Ohio State vs Maryland prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, October 9
Ohio State vs Maryland How To Watch
Date: Saturday, October 9
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
How To Watch: FOX
Record: Ohio State (4-1), Maryland (4-1)
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Ohio State vs Maryland Game Preview
Why Maryland Will Win
The Friday night game against Iowa last week didn’t represent Maryland’s best work.
The Terps were stomped 51-14 with little offensive production, too many mistakes, and too much pressing against a team good enough to now be ranked third in the country.
Seven turnovers and ten penalties generally aren’t going to get it done.
However, the passing game should work a whole lot better this week. Yeah, the Buckeyes destroyed Rutgers, but the secondary can be pushed a bit. Tulsa’s Davis Brin put up over 400 yards, and everyone but Akron has hit the 200-yard mark through the air.
Taulia Tagovailoa wasn’t under any real pressure against the Hawkeyes – he was going against a D that’s taking the ball away in bunches. This week should be a 300-yard game as long as the offense can settle down just a bit, and if the Terp pass rush can set an early tone by pressuring CJ Stroud.
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Why Ohio State Will Win
Now that’s more like it.
Ohio State has the talent to beat teams 52-13 like it did to Rutgers last Saturday, but now it needs to do it on a consistent basis.
The defense is going to be the defense – it’s just not going to be a brick wall this season. However, it made up for the issues with three key takeaways to turn what should’ve been a tight game into a rout.
Maryland was having a few turnover issues before the seven-giveaway debacle against Iowa – turning it over twice against both Kent State and Illinois – and the defense has only forced three takeaways in the last four games.
More than that, Maryland has yet to deal with any passing games to worry about. That’s about to change, because …
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What’s Going To Happen
CJ Stroud has been better than you think.
He’s still learning, and he’s still not quite razor-sharp, but he came back from the week off against Akron to hit 74% of his passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns against Rutgers. In this, he’ll have to keep pressing a bit thanks to his defense that will give up over 400 yards, but he’ll be fine.
The Terps will bounce back a bit. The downfield passing game will do enough to keep up for a while – Maryland will be up in the first quarter – but the Ohio State machine will pull away midway through the second half.
Ohio State vs Maryland Prediction, Line
Ohio State 44, Maryland 26
Line: Ohio State -21, o/u: 69.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating: 3
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