COLUMBUS — Ohio State did not always look like the No. 5 team in the country Saturday.
For stretches on both sides of the ball, the Buckeyes looked every bit like a team playing in a trap game, coming off an emotional road win at Iowa, and perhaps looking ahead just a little bit to what waits next week.
The Buckeyes handled Maryland 45-16, overcoming turnovers, penalties, missed blocks, and stretches of generally sloppy football with a dominant running game and another strong defensive performance.
The most encouraging development may have come late.
For the second straight week, Ohio State put together a fourth-quarter drive lasting more than nine minutes to effectively salt away the game. Against Iowa, the Buckeyes possessed the ball for the final 9:30. Saturday, they went 72 yards in 16 plays while chewing 9:59 off the clock before Bo Jackson scored from two yards out.
That says plenty about the growth of Ohio State’s running backs.
Ryan Day challenged that room earlier this season, and both Ja’Kobi Jackson and Bo Jackson have responded. Ja’Kobi continued to provide the difficult yards Saturday, while Bo supplied the explosiveness, including a 25-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Together, they have given Ohio State the ability to shorten games, control the line of scrimmage, and finish opponents without needing Julian Sayin to throw the football on every down.
Jeremiah Smith, meanwhile, continues to look like he is playing a different sport from everyone else.
Smith did not need a huge number of receptions to take over the game. He scored twice, including a 40-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and on both plays his acceleration immediately separated him from everyone else on the field. His third catch may have been even more impressive.
Running full speed across the middle, Smith had Sayin’s pass thrown behind him. In one motion, he twisted his body back toward the football, caught it one-handed, turned upfield, made a defender miss, and picked up the first down. That kind of play is why it is becoming harder to describe Smith without sounding ridiculous.
He looks like the best football player on the planet right now. He is that good.
The afternoon was far less clean for the rest of the offense. Sayin lost a fumble in the first quarter, later threw a pick-six, and Ohio State repeatedly hurt itself with penalties and missed opportunities. One promising second-quarter drive ended in a field goal after a Bo Jackson touchdown reception was wiped out by a holding penalty.
Still, the Buckeyes kept creating explosive plays. Chris Henry Jr. hauled in a 46-yard reception, Nate Roberts broke a record for the longest TD-reception by a tight end on a 68-yard catch and run, and the running game steadily took over as Maryland wore down.
Defensively, Ohio State continued the improvement it has shown since the Illinois game.
Maryland put together one legitimate touchdown drive, marching 75 yards in 11 plays early in the second quarter, but otherwise struggled to consistently move the football. Six of Maryland’s 16 points came on the defensive pick-six, meaning the Ohio State defense had surrendered only 10 points through the game’s first 55 minutes.
That matters after both Day and senior defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. publicly challenged the defense following the Illinois performance.
Ohio State was not perfect Saturday.
It probably was not even particularly sharp.
But good teams can play poorly for stretches and still find ways to impose themselves eventually, and that is exactly what the Buckeyes did.
Now the schedule gets serious.
What’s Next
Ohio State travels to Bloomington next Saturday to face No. 7 Indiana, the defending national champion. The Hoosiers improved to 6-0 earlier Saturday with a 20-17 win at Nebraska.
