Ohio State Football: 3 takeaways from shaky win over Maryland

Ohio State football struggled with Maryland early on, but the Buckeyes were able to escape College Park with a victory.

It took a comeback. Yes, you read that correctly, but it took a comeback from Ohio State to take down Maryland on the road. What a game it was for the Buckeyes and Terrapins in what looked to be a mismatch turned instant classic in College Park as Ohio State won, 52-51.

The Buckeyes expected to walk right through the Terrapins on Saturday afternoon, but Maryland wouldn’t just roll over. In fact, the Terrapins held the lead for most of the game and it took a touchdown with 40 seconds left to knot the game up at 45-45.

Yes, Maryland scored 45 points on an Ohio State defense that held Michigan State to six points a week ago on the road. This game was a classic and was one of the biggest shocks of Week 12.

What’d we learn from the Buckeyes’ shaky win over Maryland?

3. Defense forgot the progress it made

A week ago, the Buckeyes held Michigan State to just six points and the Spartan offense couldn’t do anything against Ohio State’s defense. That didn’t last long on Saturday as the Terrapins were able to score on an 81-yard scamper by Anthony McFarland in the first minute of the game, followed by another 75-yard score by the back.

That’s two 75-plus yard runs in the first couple minutes of the game after giving up essentially no rushing yards against the Spartans.

On top of that, they allowed 24 first-half points to the Terrapins, which no one saw coming. That same Michigan State team that the Buckeyes handled held these Terrapins to only three points and 100 total yards — hard to believe.

The defense struggled mightily, especially against the run, on Saturday, and that could be bad news heading into next week’s game against a run-heavy Michigan team.