Maryland Debriefing: Curtis Samuel Scores on Every Third Touch, J.T. Barrett Takes Snaps Under Center & Lattimore Intercepts Another

By Kevin Harrish on November 13, 2016 at 9:15 am
Lattimore got an interception for the Buckeyes.
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If last week's game was R-rated, this week's was NC-17.

Ohio State strolled into Turtleville and decimated Maryland before its fans even realized there was a game.

The Buckeyes beat the Terps 62-3 and have now outscored their opponents by a combined 124-6 the past two weeks, which is good and decidedly not bad.

With two games remaining, and one big one, Ohio State seems to be rolling at the right time. Funny how Urban Meyer seems to be good at coaching football teams.

Let's debrief.

The Short Story

The closest Ohio State ever got to faltering was on its first drive when a Billy Price was flagged for holding and J.T. Barrett appeared to throw a pick-six. The pick six turned into a 15-yard pass interference penalty in the Buckeyes' favor, and Ohio State rolled from that point on, scoring on that drive and many, many drives after that.

Who Earned a Buckeye Leaf?

Offense: Curtis Samuel

Curtis Samuel only touched the ball nine times Saturday, which was an act of mercy more than anything else. You see, Samuel scored three times on those nine touches. He literally scored on every third touch.

Samuel finished with five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown as well as four rushes for 38 yards and two touchdowns. Samuel now has 637 rushing yards and 750 receiving and is the only player in the country to eclipse 500 yards in both statistical categories.

With good outings the rest of the season, he may become the first player in NCAA history to reach 1,000 rushing and receiving yards in the same season.

Defense: Raekwon McMillan

Raekwon McMillan was an outright monster Saturday afternoon.

The middle linebacker led the team with 10 tackles (6 solo) and also had two tackles for a loss, a sack and a forced fumble.

Shockingly, this doesn't even top his last game in Maryland when he found the end zone once, and nearly made a return trip later in the game.

Plays of the Game

Offense

Maryland thought it would be a good idea to defend Curtis Samuel man-to-man in press coverage. It wasn't.

Samuel torched the Terps for a 36-yard touchdown.

Brave, Maryland. Brave, but dumb.

Defense

The Buckeye secondary managed pick Saturday afternoon, courtesy of Marshon Lattimore.

Lattimore made a point to get both feet inbounds the game after Todd McShay said he would be a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft if he declared. Makes you think, for sure.

Nobody else in the secondary had an interception or a touchdown. Fire Greg Schiano.

Biggest Surprise

As absurd as it sounds, I was surprised Ohio State actually put away an inferior opponent by the margin that they did. After games against teams like Northwestern and Indiana were closer than they should be, it was somewhat surprising to see Ohio State handle Maryland so easily. The Buckeyes proved last week's win over Nebraska wasn't a fluke and they really are playing very, very good football. They're playing their best at the best possible time.

Jim Tressel's Least Favorite Moment

After finally receiving becoming an American Gourd Society certified judge, Jim Tressel spent his Saturday morning judging his first-ever gourd competition.

Tressel had the time of his life, seeing so many fine specimens grown by some of his favorite farmers – rock stars of the gourd world. At the end of the day, Tressel got to pin the first-place ribbon on an absolutely immaculate turban squash.

Oh what a day!

Riding on cloud nine, Tressel returned home to watch his beloved Buckeyes take on Maryland. He made it to new big screen projection TV midway through the second quarter and was quite pleased when he saw the game well at hand, but his heart sunk when he saw J.T. Barrett stroll out for a fourth a three attempt.

Right as Barrett was stuffed after gaining just a yard, Jim's wife Ellen walked into the study.

"How was the gourd competition, Jim?" she asked fondly.

Jim's face looked to the floor and Ellen asked no more questions.

Biggest Blunder

Maryland had one successful drive Saturday afternoon. Towards the end of it, Terrapin receiver Levern Jacobs burnt Malik Hooker and quarterback Caleb Rowe found him for a 37-yard gain to Ohio State's 3-yard line. Somehow, though, Maryland managed to only come away with three points on the drive and the game, so the blunder in the secondary was forgiven.

Also, for the second straight week Ohio State had a chance to score 69 points capped off with a Demario McCall touchdown run and they let the clock run out instead. Heads need to roll. Fire Tim Beck, Ed Warinner, Urban Meyer or whoever could possibly be to blame for this debacle.

Underrated Things

Maryland's Rushing Numbers

The Terps had seven rushing yards in the first half, and five of them came on their last play of the second quarter. For most of the half, Ohio State had more touchdowns than Maryland had rushing yards.

Two Punt Returners

Shades of the Ted Ginn Jr. and Santonio Holmes days at Ohio State, the Buckeyes put two men back to return punts – Curtis Samuel and K.J. Hill. They didn't do anything special from the set – no reverses or trickery – but you have to believe it's coming. Even if it's actually not coming, you have to believe it if you're an opposing coach, which is trickery in itself.

Under Center

If your only evidence were the music playing over the PA system, Ohio State's three plays under center and its dual punt returners, you would have thought it was 2005.

The fantastic James Grega has kept tabs on the situation all year, and the Buckeyes have taken five snaps from under center this season, three of which happened yesterday.

Is Urban Meyer transitioning back to Tresselball?

Baugh Goes Airborne

Shades of Cardale Jones, of course.

I can't wait for Baugh to hurdle Jabril Peppers in a couple weeks so I can make my "Just jumped over Jumpman" jokes.

It Was Over When

The Maryland students got to the game. Literally. By the time the the student section began filling up, Ohio State already had a 21-3 lead.

In a shocking turn of events, the decibel meter indicated it was quiet.

Biggest Question Going Forward

The Buckeyes have won their past two games by a combined score of 124-6 and will likely be the No. 2 team in the country in the next College Football Playoff rankings, yet their path to said playoff may have gotten quite a bit narrower with Michigan's loss to Iowa.

If the Buckeyes win out, can they make the playoff even if they don't make the conference championship game?

I know what Urban Meyer's answer will be on Monday: "Beat Michigan State."

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