COLLEGE PARK, Md. — After a 52-24 shellacking of Maryland, it’s hard to imagine how this Ohio State offense — the one that’s amassed 102 points and more than 1,200 yards in its last two games — looked like that against Virginia Tech last month.
The loss to the Hokies was a sort of sky-falling moment that exposed the Buckeyes and an offense that wasn’t able to do much of anything on that anticlimactic night in September. Redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett was sacked seven times, the running game was non-existent and the wide receivers and H-backs on the outside were equally as ineffective.
Fast forward a month and Ohio State’s unit, of course, is unrecognizable. Last week, the Buckeyes exploded against Cincinnati en route to dropping 710 yards and 45 first downs on 101 plays. On Saturday, they pounded the Terrapins in a way that's reflective on an offense — and perhaps most importantly, its playmakers — coming alive in the biggest of ways.
"Ever since the Virginia Tech game — we’re getting that Bear Zero coverage and you see receivers and quarterbacks start to get kind of excited when they see that as opposed to the other way," head coach Urban Meyer said.
That's the defense that stifled and flustered Ohio State and left its coaching staff apparently bewildered. It stuffs the box and forces teams to throw the ball and make plays in one-on-one match-ups. With that opportunity before them, the Buckeyes' skill players —sans wide receiver Michael Thomas — bungled it. And without the run game — which was the team's bread and butter last season — Ohio State fell apart.
Since then, things have been different. Behind an offensive line that's bullied other teams at the line of scrimmage lately, running back Ezekiel Elliott's was nearly unstoppable against the Bearcats and ran for another 139 yards on 24 carries against the Terrapins despite how they tried to show the Buckeyes the Bear look.
"That’s a sign that first of all, our run game is pretty solid ... our offensive line is growing up. Bear Zero takes away the run game, they’re nine guys at the line of scrimmage and it forces you to make some shots … we worked real hard on it because we know it’s coming."
And this time, when Ohio State took shots downfield, it was successful. Barrett threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns on 18-of-23 attempts and nine players caught at least one pass. The afternoon was a far cry from the offense that looked riddled with major flaws against Virginia Tech.
Turns out, a lot of it seemed to have to do with inexperience. Whether the Buckeyes' offense can sustain this kind of momentum against top-tier defenses like Michigan State, though, is another conversation. Even so, a certain level of mettle that didn't exist then does now.
"(We have) a lot of confidence in our quarterback right now and our skill positions ... it’s a very balanced (offense) where I’m very involved in the play-calling myself with Tom (Herman) and there’s a lot of opportunities to make plays because they’re confident," Meyer said.
"We weren’t that way in the first game, didn’t show it in practice enough. Now they’re starting to practice that way."
It paid dividends Saturday.
