Maryland Notebook: Fixing Ohio State's Issues, Some Defensive Struggles and Braxton Miller's Return

By Tim Shoemaker on October 11, 2015 at 6:00 am
Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson celebrate a touchdown.
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A reporter started his question during the postgame press conference by stating Ohio State was 6 for 6 in the red zone with no turnovers in Saturday’s game against Maryland, and Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer wanted it repeated.

“I heard you the first time,” Meyer joked. “I just wanted you to say it again.”

Meyer was aware of both statistics prior to being asked about them, but that doesn’t mean he was any less enthusiastic when discussing both.

“We were 6 for 6, no turnovers, worked very hard with a bunch of good guys that listened very well and executed very good down there,” Meyer said.

Quite the contrast for an Ohio State team that scored touchdowns on just six of its 16 red zone attempts on the season — ranking 121st in the country — and had turned the ball over 13 times over the first five games.

The Buckeyes also cleaned things up a bit in the other two statistical categories they had been struggling: penalties and third-down conversions. Ohio State still had some blunders at inopportune times but only committed six penalties for 45 yards in Saturday’s 49-28 win over Maryland; the Buckeyes had been committing eight per game. On third down, Ohio State converted on 5 of 11 tries, up from its 39 percent conversion percentage on the season.

Some Mild Defensive Struggles

Ohio State’s defense has been the strength of the team through the first half of the season, but the Buckeyes struggled against the Terrapins, specifically containing Maryland’s mobile quarterback Perry Hills.

Hills carried the ball 25 times for 170 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Ohio State’s defense. His longest run was for 75 yards right before halftime to set up a score. The Buckeyes also surrendered a 52-yard touchdown pass on Maryland’s opening drive, so the big plays were certainly an issue.

“We didn’t play our best game defensively, but we did some good things,” redshirt freshman defensive end Sam Hubbard said. “We’ll watch the film, fix the things that we messed up and get ready for Penn State.”

In total, Maryland racked up 386 yards of total offense with 253 of those coming on the ground. The Buckeyes only allowed 133 passing yards as Hills was just 10 for 27 through the air with a pair of interceptions.

But this marks the second week in a row Ohio State has had trouble containing a mobile quarterback and has allowed big plays. Indiana’s Zander Diamont came off the bench last week and broke a 79-yard touchdown run against the Buckeyes.

Ohio State did have a dominating performance on the defensive line, despite the team’s inability to contain Hills. The Buckeyes totaled four sacks and had eight tackles for loss. Tyquan Lewis led the way with a pair of sacks, while Joshua Perry and Joey Bosa each added one.

“We had a lot of pressure on the quarterback,” senior defensive tackle Adolphus Washington said. “Their quarterback got out of there on us a couple times, but we had good pressure on him.”

Braxton Miller Regains Form

Braxton Miller hadn’t been heard from much since the season-opening win against Virginia Tech. That wasn’t the case Saturday against the Terrapins, though.

Miller looked like he had a defined role in this game for the Buckeyes, catching five passes for 79 yards and a touchdown while also getting three carries for 11 yards.

“I’m so into good guys who care about the program, care about the university, and to see his face — I hope you guys get to see him because he had a nice smile on his face,” Meyer said. “It’s not easy. We talk about those 50-year-old men sitting in front of grease boards and you’ve got guys that deserve to touch the ball and we’re doing the best we can.”

Miller made a nice diving grab on a 33-yard catch from Cardale Jones in the second quarter. On the very next play, he got behind the defense and hauled in a 19-yard touchdown from Jones.

If Ohio State can get Miller rolling, it just adds another dimension to its offense.

“It was great just to see him smiling,” said wide receiver Michael Thomas, who had a team-high seven catches for 107 yards. “He made a play, scored a touchdown, made a great catch down the middle. Just being able to showcase his ability in front of you guys and that’s all he wants to do.”

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