Ohio State is in the last game of a four-stretch of teams that it had either not played before (Army, UNLV) or had not played before the 2014 season (Rutgers, Maryland). This week, we'll "flashback" to the past three games in a lopsided series for Ohio State over Maryland and look at some of the game stats that have defined this series.
2014: Ohio State - 52, Maryland - 24
The No. 20 Buckeyes spoiled Maryland's Big Ten home debut in style with a crushing 52-24 victory over the Terrapins.
The game followed less than a month after the grisly loss to Virginia Tech when the Buckeyes' offense was hellbent on destroying everything in its path. The first drive of the Maryland game portended the type of mauling to follow. Maryland had no answer for Ohio State's option game. A Rod Smith goal-line dive concluded an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.
Only a missed field goal barred what would've otherwise been five-straight scoring drives to race to a 24-3 lead.
The game was effectively over when Darron Lee intercepted a Maryland pass at the Maryland 16-yard line with a minute before halftime. A touchdown pass to Nick Vannett gave Ohio State a 31-10 halftime lead that the Buckeyes extended into a 52-24 win.
The Buckeyes' offense shined en route to 533 yards of offense and 52 points for the day. Ezekiel Elliott led all rushers with 139 yards while J.T. Barrett distributed 19 passes to nine different receivers.
Ohio State's defense was busy too, picking off four Maryland passes on the day. True freshman Raekwon McMillan even had a pick-six in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
2015: Ohio State - 49, Maryland - 28
Ohio State was the No. 1 team in the country and defending national champion while Maryland was an even worse team in 2015 than it was in 2014. And yet, Ohio State's first home game against the Terrapins was a somewhat close and often frustrating affair for the Buckeyes.
Fans will remember well that media reports pegged Maryland as planning to fire Randy Edsall after this game. Maryland was 2-3 entering this game with wins over just Richmond and USF. The 21-point home loss to Bowling Green may have got Maryland's administration thinking about firing Edsall. Two straight losses at WVU and to Michigan by a combined score of 73-6 became fait accomplis for Edsall's tenure. An almost certain ugly loss to Ohio State would've given Maryland the cover.
Instead, the Terrapins' ground game gave Ohio State everything it could handle before conceding the contest, 49-28.
The player of the game for either side may have been Perry Hills. Hills couldn't do much damage through the air against the Buckeyes' secondary. Hills was 10/27 passing for 133 yards and two interceptions with just the one 52-yard touchdown toss to D.J. Moore on Maryland's opening drive for the game.
Instead, it was Hills' designed rushing plays that frustrated the Buckeyes the most. Hills carried the ball 25 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns. This even included a 75-yarder that had Ohio Stadium collectively groaning.
Hills was so effective on the ground that his 170 yards by himself were just 12 yards shy of what the Buckeyes did as a team rushing. Maryland as a team outrushed Ohio State 253-182.
Ohio State's offense more than kept pace as its defense struggled with Maryland's rushing attack. Cardale Jones was almost spotless throwing the ball, finishing 21/28 for 291 yards and two touchdowns.
Ohio State's rushing attack, though outdone in yards by Maryland, had five touchdowns on the day. Ezekiel Elliott had two and J.T. Barrett, then splitting time with playoff hero Cardale Jones, had three.
The epilogue to this contest was Maryland still fired Randy Edsall after this game. It's just the decision to fire Edsall came after a game against Ohio State that was much closer than it should have been or that anyone anticipated it would have been.
2016: Ohio State - 62, Maryland - 3
Ohio State cruised to its biggest margin of victory in this series to date by posting its second-straight 62-3 win on the 2016 season. It had just routed Nebraska by the same score a week earlier.
The scoring started early and often. The Buckeyes opened the game with a 71-yard touchdown drive. Four of the first five Ohio State drives on the day ended in touchdowns as Ohio State raced out to a 28-3 lead.
Again, a late-second-quarter Maryland turnover deep in its own end of the field positioned Ohio State nicely to pad what was already a first-half beatdown. The Buckeyes went into the locker room up 45-3. It added 17 more points in the second half to prevail 62-3.
The Buckeyes got it done in all aspects of the game in College Park. Curtis Samuel may have been the Buckeyes' player of the game as it was clear Maryland's defense had no player that could shadow him in the rushing game or cover him down the field. Samuel had two rushing touchdowns and five receptions for 74 yards and a receiving touchdown on top of that.
Maryland's rushing attack, a source of frustration for Ohio State the previous year, could not get going. The Buckeyes' held the Terrapins' ground game to 43 yards on 40 carries.
