With the off week fully in the rearview mirror, Ohio State will return to the field on Saturday to host Maryland in what could be the Terrapins best shot at the Buckeyes since joining the Big Ten.
Head coach Ryan Day indicated Thursday on the “Ryan Day Radio Show” that he is fully aware of the challenge presented by Maryland, and specifically quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. But Tagovailoa is just one aspect of what Day believes is a veteran Terrapin squad looking for the program’s first-ever win over Ohio State.
“Every year, I think, with Mike Locksley being at Maryland, you’re starting to see every year the talent’s increasing, the guys are more and more settled with the schemes on both sides of the ball and on special teams,” Day said. “One of the more experienced guys in the in the country and obviously in the Big Ten. He played really well against us last year, so these guys have a lot of confidence coming in and it’s going to be a good challenge for us.
“They’ve got really good weapons,” Day continued. “They’ve got good players on the outside. They have good running backs and guys up front, so we’ve got to do a great job of getting better this week on defense. We know that this is a great challenge and a really good quarterback.”
While Maryland’s offense has offered the most intrigue for Ohio State, the Terrapins’ defense has quietly been among the best in the conference this season, allowing only 13.2 points and 328.2 yards per game while forcing 12 turnovers.
“I think they do a good job of mixing up their fronts,” Day said. “They do a good job up front with their two-gapping technique and something we’ve got to be able to handle. Really good in the back end, really good corners and safeties. The linebackers are more veteran this year and he’s done a good job recruiting some really good athletes and they’re certainly creating a lot of turnovers and played well so far this year.”
