How do the Ohio State Buckeyes stack up to the Michigan Men Mice? Here is a comparison of the stats for their games against Maryland that were played just one week apart-- albeit Maryland was home against the Buckeyes and away at Ann Arbor.
| Ohio State | Maryland | maryland | michigan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final score | 62 | 3 | 3 | 59 |
| Half-time score | 45 | 3 | 0 | 35 |
| First downs | 32 | 10 | 19 | 31 |
| Third down conversion | 7 / 13 | 1 / 15 | 6 / 13 | 3 / 5 |
| Total yards | 581 | 176 | 367 | 660 |
| Rushing yards | 253 | 43 | 78 | 273 |
| Yards / rush | 5.9 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 7.0 |
| Passing yards | 328 | 123 | 289 | 387 |
| Yards / pass | 9.1 | 4.9 | 10.3 | 14.3 |
| Pass completions | 24 / 36 | 15 / 27 | 17 / 28 | 21 / 27 |
| Completion percent | 66.7% | 55.6% | 60.7% | 77.8% |
| Punts | 3 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
Surprisingly the Buckeye defense was much better than the vaunted Michigan defense at containing the Terrapin offense, limiting Maryland to 176 total yards compared to their 367 yards against Michigan, and Ohio State also limited Maryland's third-down conversions to just 1 of 15 compared to their 6 of 13 against Michigan. Interestingly Maryland only punted twice against Michigan, but was forced to punt 8 times against the Buckeyes.
However, the Wolverine offense generated more yardage (660) while not needing to convert third downs (only 3 of 5). This was due to Michigan having a good day in completing long passes-- 4 receivers had receptions of over 30 yards (34, 37, 40 and 56) and 2 went for TDs.
