Ohio State Football vs. Maryland: What to know

The Ohio State football team is taking on Maryland this week after getting a week to rest after the Notre Dame game. It was an emotional victory that took a lot out of them. The Buckeyes get rewarded by welcoming an undefeated Maryland team into town for Homecoming.

Maryland is a good team. They haven’t been in a one-score game yet. Their offense can move the ball up and down the field and they can certainly score with the best of them. Even though their schedule hasn’t been the strongest, they are still an undefeated Power 5 team.

The Ohio State football team has proven that they have an excellent defense. That’s what they showed against both Western Kentucky and Notre Dame. The Buckeyes were able to hold both of those teams under 15 points. No team has scored more than 14 points on them so far.

Jim Knowles has given Buckeye fans hope that this is the year that they can finally trust in the defense. They have been really good at keeping teams from having big plays on them. Keeping those explosive plays to a minimum is the key to this Ohio State season.

Maryland does have a chance to pop off some big plays Taulia Tagovailoa has put up some decent numbers on the Buckeyes in his last three years as a starter. He is not someone that the defense will take lightly in their preparation for this game. The question is whether or not the defensive line can get pressure on him.

That’s something that the Buckeyes have struggled with this entire season. The front four simply isn’t getting enough pressure on the quarterback. I’m sure that’s a concern that the coaching staff is working on this week and will be working on all season long.

I expect Maryland to play hard on Saturday but I don’t expect them to win. Ohio State is clearly the better team and is one of the top teams in the country. This would be a good win to help build the Buckeyes’ resume though.