SCARLET & GRAY MATTER
Observations on Saturday's Ohio Statemaryland game by Joey Kaufman:
The game at hand
• Short-attention span synopsis: The Big Ten's eastward expansion has been a boon to the Buckeyes. They swept Maryland and Rutgers for the seventh time in eight seasons. The Terrapins made for homecoming fodder. Ohio State's offense has discovered a higher gear. Even its defense keeps scoring points. Special teams came close, too. • Pregame buzz: Much of the earlyseason fan angst around Ohio State faded following a win at Rutgers, and with Buckeye Nation feeling pretty good about the team's in-season turnaround, expectations for another convincing win lingered throughout the week. The fact that Maryland was coming off a beatdown by Iowa, another top-10 team, did little to dampen that anticipation.
• Spread the wealth?: The Buckeyes entered as three-touchdown favorites, the biggest for them in a Big Ten game this season after being two-touchdown favorites in previous conference matchups with Minnesota and Rutgers. But they still covered the point spread for a third straight week.
• Strategically speaking: Just how confident was Ryan Day with the passing game? Revisit a drive midway through the third quarter. On fourthand-1 at Maryland's 30-yard line, Day had the Buckeyes throw the ball instead of sneak it. The call worked. Quarterback C.J. Stroud floated one to Chris Olave in the end zone. Already leading by 32 points, it felt like a bit of a flex.
The View
• How the team sees it: Stacking up blowout wins is closer to meeting our standard.
• How Buckeye Nation will see it: Some of us should issue a mea culpa to C.J. Stroud.
What did Day say?
• What he said: “We've got a long way to go, but you can see it's a different team right now.”
• What it means: “This team is unrecognizable from one that lost to Oregon.”
They said it
• Talking heads: Strong words of admiration for Stroud from FOX'S Chris Petersen. The highly respected former Washington and Boise State coach said Stroud's improvement from the Oregon loss has been substantial. “It's like he's in practice now,” Petersen said. “The ball never hits the ground.”
• Pregame chatter: Both ESPN and FOX did in-depth features on Day and his focus on mental health. The stories centered on the suicide of Day's father when Day was a child. Day and his wife Nina have done extensive work to bring awareness to childhood mental health and have teamed with Nationwide Children's Hospital to form The Christina and Ryan Day Fund for Pediatric and Adolescent Mental Wellness.
Numbers for dummies
59: Average points by Ohio State in seven wins over Maryland since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten in 2014. 0.93: Points per play for the Buckeyes. 5: Consecutive games with at least 500 yards of total offense for the Buckeyes. 2: Number of 400-plus-yard passing performances by quarterback Stroud in five starts.
102: Rushing yards by Treveyon Henderson,
the second-most in a game this season behind only the recordsetting 277 he had against Tulsa. 17: Number of plays on Ohio State's opening touchdown drive, tied for the Buckeyes' longest since a 19-play drive against Wisconsin in 2010. 4: Consecutive games with an interception returned for a touchdown. 5: Sacks by the Buckeyes, their second-most this season.
56: Rushing yards by Maryland, a sliver of its 335 total yards of offense and the fewest a team has compiled against the Buckeyes this season. 40: Penalty yards by Ohio State, the fewest in six games as it was flagged only four times.
On tap
An idle week comes at an opportune time for the Buckeyes, who have been closer to full strength in the past couple of weeks. Their list of unavailable players against Maryland was the smallest all season. With cornerback Cameron Brown and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett getting banged up on Saturday, they'll have an extended window to get more players healthy before beginning the second half of the regular season at Indiana on Oct. 23.