Three Key Stats: Dallan Hayden's Hard Running, Lathan Ransom's Clutch Play Power Ohio State to Road Win at Maryland

Just win, baby.

The late, great Al Davis said it best.

No. 2 Ohio State did just that Saturday, leaving College Park with a 43-30 win over the Maryland Terrapins to improve to 11–0. It wasn't easy – the Buckeyes trailed at the half, 13-10 and Maryland kept it close until the very end, leading to some of the more spectacular fan meltdowns one will ever see online – but in the end, it's a W.

158.9 Rating

It's not often you'll see an opposing quarterback outduel C.J. Stroud, but Maryland's Taulia Tagovailoa did just that Saturday, completing 26 of his 36 attempts for 293 yards and two touchdowns without throwing a pick, good enough for a 158.9 quarterback rating.

Tagovailoa completed his first 11 attempts of the day and entered the half 16-of-18. 12 of his completions went for first downs, and you could make a solid argument that he had two of the prettiest throws of the day, the second of which went for a touchdown on 4th-and-1 early in the final quarter to cut Ohio State's lead to three.

Oh, he also ran for a touchdown.

After a rough couple of weeks coming into this game, Taulia showed why he'll be playing at the next level soon.

3 Second Half Touchdowns

With Miyan Williams, the heart and soul of Ohio State's rushing attack, out and TreVeyon Henderson banged up and struggling (11 carries for 19 yards), Ohio State turned to freshman running back Dallan Hayden in the second half, and did he ever deliver.

Hayden rushed for a career-high 146 yards, with all but three of those yards, and all three of his touchdowns, coming in the second half, helping the Buckeyes erase a rare halftime deficit.

It was the second week in a row in which Hayden topped 100 yards on the ground, but it was more than the numbers. The freshman brought a certain juice to an offense that sorely needed it, running hard and continually falling forward for extra yards to finish the day with a 5.4 yards per rush average.

No Hayden and Ohio State is quite possibly 10–1 this morning.

11–0

With the win, Ohio State improves to 11–0 for the eighth time in the last 30 years. Twice in that span (1995 and 1996), the Michigan Wolverines prevented the Buckeyes from reaching 12–0.

This Saturday, the Wolverines will bring their own perfect record into The Game, the first time since 2006 that Ohio State and Michigan will meet at 11–0 each.

The matchup will be the 12th all-time between the two programs when both are ranked in the top five of the AP Poll, the most of any teams in FBS history.

Is anyone else excited?

Bonus Stats & Notes

Maryland's 402 total yards and 30 points are the second-most allowed by the Buckeyes this season (Penn State 482 and 31)… The game also marked the second time this season in which Ohio State was outgained (402 to 401)… The win was Ohio State's eighth-straight against Maryland as the Buckeyes improved to 8–0 all-time against the Terps… Lathan Ransom recorded a punt block for the second time in two weeks. The last Buckeye to block punts in back-to-back weeks was Mike Doss in 2001 (UCLA 9/22 and Indiana 9/29)… Dallan Hayden is the first Buckeye to rush for three touchdowns in a half since Miyan Williams rushed for three touchdowns in the second half against Rutgers in early October… Steele Chambers, recruited as a running back, now has as many touchdowns on offense (1) as he has on defense (1)… With a blocked extra point, Noah Ruggles is no longer perfect on point-afters… Ohio State extended its FBS record of scoring 20 or more points in a game to 72 games… Saturday's win was the 953rd in program history (officially, at least – if we count the vacated wins from 2010, Ohio State has 965 all-time)… Ryan Day is now 45–4 as head coach of the Buckeyes (but if he loses to Michigan Saturday, he will have a losing record against the Wolverines).