BOTTOM LINE

Things have changed so much for the Ohio State football team that Kerry Coombs received a game ball on Saturday. The moved-upstairs defensive coordinator has been through a lot in this trying season. Yes, the Ohio State defense played well in Saturday's 66-17 win over Maryland. But nowhere near the level of the video-game offense in which quarterback C.J. Stroud looks confident and healthy spreading the ball around to his many weapons. Leaves are awarded on a zero-to-five basis.

Ohio State offense

Saturday's display of offense looked ridiculously easy. The Buckeyes rolled up 598 yards in a game that featured second-half subs again. When the game was somewhat on the line, the pass protection was great, receivers were open and Stroud was on target. Oh, and Treveyon Henderson is proving to be a threat as a receiver as well as a running back. Tougher defenses are coming, but the scoring machine looks pretty good.

Ohio State defense

Iowa solved this Maryland offense a week ago, so there was intrigue as to whether the Terrapins would return to their high-flying ways. They did not. Ohio State again looks to be improving from its terrible start of the season and held the Terps to 5-of-15 on third downs while intercepting two passes and recording five sacks. For a fourth straight game, the Ohio State defense intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. Also, a nice touch in giving defensive coordinator Coombs a game ball. Coombs was the subject of much criticism early in the year and was moved up to the coaches box when the defense struggled.

OSU special teams

Emeka Egbuka is looking like a holdyour-breath returner. The freshman ran back four kickoffs for 166 yards, the second-most kickoff return yardage ever by an Ohio State player, trailing only running back Carlos Snow, who had 213 total kickoff return yards in a loss at Pittsburgh in 1988. Punting wasn't an issue today, and kicker Noah Ruggles is still perfect on field goals and PATS.

Coaching

A team improving weekly is the best sign of coaching working at a high level. Now the Buckeyes get a week off before the tougher part of the schedule hits. The only downside of a bye week is that the defense seems to be getting more comfortable each Saturday. This will be another test for the staff.

Fun quotient

The fun part of watching Ohio State's offense is trying to figure which guy will get the ball on each snap. On Saturday, the Buckeyes threw into the end zone on fourth-and-1 and handed to power back Master Teague on thirdand-5. Both worked. The elite receivers are open and Henderson is running pass routes with ease.

Opponent

Time will tell if the Terps just had the tough scheduling luck of running into Iowa and Ohio State in consecutive weeks, but it appears their offensive magic has ended because teams have figured them out. Injuries have hit Maryland hard, but there wasn't much fight on Saturday.

Officiating

Officials like 66-17 routs because nothing they do really makes much of a difference. But there were a few glitches. Ohio State's Javontae Jean-baptiste was called for roughing the passer in the first half after he barely shoved Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. Shortly after, C.J. Stroud took the same hit and no flag was dropped.

— Brian White