Ohio State Football: 2017 game-by-game predictions
By Shane Lunnen
The schedule makers were quite kind to Ohio State in the first half of the season. Even though the schedules were made far enough in advance, it just so happens that the Buckeyes face the bottom of the Big Ten East early.
Maryland fans couldn’t ask for much better last year considering the talent discrepancy between them and the top teams in the conference. First year head coach D.J. Durkin had the Terps start strong out of the gate, going 4-0 before going 2-6 the rest of the way. They had a close loss against Boston College in the Quick Lane Bowl, but things are looking up for the Terps. They have a lot of highly touted recruits signing up for what Durkin is selling so the future will be better.
The quarterback situation is murky right now, but will be sorted out before the start of the season. The Terps have a terrific running back tandem in Ty Johnson and Lorenzo Harrison. They’ll have to replace Will Likely in the secondary, but there is talent there. The strength of the Terps defense is their linebacking corps, led by senior Jermaine Carter.
Another week and another game that should be over fairly quickly. The Buckeyes just have too much firepower for the Terps to keep up. Touchdowns rain down from the sky and on the ground as Maryland has no answer for the Buckeye offense. Damon Webb has a couple of interceptions for the Buckeyes and returns one to the house. It won’t be pretty, but it won’t be as ugly as last year’s debacle in College Park where the Terps lost by 59 points.
Midway through the season and Ohio State is exactly where most have them projected.