kick return and put the game well out of reach at 62-7 with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Maryland’s defense and special teams did deliver highlight plays in the first half, including a blocked field goal from senior Chandler Burkett to spoil a nearly four-minute drive from the Buckeyes. Burkett would later recover his third career fumble in the second quarter, after senior Josh Woods forced the ball out of the hands of Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins.
Freshman Javon Leake scored his second career touchdown in garbage time, scampering 20 yards to the end zone with four minutes left in regulation.
Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett torched the Terps for 320 total yards (261 passing, 59 rushing) and four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing). Former Maryland commit and Bullis School product Dwayne Haskins went 3-for-4 passing with 42 yards.
Maryland will return home for a matchup with Northwestern (2-3, 0-2 confernece) on Saturday, October 14. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with kickoff slalted for 3:30 pm.
