Nebraska-Michigan St., Maryland-Ohio St. Highlight Week 6 Vegas Big Ten Predictions
Saturday Blitz Vegas Big Ten Predictions Week 6
No. 20 Ohio State Buckeyes at Maryland Terrapins
Line: Ohio State by 8
Don’t sleep on this one. Maryland optimists at the beginning of the year were hoping the team could somehow reach 6 wins and make a bowl as it entered the Big Ten, but the Terps appear to have other goals in mind. Forget looking decent in the Big Ten, they want to somehow compete for the Big Ten championship. That could start Saturday with a home win against Ohio State. With CJ Brown apparently looking healthy and fine in practice, Maryland needs to simply use its deadly skill players in Stefon Diggs and Deon Long to torch the weak Ohio State secondary. If the Terps secondary and Will Likely can force a few mistakes by J.T. Barrett, then all of a sudden pulling off the upset at home seems like a real possibility.
Ohio State and Urban Meyer, meanwhile, need to focus on one thing: exploiting the Maryland front seven. This defense has been decimated by injuries all over, and it is becoming thinner up front by the day. Meyer’s Buckeyes have a strong rushing offense in his spread, and it needs to take over the game. The Terps have a secondary to compete with Ohio State, but the rush defense is so thin that Ohio State could exploit it all day. On defense, the Buckeyes need to use their linebackers lots more in coverage to assist the weak secondary in containing the skill players Maryland has on the outside. Doing that will force Brown to be accurate throwing the ball, and he has struggled with that at times.
Prediction
The Terps have the exact formula to beat the Buckeyes with skill players to exploit that weak secondary. Unfortunately, Ohio State has the exact formula to beat the Terps: a good running game. Couple that with the fact that CJ Brown is incredibly overrated, more like a glorified running back with a strong arm and no accuracy, and Urban Meyer and Luke Fickell are going to be good enough to scheme against him and keep the offense from doing too much damage. Expect a shootout that Ohio State eventually pulls away in during the fourth quarter.
Ohio State: 38 Maryland: 30